Arizona rancher charged with murder for shooting Mexican national 150ft from US border

[Half Cocked]

An Arizona cattle rancher has been charged with first-degree murder and had his bail set at $1 million after he allegedly killed a Mexican national, who was likely in the country illegally, on his ranch just 150 feet from the US border.

George Alan Kelly, 73, is accused in the Jan. 30 killing of Gabriel Cuen-Butimea, 48, on his property just outside Nogales, Ariz., the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s office said.

Officials believe Cuen-Butimea was a Mexican citizen because of a Mexican voter registration card he carried.

He was living at the time in Nogales, Mexico — separated by the border from the Arizona town by the same name.

Cuen-Butimea had a history of illegally crossing the border and had been deported back to Mexico multiple times, most recently in 2016, according to federal documents obtained by the Daily Mail.
A picture of the home of rancher George Alan Kelly.
Authorities say Kelly killed Gabriel Cuen-Butimea, 48, on his ranch just outside of Nogales, Ariz.
Zillow

Once someone has been deported, the US government bars them from re-entering the country for five or 10 years, and repeat offenders are banned for longer or permanently depending on the reason for deportation.

https://nypost.com/2023/02/07/elder...ed-with-murdering-a-mexican-man-on-his-ranch/

 

[QuangTri]

I seem to have the impression that citizins would break improperly incarcerated out of jail many years ago, should this sort of travesty occur.

Yeah, the jailers are better armed than Rio Bravo, but still.

 

[338lapua]

Kind of makes a strong argument for a back hoe.

 

[Half Cocked]

Kind of makes a strong argument for a back hoe.

 

[pneuby]

https://www.dictionary.com/e/discreet-vs-discrete/

 

[Suck My Glock]

Kind of makes a strong argument for a back hoe.

Or at least an old abandoned mine shaft and a 50 lbs. sack of ANFO.

 

[Half Cocked]

https://www.dictionary.com/e/discreet-vs-discrete/

Got it! :handgestures-thumbupright:

 

[Suck My Glock]

UPDATE:
We are now finally getting some details of the rancher's version of what happened.


https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/arizona-rancher-held-on-1m-bond-fired-warning-shots-armed-men-pointed-ak-47-right-at-him-defense-claims/ar-AA17oLhZ?ocid=winp1taskbar&cvid=25ab4eb6e002452581317764f12d81e3

 

[Manitu]

He was getting court appointed attorney assigned owing to his indigent status, I missed his version of anything?

 

[mock0013]

wow the news is totally reporting this wrong and he is getting screwed. Poor wife.
F_Ck Gofundme ....
No good deed goes unpunished.. he should have just buried it

 

[cool arrow]

I would love, LOVE to see the ballistics report NOT match his weapon.

The MSM will not backpedal, but if it wasn't the ranchers rifle that killed the illegal, he could probably sue their asses off.

 

[SupportTheSecond]

From everything I've read especially an article today there is zero reason for him to even be in jail. I hope they get enough outrage to release him. This is nonsense.

 

[QuietM4]

From his story, he heard a gun shot during the time he was having lunch with his wife...I'd bet that was the shot that killed the dead guy found on his ranch. Love to see that ballistics report...

Why is this old guy in jail in the first place?

 

[TheAccountant]

Why is this old guy in jail in the first place?

Because he made the mistake of thinking federal law enforcement could be trusted and didn’t keep his mouth shut.

 

[jls in az]

Because the County Attorney and Sheriff in Santa Cruz county are left of Lenin and owned by the Sinaloa Cartel.

 

[hrob]

[highlight=yellow]"The leader of the armed group of men saw Mr. Kelly and pointed an AK-47 right at him," Larkin wrote. "Mr. Kelly, fearing for his life and safety, fired several shots from his rifle, hoping to scare them away from him, his wife, his animals, and his home. As he shot, Mr. Kelly took care to aim well over the heads of the armed group of men. The group then began running into the desert surrounding his home. Once the group had fled, Mr. Kelly walked over to his barn to see if it was safe and secure."[/highlight]

As much as I sympathize with Mr. Kelly, if facing an armed group of men, one of whom points an AK in his direction, why would he fire "well over" their heads? Why wouldn't they have fired back? His story just doesn't make sense and I don't think it will help him.

Mr. Kelly made the biggest mistake of his life that day but it wasn't allegedly killing that illegal immigrant trespasser. His mistake was getting law enforcement involved. He should have just made that guy disappear and not told a soul - ever.

 

[Suck My Glock]

His mistake was getting law enforcement involved. He should have just made that guy disappear and not told a soul - ever.

