Ledes from the Land of Enchantment

Forghedaboudit boss Bob Yacone charged in wife Kim’s death

LAS CRUCES – Kim Yacone, owner of Forghedaboudit Southwest Italian Cuisine in Picacho Hills, was shot to death Sunday night, Sheriff Kim Stewart said, in the master bedroom of the home Yacone shared with her husband, chef Robert Yacone.

Kim Yacone was 48.

On Tuesday afternoon, Stewart provided the first new details about the incident since Sunday night, when deputies responded to 911 calls regarding an injured female at the couple’s residence on Vista de Oro.

At a news conference at Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Office headquarters, Stewart said the initial call came at 7:42 pm from the couple’s son, Nick Yacone, 21, saying that he had discovered his mother apparently dead of a gunshot wound. He reported that a 12-gauge shotgun lay on a countertop and that he thought his father might take his own life.

According to an affidavit attached to a criminal complaint filed Tuesday, Nick Yacone was alerted to the situation by his older sister, Caleigh Yacone, who telephoned him from her home in New York state to say their father had called her and confessed to shooting their mother .

According to the complaint, Bob Yacone, 59, returned to the home shortly after the son discovered his mother, reportedly crashing his vehicle in the home’s garage, and that the son told detectives the elder Yacone appeared to have been drinking. After escaping the scene, the complaint states the son sought assistance from a neighboring home and was told to “go away.”

Meanwhile, Stewart said Kim Yacone’s minor child, a 17-year-old with special needs, had fled to a neighbor’s house saying that his mother had been shot. That neighbor also called 911.

A New Mexico State Police mobile crime lab is parked at the Picacho Hills, NM home of Robert and Kimberly Yacone on Monday, Sept. 19, 2022.

The situation then unfolded quickly, by Stewart’s account. She said deputies forced their way into the home and commenced a search, and were soon advised that Robert Yacone was still in the home. Deputies reportedly found Kim Yacone in the master bedroom, evidently deceased, with wounds to her face and back. The deputies also made contact with her husband, who was on a balcony attached to the bedroom. Yacone told the officers he had a handgun and a crisis negotiator immediately began seeking his surrender.

At 8:46 pm, just over an hour after the initial 911 call, Stewart said shots were exchanged between Yacone and three deputies, during which Yacone sustained unspecified gunshot wounds and was transported to a local hospital. The complaint says he sustained multiple wounds on the upper torso and arm. No one else was reported injured. As a standard procedure, the three deputies are on administrative leave while the shooting is investigated by a multi-agency task force.

Yacone’s precise condition was unknown but Stewart said he was expected to survive his injuries and may be released from the hospital, where he is under guard, within the next week.

Sheriff Kim Stewart discusses the events that took place before the officer involved shooting on Sept. 16 during a news conference on Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2022, at the Sheriff's Department.

A warrant was issued for his arrest Tuesday on charges of first-degree murder (willful and deliberate) as well as receipt, transportation or possession of a firearm or destructive device by a felon.

Stewart said the minor child was believed to be safe in the custody of adult siblings and that three dogs that lived in the home were also safe and uninjured. The investigation at the home carried on through Sunday night and Monday until the location was released Tuesday, according to detectives at the news conference.

Beginnings of Forghedaboudit, legal troubles

The couple started Forghedaboudit as a small pizza business in 2013 when they lived in Deming. The business grew in popularity and the Yacones were well-known for involvement with local charity efforts. As the business grew and its cooking gathered national awards, the couple planned to expand to a Las Cruces location; but the Yacones also came to be known just as well for their behavior, which included loud arguments in view of customers, controversial social media posts and repeated criminal complaints against boss Bob Yacone.

Robert Yacone pleaded no contest in 2014 to felony child abuse. When he faced charges over a road rage incident in Deming in 2018, a charge of possessing a firearm while a felon was dropped due to his receiving a deferred sentence.

The 2018 case alleged that Yacone had pointed a handgun at a motorist during that incident, but ultimately he pleaded down to misdemeanor disorderly conduct in Sixth Judicial District Court.

Sign over the entrance of Forghedaboudit Southwest Italian in Picacho Hills, NM seen on Monday, Sept. 19, 2022.

Stewart said that DASO had responded to the couple’s home more than a dozen times since January, two of which were for reports of a domestic disturbance. In 2020, Bob Yacone had been arrested on a domestic battery charge, but the charge was dropped.

During 2022, Kim Yacone filed petitions seeking protective orders against her husband due to domestic violence in February, March, and August. Bob Yacone filed two counter-petitions alleging abuse by her. Kim Yacone repeatedly asked the court to dismiss orders of protection saying the couple was undergoing counseling.

Kim Yacone filed for a divorce in February, according to court records, but appeared to pause the process in March. In August, she requested a hearing and a judge had been assigned to the proceeding. In recent weeks, she had posted in various local Facebook groups seeking to sell some of her belongings, alluding to moving out of her home.

Third District Judge Mary Rosner had signed a temporary protective order on Friday, Sept. 16, ordering Kim Yacone to leave the home and giving temporary custody of the minor child to her husband. A hearing had been set for Sept. 26.

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Algernon D’Ammassa can be reached at 575-541-5451, [email protected] or @AlgernonWrites on Twitter.

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