State police, Rio Rancho police and Albuquerque police arrested 56-year-old Jack McDowell and 36-year-old John McDowell at a home in the 100 block of Mica Drive in Rio Rancho on Tuesday morning. Both were taken into custody without incident.
Jack McDowell is a retired New Mexico State Police officer. Because he was a police officer, authorities said they took tactical precautions during the arrest.
Everyone who lives in the Mica Drive neighborhood said they knew the McDowells.
Residents said they knew John McDowell had a history with police, so they assumed he was at the center of the commotion they heard Tuesday morning.
The arrests capped an 18-month investigation into the death of 35-year-old James Chavez.
"This is one of those cases that has kinda haunted us," Rio Rancho Police Sgt. Nick Onken said.
Investigators spent much of the day going in and out of the McDowell home looking for evidence.
"This has been a very long and tumultuous investigation with leads and losses of those leads over the past 18 months," Onken said.
The case was launched 18 months ago when rescue officials got a 911 about Chavez' slaying. Soon after that, the father and son were on police radar.