I think his actions would have been reasonable and prudent [highlight=yellow]IF[/highlight] his local authorities were trustworthy. I think his biggest failing was in not being diligent enough to know that they were not. Most gun people in that county know the bad character of their sheriff and county attorney and thereby know what to expect. Had the rancher understood how lacking in trust the authorities were, we might well have made different choices that day.

 

[Half Cocked]

Because the County Attorney and Sheriff in Santa Cruz county are left of Lenin and owned by the Sinaloa Cartel.

It wouldn't be the first time that government officials have been bought out by organized crime. Money talks and the cartel$ have lots of money.

 

[cool arrow]

This will give you all a good idea of what a POS this guy is:

https://patagoniaregionaltimes.org/sheriff-hathaway-visits-container-wall-protesters-offers-his-support/

On Wednesday afternoon, Santa Cruz County Sheriff David Hathaway made an unscheduled visit to the group of protesters who have been working since Nov. 29 to stop construction of the container wall by the state of Arizona in Coronado National Forest, inside the neighboring Cochise County.

“He just came riding up in his sheriff’s car like he was kind of the cavalry,” said Kate Scott, executive director of the Cochise County-based Madrean Archipelago Wildlife Center and one of the organizers of the ongoing protest. “He said, ‘I’m so glad you guys are here.’ When you do a protest that’s not what you usually hear from law enforcement.”

Hathaway’s visit to the construction site in support of the protesters may have been unannounced, but it was not out of character for the sheriff. Hathaway, a Democrat, has been especially outspoken in the last week in his opposition to the controversial $95 million project put in motion earlier this year by Governor Doug Ducey.

“It is clearly illegal activity,” Hathaway told the PRT last Friday, Dec. 2, in a phone interview. “There are no permits for what they’re doing. It is illegal—and it is happening on federal land!”

Hathaway said his office had received numerous calls from concerned citizens in eastern Santa Cruz County regarding the trucks hauling the containers and heavy equipment, claiming they were traveling at breakneck speed.

“Those containers are now just 6.5 miles from Santa Cruz County,” he said. “I have a department of 38 sheriffs for the whole county, so we are not that big of a department, but we are prepared to draw a line in the sand if these containers make it to SCC. If we become aware of any individuals involved with the placing or trying to place these containers, we will arrest them and charge them with illegal dumping on public land.”

Hathaway felt that he was a bit of a “lone voice” in publicly calling out what he believes are illegal actions by the state of Arizona. He expressed disappointment that other agencies—and politicians—at the county, state and federal levels hadn’t done more to stop construction of the wall.

“The feds are the ones that should be really upset about these containers,” he said. “I’m not sure why they haven’t done more to stop this. They are just sitting there when they are the ones most impacted.”

The protesters are also puzzled over the federal government’s inaction.

“I don’t understand why the federal government doesn’t help out, or get an injunction,” said Scott today. “The state government of Arizona is seizing federal land—isn’t that kind of an insurrectionary act? And so I appreciate the direct and succinct statements Sheriff Hathaway has made to the governor. He’s really feisty. His presence, and his enthusiasm and appreciation for what we are doing here, mean a lot.”

Early Friday morning, the camp of protesters seemed to have triumphed. According to Scott, sometime around 7:30am a supervisor for the project asked activists not to block construction machinery, which he said was going to be returned to a staging area. The protesters cooperated, and the heavy equipment is now gone from the site.



A backhoe operator working to install containers along the border in the San Rafael Valley waits as protesters blocked work on the wall on Tuesday, Nov. 29. Photo by Jenny Wrenn
Maintaining a 24-hour presence near the work site and placing their bodies in front of machinery had allowed the growing group of organized protesters to significantly slow the wall’s construction in the last week, bringing it to a near-halt. A sheriff’s deputy from Cochise County visited the site recently and, according to Scott, told the protesters their actions were within their rights. Scott said the construction workers were clearly frustrated.

Scott was unsure what would happen now.

“You can assume they’re not going to continue work in that [particular] area, but they still have their equipment in the staging area,” she said. “They might attempt to work somewhere else at night, or really, really early in the morning. But the incoming weather may pose a really big problem for them.”

Looking forward, Scott anticipated that Governor-elect Katie Hobbs will halt the container wall’s construction when she takes office next month.

“I hope Katie Hobbs really seizes this moment and stands tall and does the right thing,” she said.

In the meantime, Scott is energized by what the protesters have achieved since Nov. 29.

“It became such a great turnout of people, from all over,” she said. “It’s very heartwarming. After suffering so much over Trump’s wall, you get really charged up when you can actually stop something.”

 

[AZHTfreak]

Because the County Attorney and Sheriff in Santa Cruz county are left of Lenin and owned by the Sinaloa Cartel.