73-Year-Old Arizona Rancher Held on $1 Million Bond for Allegedly Killing Illegal Immigrant on Property

Border Patrol agents patrol the border in Nogales, Ariz., on July 29, 2019. The city of Nogales, Mexico, abuts the border fence to the right. CBP

A 73-year-old Arizona rancher has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder for the killing of an illegal immigrant who has been tentatively identified as a Mexican citizen.

Full details about the shooting have not been made available, and it is unknown whether the rancher, George Alan Kelly, and the deceased, Gabriel Cuen-Butimea, 48, knew each other. The killing occurred on Jan. 30, and Kelly’s arrest was preceded by authorities finding the dead body of Cuen-Butimea on Kelly’s cattle ranch. Cuen-Butimea’s was identified from a Mexican voter registration card he carried.