ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (TCD) — A man will spend the rest of his life behind bars for fatally striking a 61-year-old church security guard and United States Coast Guard veteran when the victim went to check on his vehicle.
Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman announced Monday, June 10, that a judge sentenced Marc Ward to life in prison for the 2022 first-degree murder of Daniel Bourne outside Calvary Church. A jury convicted him of the charge in March.
According to prosecutors, in September 2022, Ward used his father’s truck to hit Bourne twice while he was working security. Further investigation revealed Bourne allegedly went to check on what he believed was a suspicious vehicle, and as he got closer to the truck, Ward drove into him, KRQE-TV reports. Ward had reportedly attended church on the day of the incident.
Prosecutors argued during the trial that Ward accelerated before striking Bourne, and he turned around to hit him again, according to the Albuquerque Journal. Bourne reportedly pulled out a gun and fired toward the truck twice, hitting the radiator, and causing a fluid trail. Prosecutors argued the trail indicated the truck’s path in the parking lot.
According to the Albuquerque Journal, jurors watched a cellphone video recorded by Bourne moments before his death, in which his breathing becomes heavy after the vehicle’s impact.
On the defense, Ward’s attorneys alleged the death was not intentional.
Ward reportedly apologized for the killing, but he didn’t provide a motive. He will be eligible for parole after serving 30 years in prison.
In addition to serving in the military, Bregman said Bourne was a retired Bernalillo County Fire Rescue Battalion commander, husband, and father.