The District Attorney's Office has decided to seek the death penalty against both men charged with executing a local man in the Santa Fe National Forest this summer, according to court documents.

Prosecutor Barbara Romo cited two statutory reasons for pursuing the death penalty against John La Bombard, 35, and Justin Romero, 26, the documents say. The first is because Frank Segura, 39, was allegedly killed in the commission of a kidnapping, while the second says his death came about because he witnessed a crime the perpetrators wanted to keep quiet, the documents state.

The chain of events that led to Segura's death began July 16, when he got into a fight with his ex-girlfriend at her Stagecoach Road home, according to police reports. The girlfriend called La Bombard, who arrived with Romero and talked Segura into leaving the home. Segura returned not long after, which prompted La Bombard and Romero to come back as well, reports say.

During the second altercation, La Bombard and Romero brutally beat Segura, then loaded him into La Bombard's pickup and drove to the Santa Fe National Forest between Tesuque and Hyde Park, reports say. La Bombard later confessed to forcing Segura to lie on the ground and shooting him twice in the head with a shotgun, police reports state.

The killing was drug-related, though it wasn't over a particular drug deal, Romo said.

In statements to police, La Bombard and Romero have said La Bombard thought Segura was "going to be a rat or was a rat," Romo said. That means La Bombard thought Segura might be giving information about him to police, she said.

"That was the motive for the actual killing," Romo said. "Clearly, beating up the girlfriend was not the motive for the killing. They took him to the Santa Fe National Forest to get rid of him. That's what the evidence shows."

Romo said she didn't know if Segura actually was working with police.

Santa Fe Police Capt. Gary Johnson, head of the department's investigations unit, said Wednesday that he couldn't comment on whether Segura was a police informant. He did confirm city police officers busted Segura in the months before the killing.

Online court records say Segura was charged by a Santa Fe police officer in April with possession of cocaine and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was also charged with drug trafficking, possession of drug paraphernalia and three counts of credit-card theft in November 2007, according to online court records.

Johnson said the detective in the Segura case wants to speak with two men he believes are in Santa Fe and might have information about the killing. Anyone with information about Joe Deere and Glenn Carr should call Detective Robert Vasquez at 955-5038, Johnson said.

La Bombard has been charged with murder, conspiracy, kidnapping and tampering with evidence. Romero is charged with murder and tampering with evidence.

Romo said the District Attorney's Office will pursue the death penalty against Romero even though he isn't alleged to have pulled the trigger because he assisted in the killing and is equally culpable under the law.

Contact Jason Auslander at 986-3076 or :jauslander@sfnewmexican.com.