CEDAR CREST, N.M. (KRQE) – We’re learning more about what went on inside an East Mountains home, where deputies encountered a disturbing scene earlier this month . Now, an elderly woman is facing more than a dozen charges as new details come out about the treatment of the animals and the elderly homeowner.
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Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office deputies executed a search warrant at a Cedar Crest home on January 10 where they found grave conditions. Deputies not only found hoarding conditions but many animals inside, some already dead. “Some of the animals were so decomposed that we’re not exactly sure at this point what they were,” BCSO Sgt. Autumn Neas said last week.
Deputies say an elderly man and a woman, Deborah Battaglino, were living in the home. Now, 74-year-old Battaglino is facing 19 counts of animal cruelty. According to the criminal complaint, a social worker believed she was taking advantage of the 83-year-old man financially. She’s accused of taking out a reverse mortgage on his home, and not allowing him access to important mail, phone calls, and documents.