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Albuquerque police knew when they saw the man in a Central Avenue hotel room that he had been beaten nearly to death.

Though Charles Beck, 44, of Mescalero, was still breathing when officers were called to the hotel just east of San Mateo Boulevard, Albuquerque homicide detectives were called out just in case, said police spokesman John Walsh.

Beck died of his injuries late Monday, about 12 hours after detectives pulled him from his room at the former Tradewinds Hotel and took him to University of New Mexico Hospital.

He was the metro area's third homicide of the year.

Witnesses told police two men were seen driving away from Beck's room just before he was found, Walsh said.

Beck has a local criminal history dating to 2006 that includes charges of auto theft, drug possession and driving violations.

Police have not released a motive in his death.

The motive is also unclear in the death of a man found Friday on a dirt road on Pajarito Mesa, in southwest Bernalillo County.

Bernalillo County Sheriff's Department detectives say they are still trying to identify the man, who was found shot and burned.

The man had a tattoo of a castle on a hill on his upper right arm, detectives said.