Arizona rancher charged with murder of Mexican man was ‘hunting’ migrants with AK-47: prosecutors

George Alan Kelly, 73, has maintained his innocence, arguing that he only fired warning shots in self-defense, and that there is no proof that one of his bullets killed the victim, 48-year-old Gabriel Cuen-Butimea.

According to the Daily Mail, prosecutors alleged that Kelly "hunted" the group of men with his gun and made numerous alterations to his story when he later spoke with law enforcement. They suggested that Cuen-Butimea was an "innocent man" and had been running "for his life."

The prosecutors' allegations are hinged on the testimony of two witnesses who claimed to have been in the group of trespassers on Kelly's property, reportedly trying to enter the United States illegally. The men, who prosecutors suggested posed "no threat" to Kelly or his family, ran back to the border after Kelly started shooting.

Kelly's lawyer questioned why the witnesses had come forward three weeks after the case was first opened, wondering if perhaps they were motivated by the benefits that would be given to them if they testified.

"There is a very large incentive structure for people to come forward," she said. "People can obtain immigration benefits for doing so. They can also succumb to pressure from traffickers, who have an interest in blaming this event on Mr. Kelly."

"Testimony is bought and sold by drug traffickers. It's a commodity and it is used. The benefit they are getting here is security for their smuggling route through his property, and they are sending a message to anyone else, that if you defend your property against us, you'll be arrested and there will be witnesses.

"After this giant, political explosion happened, random witnesses start to come forward. They come forward very much after the fact - after the investigation is compromised by all of the publicity - essentially anyone can come forward.

"The state doesn't appear to have vetted any of these witnesses," she added. "The state does not appear to scrutinize these witness statements the same way they've his there appears to be a double standard and confirmation bias."

Kelly's lawyer went on to slam the prosecutors for making what she argued were unfounded claims. "There was no bullet. There were no witnesses. But the government jumps the gun and decides to charge premeditated, first degree murder," she lamented.

Kelly's lawyer and the prosecution offered very different accounts of the events that transpired on January 30 at his ranch in Kino Springs, Arizona.

The former argued that the group of men had been armed with AK-47s and that when one of them pointed their gun at Kelly, he fired multiple shots "well over" their heads.

The latter, however, stated that the men were not armed, and that Kelly simply shot at them, striking Cuen-Butimea. They claimed that when Kelly called border patrol to report the dead body, he "sounded nervous or scared."

Kelly, who had been held on $1 million bond for nearly a month, was recently allowed to use his ranch as collateral and get out of custody.

Aside from being a rancher, Kelly was also a part-time writer, with his stories focusing on life in the border region. In one tale, characters named after him and his family "patrol the ranch daily, armed with AK-47s."