George Alan Kelly
KINO SPRINGS, AZ – A 73-year-old Arizona rancher has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder for fatally shooting an illegal alien on his ranch.
George Alan Kelly, 73, was arrested on Jan. 30 for killing Gabriel Kuen-Butimia at his Arizona ranch in Kino Springs, outside Nogales, Mexico.
Kelly is being held at the Santa Cruz County Jail on $1 million bond.
George Kelly asked the judge to lower his bail so he could go home to take care of his wife.
“She’s just there… no one takes care of her, cattle or livestock,” he said, according to Nogales International. “And I’m not going anywhere. I can’t come up with a million dollars,” he said.
According to reports, Gabriel Kuen-Butimia has a history of illegally crossing into the United States and multiple deportations.
Authorities found a Mexican voter registration card on the deceased.
According to defense lawyers, Mr. Kelly fired warning shots after seeing a group of men in camouflage clothing.
Attorneys said George Alan Kelly was too cautious to shoot himself in the head.
A shepherd goes to check on his horse and discovers a dead man.
“Later that day, as the sun was setting, Kelly went out into his pasture to check on his horse, still concerned that the horse might have been injured in the incident. Noticing that the dogs he had brought with him were focused on something on the ground near a mesquite tree, Kelly approached the area and “observed a body lying face down in the grass,” Larkin said. wrote. He then called Border Patrol Ranch Contact a third time to report the discovery and request assistance from law enforcement. — Fox News reported.
Now this…
George Alan Kelly slams new charges ahead of preliminary hearing!
The veteran rancher was hit with two counts of aggravated assault along with a charge of first-degree premeditated murder.
Fox News reported:
Arizona rancher George Alan Kelly, already facing a first-degree murder charge for the shooting death of a Mexican man, now faces two counts of aggravated assault on Tuesday, just a day before his scheduled preliminary hearing.
Additional counts filed in Santa Cruz County say Kelly “willfully used a rifle, deadly weapon or dangerous instrument.” [unnamed person]in reasonable apprehension of imminent bodily injury.” But this filing, like others from the government so far, fails to specify how or why authorities believe Kelly is the responsible party.
In his own court filing earlier this month, Kelly — who remains on $1 million bond — maintains that he is an innocent man. He admitted to firing his rifle in the air in late January to scare away armed drug traffickers. They say the men were responsible for the shooting death of a Mexican national who was shot dead on Kelly’s border property outside Nogales.
