Alexis Hernandez, Albuquerque Man, Shoots Two Dead After Claiming Cockroach Sent Encrypted Message Telling Him to Kill

A New Mexico man has been arrested after allegedly killing two men, claiming he was acting under orders from a cockroach that sent him an encrypted message instructing him to “kill.”

Alexis Najera Hernandez, 25, of Albuquerque, was taken into custody and charged with two open counts of murder after a deadly shooting at a South Valley home on Friday night, according to the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office.

Authorities said Hernandez fatally shot two men inside the residence, later telling deputies that he had received “an encrypted message in a cockroach” telling him he “needed to kill.”

Hernandez was booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center early Saturday morning. Officials have not yet publicly identified the two men who died, though it was later revealed that one of the victims was the property owner, NBC News reported.

Three other adults and two young children were also inside the house at the time of the killings, and are believed to have witnessed parts of the incident.

Alexis Hernandez, Albuquerque Man, Shoots Two Dead After Claiming Cockroach Sent Encrypted Message Telling Him to Kill

According to an arrest warrant affidavit filed in Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court, deputies responded to a report of gunfire in southwest Albuquerque shortly before 10:30 p.m. Upon arrival, they encountered Hernandez standing at the front door with “a firearm on his waistband and a Marine Corps sabre on his hip,” the Albuquerque Journal reported.

Hernandez allegedly told deputies that he was a Marine and that he “had to do what he had to do,” before admitting that there were “two dead bodies inside the residence.”

When officers entered the home, they discovered one man dead with apparent gunshot wounds near the front of the house and another man with stab wounds in an attached apartment.

During questioning, Hernandez told investigators that one of the victims—whom he described as a friend—had been stalking him and placing hidden cameras in light fixtures. He also claimed to have heard “creepy voices coming from the vents” and said he had received “signs” that he needed to kill before the victim killed him.

Hernandez told officers the instructions came through an “encrypted message” sent by a cockroach, though it remains unclear what he meant by that or whether he was suffering from delusions at the time of the killings.

The bizarre and brutal incident has left the South Valley community stunned as authorities continue to investigate what drove the 25-year-old to carry out the double homicide.