By Roger Lanse
On December 26, 2025, at approximately 10:30 a.m., a caller to the Grant County Regional Dispatch Authority reported he would be conducting a controlled burn for a couple of hours and would call when completed. According to a Grant County Sheriff’s Office incident report, a half hour later, at 11:03 a.m., a deputy was dispatched to a Gila address in reference to a shooting.
GCRDA then advised, the report said, that Russel Dobkins, 75, called, stating he had shot his neighbor. Esker Mayberry, 63, in the head with a .357 rifle as Mayberry was standing 20 feet from his house with a can of gas threatening to “burn him out.” Dobkins told dispatchers Mayberry was now lying in the fire and was burning and Dobkins was hosing down the fire to keep it from spreading. Dobkins also stated he had left the rifle in the garage.
When GCSO deputies arrived at the scene, a New Mexico State Police officer had already placed Dobkins in investigative detention, according to the report, and Emergency Medical Services personnel were by Mayberry’s body. Also present on scene were members of the Cliff-Gila Volunteer Fire Department.
A GCSO deputy located the rifle in the garage where Dobkins said he had placed it. It was determined to be a Taurus/Rossi .357 Magnum lever-action.
Dobkins was transported to Gila Regional Medical Center for assessment where he told deputies about several incidents in the past nine years where Mayberry had threatened him and/or damaged his property. The report stated Dobkins told deputies that Mayberry, in this incident, poured gasoline and ignited it approximately 15-20 feet from his house which led Dobkins to shoot him.
After the medical assessment was completed, Dobkins was transported to GCSO for paperwork.
On December 26, 2025, at approximately 10:30 a.m., a caller to the Grant County Regional Dispatch Authority reported he would be conducting a controlled burn for a couple of hours and would call when completed. According to a Grant County Sheriff's Office incident report, a half hour later, at 11:03 a.m., a deputy was dispatched to a Gila address in reference to a shooting.
GCRDA then advised, the report said, that Russel Dobkins, 75, called, stating he had shot his neighbor. Esker Mayberry, 63, in the head with a .357 rifle as Mayberry was standing 20 feet from his house with a can of gas threatening to "burn him out." Dobkins told dispatchers Mayberry was now lying in the fire and was burning and Dobkins was hosing down the fire to keep it from spreading. Dobkins also stated he had left the rifle in the garage.
When GCSO deputies arrived at the scene, a New Mexico State Police officer had already placed Dobkins in investigative detention, according to the report, and Emergency Medical Services personnel were by Mayberry's body. Also present on scene were members of the Cliff-Gila Volunteer Fire Department.
A GCSO deputy located the rifle in the garage where Dobkins said he had placed it. It was determined to be a Taurus/Rossi .357 Magnum lever-action.
Dobkins was transported to Gila Regional Medical Center for assessment where he told deputies about several incidents in the past nine years where Mayberry had threatened him and/or damaged his property. The report stated Dobkins told deputies that Mayberry, in this incident, poured gasoline and ignited it approximately 15-20 feet from his house which led Dobkins to shoot him.
After the medical assessment was completed, Dobkins was transported to GCSO for paperwork.
