SANTA FE, N.M. (Court TV) — A New Mexico man faces a potential life sentence if he’s convicted of working with his girlfriend to murder a woman with a sword.

Isaac Apodaca (far left corner) appears in court on the first day of his trial. (Court TV)

Isaac Apodaca, 30, has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and conspiracy in the death of 21-year-old Grace Jennings, who was found dead in a detached garage at a property where the defendant lived with his girlfriend.

Officers were dispatched to the property on Oct. 29, 2022, after Apodaca’s mother called to say that her son had told her that he had witnessed his girlfriend kill another woman with a sword. When officers arrived, they found Jennings’ lifeless body; she had cuts to her legs and so many wounds that it “appeared her left ear had been chopped off.” A long sword, covered in blood, was on the dresser.

Also in the home was Apodaca’s girlfriend, Kiara McCulley, who had cuts on her hands that were covered in bandages, police said. They also noticed that the washing machine was on, with 15 minutes left in the cycle.

McCulley entered a guilty plea in the case in 2025 as part of an agreement with prosecutors that will see her serve 30 years in exchange for her truthful testimony against Apodaca. In an interview with officers, she initially claimed she didn’t know what happened but also admitted that she was angry that Apodaca had invited Jennings to stay with them, and recalled having dreams about harming Jennings.

But investigators say it was Apodaca who convinced McCulley to kill the victim. Prosecutors have said text messages show the two had been communicating and conspiring to kill Jennings, with Apodaca aggressively coercing his girlfriend to take action.

Apodaca met Jennings in 2018; the defendant told officers in an interview that he had a relationship with her when she was 16 and he was 20, which he acknowledged was illegal. In a separate interview, McCulley also said that she had dated the victim prior to either woman having a relationship with Apodaca. Before her death, Apodaca said he and the two women had all shared a bed, but maintained that there was no sexual relationship that included her.