Fwd: Arizona rancher charged with first-degree murder in killing near U.S. border...CBS/AP
Molly Molloy
Arizona rancher charged with first-degree murder in killing near U.S. border
February 7, 2023 / 11:27 AM / CBS/AP
A rancher who lives near Arizona's border with Mexico is being held on a charge of first-degree murder in last week's fatal shooting of a man tentatively identified as a Mexican citizen. His bail was set at $1 million.
The Santa Cruz County Sheriff's office in Nogales, Arizona, confirmed Monday that George Alan Kelly, 73, was arrested last week in the killing. Authorities believe the victim was Gabriel Cuen-Butimea, 48, who lived just south of the border in Nogales, Mexico, because of a Mexican voter registration card he carried.
George Alan Kelly
Santa Cruz County (Arizona) Sheriff's Office via AP
The killing occurred Jan. 30 in the Kino Springs area just outside Nogales, Arizona, said Sheriff's Chief Deputy Gerardo Castillo. The address where the killing happened is the same one listed in public records for Kelly's cattle ranch.
Details about the shooting were sketchy and it was unknown if the two men previously knew each other. Authorities have not given a motive.
Neighbor Maria Castillo told CBS News affiliate KOLD that it wasn't uncommon to see people who have crossed the border in the area, but that it was never an issue.
"I drive through here everyday," Castillo says. "Late, early and never encountered anybody, I feel very safe living here in the area."
Kelly was being held at the Santa Cruz County Jail after his arraignment in the county's Justice Court last week. He is set to return to court Wednesday.
Local attorney Brenna Larkin, who was appointed by the court to represent Kelly, did not immediately return a call seeking comment on the charge against him.
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- By Angela Gervasi • Nogales International
- Feb 21, 2023 Updated 18 hrs ago
A Kino Springs rancher accused of first-degree murder of a Mexican citizen is now facing two additional criminal charges of aggravated assault.
In an amended complaint filed Tuesday, the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office alleged that George Alan Kelly committed aggravated assault against two additional victims during a Jan. 30 encounter on Kelly’s Kino Springs ranch. The complaint asserts that Kelly used “a rifle, a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument” against the individuals.
The alleged victims are identified only by their initials in the amended complaint, and there are no additional details of the alleged assaults.
Now, Kelly faces a total of three criminal charges, the most serious and severe being first-degree murder.
Sheriff’s deputies arrested Kelly on Jan. 30 after authorities say they discovered a deceased man on Kelly’s property. The man has since been identified as 48-year-old Gabriel Cuen-Buitimea, a Mexican citizen from Nogales, Sonora. Cuen-Buitimea appeared to have been unarmed, according to deputies.
Kelly is currently being held on a $1 million bond – a standard amount for murder cases in Santa Cruz County. A brief hearing on the case is scheduled for 9 a.m. Wednesday at Nogales Justice Court.
Through his attorney Brenna Larkin, Kelly has denied the murder charge altogether, instead asserting that he found Cuen-Buitimea dead on his ranch before calling authorities.
In a motion to modify conditions of release, Larkin described the 74-year-old rancher as “an innocent man” who’d been wrongly accused of criminal activity.
In the document, Larkin claimed that Kelly had fired several warning shots in an attempt to disperse an “armed group of men” on his property.
“He does not believe that any of his warning shots could have possibly hit the person or caused the death,” the motion said.
In the Feb. 9 motion, Larkin requested that Kelly either be released from custody on his own recognizance. Failing that, Larkin asked that her client’s $1 million bail be reduced or converted to a surety bond.
No response to Larkin’s request had been filed as of Tuesday afternoon.
For their part, county authorities have been tight-lipped about potential evidence to support the first-degree murder charge. However, the fact that two additional victims are now alleged to have been involved in the incident suggests that the state may have witnesses to refute Kelly’s version of events.
George Alan Kelly, 73, was arrested after authorities say they discovered the body of a still-unidentified male on his Kino Springs property on Monday evening.