Arizona rancher George Allen Kelly said that day some people came to his house with AK-47 and targeted him. Arrested on murder charges.
Kelly told NewsNation, “He turned toward me … pointed the AK at me. And then — everybody says it was the stupidest thing ever — he said you should have shot him because he Was getting ready to shoot.”
Instead, he told the news outlet that he “shot from the top of the tree, over his head, and thank God he and the others ran away.”
Later that day – January 30, 2023 – they found a body and called the sheriff’s department. responding officer Kelly was accused of shooting and killing the victim, an illegal immigrant, and then captured him.
Arizona rancher’s defense expert faces $1 million ‘political lawsuit’ by morally bankrupt officials
FILE – George Allen Kelly enters court for his preliminary hearing at Nogales Justice Court on February 22, 2023 in Nogales, Ariz. An Arizona rancher is on trial in the fatal shooting of a migrant on his property on Friday, March 22, 2024. Near the Mexican border. (Mark Henley/The Arizona Republic via AP, Pool, File)
“He turned towards me… pointed an AK at me.”
His murder charges became the focus of an already controversial national debate about border security There is a rampage across the country, especially in states bordering Mexico.
“They accused me of shooting him,” Kelly told News Nation In his first interview after becoming a free man. “I said, ‘No, I didn’t shoot him.’ And they said, ‘Well, we think you did it, and we’re arresting you for first-degree murder.'”
The 75-year-old man spent 22 days in jail, which he described as the worst experience of his life. Kelly said, “If there is such a thing as hell, I will do anything I can not do.”
According to the rancher’s attorney, seven jurors wanted to acquit Kelly, but a “lone holdout” was adamant in his desire to convict the elderly rancher despite overwhelming evidence and testimony.
The judge announced case mistrial In April, and prosecutors said he would not have a retrial.
George Alan Kelly, right, exits the Santa Cruz County Courthouse with defense attorney Kathy Lowthorp, Friday, March 22, 2024, in Nogales, Ariz. Rancher Kelly has been charged with second-degree murder in the killing of a man he confronted. Property near Mexico. (Angela Gervasi/Nogales International via AP, Pool)
“If there is such a thing as hell, I will do everything I can not to do.”
The victim was identified as Gabriel Kuen-Buitimia and prosecutors claimed he was unarmed.
But Kelly’s defense attorneys said prosecutors failed to prove that Kuenn-Buitimia was shot by Kelly’s gun. Forensics and ballistics did not match Kelly’s gun, according to the defense.
The fatal bullet was never recovered from the scene.
“I don’t feel I was treated fairly in the investigation,” Kelly said. “I feel like I was arrested without any probable cause, without any probable cause.”
Judge Thomas Fink (right) walks out of the courtroom during the trial of rancher George Kelly. (Fox News)
Watch the judge walk out:
Kelly said he feared for his wife’s and his own safety. They were sitting on their patio when the rancher’s wife, Wanda Kelly, testified during the trial and said she saw armed men wearing camouflage And he was carrying a rifle and a backpack about 100 feet from his house.
Dr. Ron Martinelli, a criminologist who worked pro bono for Kelly’s defense team, accused prosecutors of “extreme confirmation bias.”
“Just imagine being on an isolated farm in your 70s. You and your wife. And you’re frequently seeing armed intruders on your farm,” Martinelli told Fox News Digital in a previous interview.
“This is a war. We try to fight this war in a moral, ethical and legal way. But we cannot be hindered by a dysfunctional criminal justice and law enforcement system. We cannot allow this to happen.” States America. We want to be a free country.”
Now that the trial is over, Kelly and his wife want to “start life again”, but it is difficult after the expensive trial.
Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge Thomas Fink hears opening arguments in the trial of George Allen Kelly on Friday, March 22, 2024, in Nogales, Ariz. Rancher Kelly is standing trial in the fatal shooting of a migrant on his property near Mexico. , (Angela Gervasi/Nogales International via AP, Pool)
“We don’t have any funds,” Kelly said. “Our life savings, they’re gone.”
Martinelli said Kelly used about $2 million in personal funding and funding from his legal defense fund on GiveSendGo, an online fundraiser founded by the cattleman’s wife.
George said that’s enough to keep them afloat for now, but he doesn’t know for how long.
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“That cloud is still over my head,” Kelly said. “It’s a long road, and we’re not out of the woods yet, but we’re not giving up. I won’t let them defeat me.”
