Special Report

Articles about the death of Carolyn Forsythe Buster

Sheriff's deputies question former boyfriend in alleged restraining-order violation

David Collins | The New Mexican

4/5/2008 - 4/6/08

An Eldorado woman was in critical condition at University Hospital in Albuquerque late Saturday after sheriff's deputies found her with a massive head injury and unresponsive on the floor of her home around 10 a.m. Saturday.

Meanwhile, investigators were questioning a 52-year-old man who was booked into the Santa Fe County jail Saturday on a charge of violating a permanent restraining order against contact with the woman, identified as 66-year-old Carolyn Welbon.

"We are speaking to James Snyder," said Sheriff Greg Solano, who said Snyder has not been accused in connection with Welbon's injury. "He is under court order to not see her, which is why I call him a former boyfriend."

A friend who became concerned that she had not seen Welbon for few days went to the house Welbon had recently rented on Casa del Oro Lane and saw her through a window, laying face down on the floor, Solano said. Emergency personnel and deputies who went to the scene forced their way into the locked home.

Solano said it wasn't likely the injury was self-inflicted, and it didn't appear to have occurred accidentally.

The sheriff said Welbon might have been injured one to three days before police found her, and she was barely alive. He said detectives have not been able to speak with her.

A neighbor, Dan Gowe, said Welbon had moved into the house the first of this month. Gowe said Welbon was with a man when she moved into the house and a week earlier had visited to look at the house with the same man.

"There were two — a man and a woman — who lived there," Gowe said.

The owner of the house on Casa del Oro Lane, Alex Castro, said he rented the house to Welbon on April 1 and she had planned to move in slowly during the weekend. Castro said Welbon told him she would have one other person living with her.

" 'Just me and my partner are going to be here,' " Castro said Welbon told him. "I asked, 'Can you please give me the name of the partner?' "

Referring to a handwritten note Welbon gave him, Castro said the name she wrote down appeared to be "James Sruyder."

Online jail records show James Snyder had been arrested 12 times since 1998, including four domestic violence arrests, and he was once placed in protective custody "until sober."

Charges in a January arrest included false imprisonment, interference with communications, battery against a household member and a felony probation violation.

Snyder's 2004 booking record on a charge of battery against a household member identifies Welbon as the victim, with a notice telling officials to contact her when Snyder was released from jail.

In 2006, he was arrested at Welbon's residence in the 2700 block of Via Caballero del Sur on a charge of assault against a household member, according to a police report.

Solano said Snyder was wearing an electronic-monitoring ankle bracelet that let detectives establish he had been at Welbon's residence Wednesday.

Welbon, a retired chef who moved to Santa Fe about 10 years ago, wrote restaurant reviews for The New Mexican in 2000.

Contact David Collins at 986-3063 or dcollins@sfnewmexican.com.

No evidence of foul play in death

Jason Auslander | The New Mexican

6/12/2008 - 6/13/08

An Eldorado woman found unconscious at her home in early April with a massive head injury died Thursday at an assisted-living center in Albuquerque, Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg Solano said.

Carolyn Welbon, 66, never woke up from the coma in which deputies found her April 4 and died about 5 a.m. Thursday, Solano said. An autopsy was performed on her body Thursday, though no cause of death was determined, he said. Tests, which will be completed in two or three months, might be able to determine a cause, Solano said.

Investigators initially suspected foul play after they found Welbon face-down on the floor of her locked home. However, after questioning her boyfriend and confirming Welbon had talked to friends after her boyfriend had been seen at her home, they ruled him out as a suspect.

They then turned their attention to a broken staircase bannister and hypothesized she may have fallen and hit her head, Solano has said. They believe Welbon was probably conscious for some time after the fall before sitting down in a chair and falling unconscious, he said.

Welbon was initially taken to University Hospital in Albuquerque, where she showed minor signs of recovery but never actually woke up, Solano said. She was later transferred to an assisted living facility, where she died, he said.

Solano said Thursday that investigators still believe Welbon likely fell. "There's more evidence that she fell down the stairs than anything else," he said. "We just don't have any evidence of foul play."

Deputies had to force their way into Welbon's locked house, where valuables, including cash, were visible, Solano said.

Contact Jason Auslander at 986-3076 or jauslander@sfnewmexican.com.