Warning: Graphic content, readers’ discretion advised. This story contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some readers discretion advised.
The case of Kiara McCulley involves the 2022 murder of Grace Jennings with a sword in Santa Fe, New Mexico. McCulley pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in February 2025 and is set to testify against her co-defendant and former boyfriend, Isaac Apodaca.
On October 29, 2022, police found 21-year-old Grace Jennings fatally stabbed with a sword in the garage of McCulley’s mother’s home. The victim had suffered multiple stab wounds, and there were signs of an attempted decapitation.
Investigators determined that McCulley and her boyfriend, Isaac Apodaca, had both previously been in romantic relationships with Jennings. The couple was reportedly upset when Jennings, who had been homeless, came to stay with them.
Text messages recovered from Apodaca’s phone show that he and McCulley conspired to kill Jennings while she slept in the garage. The text messages revealed Apodaca encouraging McCulley, with one message stating, “I am wanting you to kill her, you have to end your suffering by ending her joy”.
During her police interrogation, McCulley’s behavior was erratic. She claimed to have dissociative identity disorder, with multiple personalities controlling her actions. She also told investigators she had previously fantasized about harming Jennings. McCulley alleged that Jennings had collected money from her during a sexual assault years prior, but a police captain stated that her account of the incident was inconsistent with the original 2020 report.
McCulley was found incompetent to stand trial in late 2022 and was ordered to the New Mexico Behavioral Health Institute. After treatment, she was ruled competent in late 2022/early 2023.
In February 2025, McCulley pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. As part of her plea deal, she agreed to testify against Isaac Apodaca. In exchange, she faces a 30-year prison sentence. The extended sentence is due to the brutality of the murder.
Isaac Apodaca: Apodaca was charged with coercion and murder. He initially accepted a plea deal but later withdrew it.
He is scheduled to stand trial later in 2025.