Twenty years after the massacre at a Las Cruces bowling alley, Charlie Minn is bringing the unsolved case back to life with his documentary, “Nightmare in Las Cruces.”
On Feb.10, 1990, seven people were shot execution-style and four died. Minn said he believes the crime was an act against the bowling alley owner, Ronald Senac, as a result of his alleged involvement in illegal activity.
“I believe it was drug-related, financially motivated, and when you’re in the drug world, there’s no humanity,” Minn said. “It’s barbaric. You just intercept people who are in your way. That’s the most popular theory, and based on the intense research I’ve done, that’s what I’ve come away with.”
Since the crime’s 20th anniversary, the film was released in parts of the Southwest and will be shown in Albuquerque for one day only at the Century Downtown 14.
Minn said law enforcement has encouraged him to spread the word through his film, which he said is key in solving the crime.
“My vision from day one was to get this out far and wide, so more people would see it and talk about it,” Minn said. “The crime’s never going to be solved if nobody talks about it. (If) people start thinking about it, then maybe you can jog someone’s memory. I wanted this thing to spread like crazy.”
Minn said he found out about the crime 20 years ago while living in Boston and watching “Unsolved Mysteries.” He said he was a journalist at the time.
“I’ll never forget that evening,” he said. “I was really struck, floored, and angered by, first and foremost, the degree of unfairness and the barbaric nature of children being executed. You round up seven people and shoot them in the back of the head — someone has to pay for that. I pray every day that this crime will be solved.”
Minn said he periodically called the Las Cruces Ppolice Department to see if the crime was solved.
In July 2009, Minn said it was time to take matters into his own hands, so he made a documentary His transition from journalism into filmmaking was fueled by his interest in criminal justice, and the “high” he gets off of seeing the guilty be punished.
“I’m fascinated by true crime. I love watching dirtbags get caught,” he said. “You do something wrong, you should be punished. It’s that simple. You’re either elevating society or you’re ruining it.”
Minn said he hopes esthe film tries to capture how the massacre affected the southern New Mexico town.
“This devastated a community,” he said. “I can’t stress how hard people took this. It’s such an emotional story, and if people truly knew how it affected them, I think they would go out of their way to watch this film. This story’s too important to let go.”
Though Minn promises the film will strike an emotional chord, he said that the documentary lets the story unfold as it was told to him. Utilizing interviews with the two survivors, the victim’s family and community members in addition to archival footage and the actual 911 call, Minn recreated the day. The criminals burned the scene, destroying any incriminating evidence.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
“It’s a haunting crime scene,” Minn said. “Those images will stay with me forever. When you see the film, you will see how horrific, how bad it was. I didn’t hold back on this. There’s no gratuitous violence in this film. It was described to me a certain way, so I filmed it that way.”
Minn said he hopes his film inspires someone to come forward with information that leads to a conviction.
“I know that someone out there knows something about this crime, and they’re not speaking up because of trepidation,” he said. “It’s been 20 years. Enough is enough. Someone has to have the guts to speak up. You don’t have to give your name. Let’s get some justice for the victim’s families.”
