SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, Ariz. (KGUN) — Testimony in the murder trial of Santa Cruz County rancher George Alan Kelly suggested he was willing to confront smugglers crossing his land.
Kelly is charged with second degree murder for shooting and killing a Mexican national who was passing through his land.
On January 30th of last year Kelly said he heard a gunshot and reported at least five smugglers crossing his land. Prosecutors say he gave law enforcement conflicting statements about whether the men had guns.
Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Deputy Christobal Castaneda says when he responded to Kelly’s call, deputies found Kelly had taken his rifle and gone looking for the intruders.
Deputy Castaneda says he told Kelly he should have gone in the house, called 911, and stayed safe.
Under questioning by prosecutor Kim Hunley Castaneda said, “Mr Kelly said he would take responsibility for his actions.”
Hunley asked, “Before he said that, you indicated that he said he had to protect his property and did he say something else as well?”
Deputy Castaneda: “That he was conscious of the consequences.”
Investigators say after Kelly saw two men crossing his property he stepped out of the house and fired his rifle at least nine times. Prosecutors say one of the shots hit and killed one of the men more than a hundred yards away.
Kelly’s lawyers say he was careful to fire over the men’s heads. They have suggested someone else shot the man,---perhaps a member of the cartels.
Jurors got a first hand look at George Alan Kelly’s assault rifle. The Santa Cruz County rancher is charged with second degree murder in the shooting death of a Mexican National crossing his land.
Day three of testimony has been heavy on Kelly’s contacts with law enforcement on the day of the shooting. Just before jurors broke for lunch, they had a firsthand look at what prosecutors regard as the murder weapon.
Up to this point jurors had only seen photos of the AK-47 assault rifle Kelly carried as he patrolled his ranch. Prosecutors say he fired this gun in the direction of two border crossers, and hit and killed Gabriel Cuen Buitimea.
No bullet was ever recovered for a potential match to Kelly’s gun.
The bullet had enough power to hit the victim in the back, go out the front of his chest and be lost in the landscape.
Deputy David Monreal was still a deputy-in-training when he and his training officer answered an emergency call to George Alan Kelly’s ranch. Kelly had reported drug smugglers crossing his land, and the sound of a gunshot.
Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Deputy David Monreal: “He didn’t know if the reason why they were running and the shots were fired was if there were rival cartel members [that] had a conflict between each other."
Prosecutor Kim Hunley: "Have you ever seen that happen in Kino Springs?"
Monreal: “No.”
The deputies joined with Border Patrol Agents to search around Kelly’s house and make sure any danger was gone. They did not find the body of the dead man.
Later Kelly reported the body more than a hundred yards from his house. Prosecutors say Kelly had stood behind his house and fired at least nine shots in the direction of Cuen Buitimea and another man, but did not tell Sheriff’s detectives he fired his gun until almost 10 hours after he called to report trouble on his ranch.
PREVIOUS TRIAL COVERAGE:
- Rancher’s murder trial: Border crosser describes shooting
- Rancher’s lawyers push idea someone else killed man on his land
Thursday's testimony will continue into the afternoon. KGUN 9 will update this story with any further developments.
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Craig Smith is a reporter for KGUN 9. With more than 40 years of reporting in cities like Tampa, Houston and Austin, Craig has covered more than 40 Space Shuttle launches and covered historic hurricanes like Katrina, Ivan, Andrew and Hugo. Share your story ideas and important issues with Craig by emailing craig.smith@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook and Twitter.
