Jurors in the murder trial of Arizona rancher George Alan Kelly are scheduled to tour the border compound at the center of the case involving the death of Mexican national Gabriel Quen-Buitimare.
The visit to the 170-acre ranch near Kino Springs outside Nogales will take place Thursday, Fox News Digital has learned.
As the trial passed its halfway point, jurors heard testimony about where and how far Kelly stood when prosecutors say he shot Quyen-Buitimare.
The defense has argued that Kelly had only fired a warning shot into the air from their patio earlier in the day, and that his wife, Wanda Kelly, was wearing camouflage and carrying a rifle and a backpack. He said he spotted two armed men walking with about 100 people carrying them on their backs and called the Border Patrol’s contact number at the ranch. It is located a few meters from their house.
Wife of Arizona rancher George Alan Kelley testifies in murder trial about armed groups near border area
George Alan Kelly enters for a preliminary hearing in Nogales Justice Court on February 22, 2023 in Nogales, Arizona. (Mark Henle/Arizona Republic via Associated Press, Pool, File)
Kelly’s lawyers have questioned whether forensic evidence and an autopsy report presented in court can prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Quyen-Buytimea was killed by Kelly’s gun. ing. The fatal bullet was never recovered from the scene. Kelly’s defense attorney consultant told Fox News Digital on condition of anonymity that none of the state’s witnesses in the trial so far have responded to the defense’s theory that the Rip Crew was involved. He said that he had not provided rebuttal testimony. Associate – May have shot and robbed Quyen-Buytimea.
Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge Thomas Fink on Monday denied media access to accompany jurors to Kelly’s private property during a visit to the ranch this week.
Among the witnesses who took the stand last week were Sgt. Omar Rodriguez was the first to respond to the scene on the night of Jan. 30, 2023, after Kelly called both Border Patrol and the Sheriff’s Office to report finding a body on the property. He was a supervisor with the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office.
Under cross-examination by Kathy Lowthorpe, one of Kelly’s attorneys, Rodriguez testified that he never considered the possibility that Quen Buitimare was a scout or drug smuggler. The decedent was wearing camouflage clothing and tactical boots and admitted to having a backpack and a highly encrypted two-way radio in his possession.
The defense consultant told Fox News Digital that smugglers, or coyotes, are known to bring in similar radios to communicate with each other and monitor law enforcement communications in the area.
Rodriguez testified that at the scene, he turned Quyen-Buytimea over, cut the backpack straps and searched inside the backpack. Although no U.S. dollars were found on the man’s body, which the defense believes is unusual for an immigrant who apparently entered the United States, Rodríguez said Kuyen-Buytimea was found with 1,540 pesos. (the equivalent of less than $80) and no identification.
Lowthorpe grilled Rodriguez, saying, “Maybe he was robbed. Have you ever thought about that?”
George Alan Kelly leaves the Santa Cruz County Courthouse with defense attorney Kathy Lowthorpe on Friday, March 22, 2024 in Nogales, Arizona. (Angela Gervasi/Nogales International, Associated Press, Pool)
“I’m guessing, ma’am,” he replied.
Arizona rancher George Alan Kelly’s trial witness admits to drug smuggling
“But, sir, your job is to write down and investigate every possibility, not to sit there and defend why you didn’t investigate,” Lowthorpe retorted.
At the start of the trial, the prosecution’s key witness, a man from Honduras who claimed to have been with Quyen-Buytimea when he was shot, admitted to previously transporting drugs across the border and told smugglers that He told the court he paid $2,500 for each person. Notably, the man also testified as to why it took two weeks after the shooting to come forward as a witness. He claimed under oath that he drank water from a tank on Kelly’s property and became ill for a while after crossing the border back to Mexico.
George Alan Kelly, 73, is accused of fatally shooting a Mexican man on his property in January 2023. Kelly said he fired warning shots, but he never fired directly at anyone. (Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office, via Associated Press)
Upon arriving at the scene, Rodriguez testified that Kelly led him to Kuyen-Buitimare’s body (approximately 115 meters from Kelly’s residence), and despite the rancher’s nervousness, Kelly placed his body in a tree near the body. He admitted to putting out a light and allowing a deputy to enter. This is to make it easier to find the deceased.
Rodriguez admitted that he did not have formal tracking or ballistics evidence, but based on the location of the entry wound, “the projectiles and bullets that flew and hit the deceased and the victims came from the direction of the house.” He told the court that he believed that. on the right side of his body. However, in response to Lowthorpe’s pursuit, the sergeant stated that Quyen-Buytimea may have died instantly or suffered fatal injuries, walking and staggering, bleeding, before finally collapsing at the spot where he was found. He admitted that he could not say for sure.
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Mr. Kelly made national headlines last year when he was held on $1 million bail for several weeks on first-degree murder charges. The maximum charge was later reduced to second-degree murder. The elderly rancher rejected an agreement from prosecutors earlier this year to reduce his charges to one count of negligent homicide if he agreed to plead guilty. The trial is scheduled to end on April 19th.
