Detective in Arizona Rancher’s Murder Trial Testifies That Key Witness Interview Was Partly Recorded

Santa Cruz County Detective Mario Barba confirmed it was ‘not standard practice’ to record a ’small portion' of an interview.

Defense lawyer Kathy Lowthorp (R) examines the bloody jacket of homicide victim Gabriel Cuen-Buitimea as Santa Cruz County Detective Jorge Ainza (L) watches in the Superior Court in Nogales, Ariz., on April 11, 2024. Allan Stein/The Epoch Times

NOGALES, Ariz.—A detective in the George Alan Kelly murder case testified at the trial that an interview with the sole eyewitness to the fatal shooting of an illegal immigrant in Arizona was partially recorded in an empty hotel lounge in Mexico.

On April 11, the 12th day of the trial, defense co-counsel Brenna Larkin asked the prosecution witness, “Why did you go into Mexico to interview him?”