Jeff Proctor and Mark Oswald, Albuquerque Journal (New Mexico) | Thursday, October 18, 2012

Larry W. Brown was in jail late Tuesday in Bernalillo County on suspicion of killing a man in 1991, according to jail records, but it took some serious doing and a little luck to get him there.

Brown, 52, was a suspect in the death of Roger Alderman, whose body was found in his residence near Juan Tabo and Central 21 years ago, authorities said.

But Albuquerque police never could put the case all the way together - until May, when Brown, also known as Lawrence Scherer, called Santa Fe police to confess to the crime, authorities said.

Santa Fe police Capt. Aric Wheeler said Brown called 9-1-1 from a local restaurant on May 11 and told dispatchers "he wanted to confess to a murder that took place in Albuquerque in 1991."

Officers responded, Brown gave them Alderman's name and agreed to come to police headquarters for questioning. Santa Fe officers contacted an Albuquerque Police Department investigator who confirmed the 1991 case and also that Brown had been connected to the homicide, Wheeler said.

Brown told the Santa Fe police that the killing of Alderman was in self-defense.

"His statement was that he was attacked, so he turned and stabbed the individual," Wheeler said.

APD asked that Santa Fe police interview Brown, gather DNA swabs and get fingerprints from him, Wheeler added. All of that was done and the results have been turned over to APD.

But Wheeler said the Santa Fe officers "did not have enough information to charge him," and Brown was released.

Wheeler said it's not common, but that people do confess to police from time to time and they're not charged pending investigation.

Arrangements were made for APD investigators to meet with Brown on May 15 but he didn't show up, Wheeler said.

So APD entered his name into a national database, and he was detained last month after being stopped on a traffic violation by police in Colorado, APD Deputy Chief Paul Feist said.

Brown was brought back to Albuquerque on Friday and booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center, where he remained on a $1 million bond on an open count of murder.