Arizona man sentenced to 20 years for New Mexico killings

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A 28-year-old Arizona man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for two fatal stabbings on the Navajo Nation's reservation in rural northwestern New Mexico.

Michael Yonnie of Winslow was sentenced July 8 in federal court in Albuquerque on his March 20 guilty pleas to two counts of second-degree murder in the July 18, 2014 killings in Torreon of Darrell Joe and Andy Sandoval.

A sentencing memorandum filed on behalf of Yonnie said he was despondent over his sister's June death and thought foul play was involved.

According to the memo, a family member told Yonnie that Joe and Sandoval were somehow at least partly responsible for the sister's death.

The U.S. Attorney's Office said Yonnie attacked the two victims at two locations near each other.

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