Las Cruces, NM– Prosecutors are seeking to keep a man in jail after police accused him of killing his mother, abandoning his dogs in San Diego and trying to flee to Mexico before ending up in a Las Cruces jail cell.
Dillon Alexander Waller, 29, was charged with first degree murder and tampering with evidence. Police believe Waller killed his mother, Cynthia Berendzen, 69, before Nov. 21, 2022. A spokesman for the Third Judicial District Attorney’s Office said prosecutors intended to ask a judge to hold Waller in jail without bail before trial. That hearing will likely happen next week.
An affidavit filed in court paints a twisted narrative about the discovery of Berendzen’s body, the finding of his abandoned car near a border patrol checkpoint and a confusing confession earlier this week, the Las Cruces Sun reports. -News.
Abandoned car drives to Las Cruces
Border Patrol agents discovered a vehicle matching Berendzen’s description near a checkpoint in San Diego, California. Berendzen’s four dogs were inside the car.
According to a Las Cruces Police (LCPD) spokesperson, all four dogs were healthy when they were discovered. The spokesman was unsure of the animal’s current whereabouts, but said Border Patrol had taken care of the animals at the location. When agents checked the chips embedded in their bodies, they found Berendzen’s address in Las Cruces. Three days later, Berendzen’s family reported him missing. The affidavit said that her family had no contact with her at the time and was becoming concerned.
Las Cruces Police Department officers Nathaniel Telles and John Guaderrama discovered Berendzen on November 21, 2022 at his home. The affidavit said officers were conducting a welfare check at Berendzen’s home, adding that a neighbor with an extra key to the house let Telles and Guaderrama in.
As they looked around, an eerie scene greeted them. In the living room, the carpet was missing. In the kitchen, the cutlery, crockery and food were not there. Telles and Guaderrama told detectives that the smell of urine and bleach wafted through the house as they looked around. In the bathroom they found the body of Berendzen. They said that her body showed signs of decomposition, suggesting that she had been dead for several days.
Also missing from the house was Berendzen’s car and his four dogs. Another neighbor told police that Waller, Berendzen’s youngest son, had been seen driving the car a week earlier. Meanwhile, Waller was stranded in San Diego before returning to Las Cruces to live on the streets for several weeks until his arrest.
Waller confesses
Waller was arrested on April 1 for an unrelated matter.
The court records that police believe Waller was dealing methamphetamine prior to his arrest, which led to a drug charge. But Waller was up for release and failed to appear for a hearing on a suspected DWI in 2021, which is why he went to jail.
Following his arrest, Waller was interviewed by Las Cruces Detective Oscar Magallanes on April 6. Magallanes said in the affidavit that Waller said he knew nothing about his mother’s death. Waller added that he had not spoken to Berendzen since October.
According to the affidavit, Magellan said he rejected the statements and Waller offered a different narrative. This time, Waller said, his mother died unexpectedly. Waller fled, he told police, fearing he was implicated in his death because of the outstanding warrants for his arrest. But again, Magellan pushed back. Waller later confessed to strangling his mother while he slept.
Waller told Magellan that Berendzen was ill and had financial debts. Waller also told Magallanes that he believed his mother was facing prison for a civil matter in which she was involved. However, a search of publicly available court records revealed no pending cases involving Berendzen.
According to Magallanes, Waller said that he believed that killing his mother would be an act of mercy. While she was asleep around midnight sometime before November 14, Waller said he strangled her. Waller did not leave immediately.
after the slaughter
With her mother’s body still in the house, Waller said she spent five days cleaning and removing damaged items such as the carpet. In addition, Waller said that he used his mother’s bank card to periodically withdraw money as she prepared to flee to Tijuana, Mexico.
Waller told police that he did not act alone. According to the affidavit, Waller said a romantic partner — a transgender woman named Bianca, who lived with Berendzen — helped him clean her mother’s house. Waller said he and his partner traveled to San Diego with Berendzen’s dogs. They split up at the border, leaving the dogs and Berendzen’s car nearby. They were to connect again in Tijuana. But Waller said the partner never showed up.
When asked who the partner was, if they had found him, and if they were facing criminal charges, LCPD spokesman Dan Trujillo declined to answer.
“At this time, our investigation is still ongoing, so we cannot say anything more about the case,” Trujillo said.
When Waller crossed back into the US, he said he lost track of the car.
Some time later, Waller said that he was admitted to the hospital. Upon his release, he was given a bus ticket back to Las Cruces, where he spent the next few months living on the streets, according to the affidavit. Waller was charged after his interview with Magallanes.
It is also unclear why and how Waller and her mother reconnected. According to Magellan’s affidavit, Berendzen had a restraining order against his son that was in effect at the time of his death. Magellan’s affidavit also suggested that Waller had lived with Berendzen for some time before his death.
She will be buried in Hawaii.
Efforts to reach any of the other Berendzen family members were unsuccessful prior to the Las Cruces Sun-News publication. One of Berendzen’s sons refused to do an interview. However, an online obituary provides information about who Berendzen was.
“As a devoted mother of three, she supported them in any way she could and instilled in them the importance of honesty, openness and love,” says an obituary reminiscent of Berendzen. “Her Her selflessness and her generosity knew no bounds, and she always had a kind word or deed for those around her.”
According to the obituary, Berendzen will be buried in her native Honolulu – where she was born in 1953 – on May 29.
