May 17, 2021- 12:32 p.m.
An FBI agent suspects that a man who was arrested on a firearm charge after allegedly driving three dead bodies to a hospital in Albuquerque, New Mexico, was also engaged in an Aryan Brotherhood dispute that led to their deaths.
Richard Kuykendall, 41, was arrested on a federal warrant of felon possession of a firearm and ammunition, according to county inmate records that show he was booked early Saturday morning. Kuykendall allegedly stashed a pistol that came from out of state after a shootout with three men in a Chevrolet Malibu, a federal complaint filed Friday in the U.S. District Court for New Mexico said.
An FBI agent reviewed security footage of Kuykendall being shot at after the Chevy pulled up behind him and he attempted to get inside the car. Kuykendall ducks as shots continue to fire, though the video did not show him firing back, according to the agent in the complaint.
At some point after the gunfire stops, Kuykendall is seen shutting himself inside the car before exiting, lingering near a dumpster for a few seconds, and returning to the car, the complaint said. Kuykendall is believed to have stashed a Beretta model APX 9mm pistol in the dumpster during that time, a gun manufactured in Tennessee.
He then sits on top of the person in the driver’s side and drops the car off at a local hospital, where he tells a security guard there are three dead men inside and flees, according to the complaint.
“All three men were subsequently declared deceased,” the complaint said. “The vehicle was riddled with bullet holes. A loaded pistol was found under the driver’s seat.”
The FBI agent states in the complaint that while he does not believe Kuykendall killed all three men, he does believe that Kuykendall may be responsible for the death of one of them. Kuykendall has not been charged with the death of any of the three men.
Albuquerque police found an empty pistol, in a locked-back position, and several bullet casings in and around the vehicle, the complaint said.
The three men were only identified as BT, JF and MS, who were all verified members of the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang, according to the complaint.
The Aryan Brotherhood is the country’s oldest major white supremacist prison gang and a national crime syndicate, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. Irish inmates formed the group to fight against Black inmates in San Quentin State Prison in 1964 as prison systems began to desegregate.
Members of the Aryan Brotherhood participate in a number of crimes in and outside prison walls, including drug trafficking, murder-for-hire, and armed robbery, the Southern Poverty Law Center reports.
Kuykendall was seen in the hospital security footage as having tattoos with connections to the Aryan Brotherhood, including a Shamrock, Viking warrior, lighting bolt, and “White Boy” tattoos, according to the complaint.
“The AB enforces its rules and promotes discipline among its members and associates by murdering, attempting to murder, conspiring to murder, assaulting, and threatening those who violate the enterprise’s rules or pose a threat to the enterprise,” the complaint said. “The AB also uses murder and the threat of murder to maintain a position of power within the prison and jail systems.”
Kuykendall has multiple convictions in New Mexico and Massachusetts as far back as 1998, according to the complaint, including battery with a deadly weapon, identity theft, and larceny.
He was held in custody Sunday and it is unclear when his next court date will be, based on Bernalillo County inmate records. He did not have a case in state court as of Sunday morning and there is no attorney on file for Kuykendall in federal court records.
