Man who ran over, killed Albuquerque church security guard sentenced to life in prison

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Marc Ward will spend life in prison for deliberately hitting and killing an Albuquerque church security guard before being fired. On Monday, Ward confronted the family of the man he killed.

Ward was convicted of first-degree murder in March for killing Daniel Bourne, 61, who was working as a security guard at Calvary Church in 2022, when Ward ran him over. “Because of Marc Ward's actions that night, I cannot call my day to hear his voice, I cannot ask for life advice or share hobbies and I cannot call him to tell him what my husband or my son is doing,” said Jamie Blasé, Daniel Bourne’s eldest daughter.

The murder occurred on September 23, 2022, when victim Daniel Bourne went to check out what he thought was a suspicious vehicle in the Calvary Church parking lot along Osuna near Jefferson.

Ward, who had attended church, was driving a truck. As Bourne approached the truck, Ward ran over it twice, then dragged Bourne's body to a nearby arroyo.

On Monday, Ward's family stressed that Bourne was an innocent man who was killed in cold blood. “I don't care if this next sentence makes me a bad Christian, but I hope that when your time comes, you burn in hell for your crimes. I sincerely hope that in time I will learn to forgive you for killing my father,” said Courtney Bourne, daughter of Daniel Bourne.

“I ask him to keep all his apologies to himself, because even if he had one from that night to date, he did not say one, because it might not have helped him during trial or would not have helped him today at sentencing,'” Bourne said.

Because Ward was convicted of first-degree murder, he faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison. He will have the possibility of obtaining parole after thirty years in prison. Ward apologized for the crime in court Monday afternoon, but offered no explanation for why he killed Bourne.