Border rancher George Allen Kelly, 75 years old, was on trial, charged with the death of an illegal alien who had been deported numerous times. The body of Gabriel Cuen Buitimea (48) had been found in the mesquite about 115 yards from the rural home of George Allen Kelly and his wife, Wanda. The husband and wife had retired to Arizona in 2002 after careers as a state fisheries biologist and a school teacher in Lincoln, Montana.
On January 30, 2023, George Allen Kelly called Border Patrol and said he heard a shot and that he might have to return fire. Investigators come out. They don’t find anything. Late in the evening, Kelly finds the body of Gabriel Cuen Buitimea about 115 yards from the house. He calls Border Patrol again. The authorities investigate. They put the body in a freezer. Because the authorities put the body in a freezer, the exact time of death could not be determined by the medical examiner.
There was no ballistic evidence to connect Kelly’s rifle to the body. Several spent shell casings were found on the Kelly’s porch. No bullet was ever recovered. Butimea’s body was wearing tactical boots, tan pants, a hoodie sweatshirt, and a camouflage top. He had a two-way radio in one pocket. A picture on his phone, in those clothes, showed him with binoculars, but no binoculars were found with the body.
One of the detectives investigating the case went to Mexico to interview a person who claimed to be with Buitemea at the time he was shot and killed. Daniel Ruiz Ramirez, shown on a court evidence slide as being from Honduras, was a key witness for the prosecution.
Both Daniel Ruiz Ramirez (Varela) and Gabriel Cuen Buitimea had long records of illegal border crossings. His testimony had several inconsistencies, conducted through a translator. Ramirez has been reported as an Honduran citizen and as a citizen of Ecuador in different media reports. Ruiz spoke at the trial through interpreters.
Investigators found texts sent between Kelly and a friend which showed Kelly’s frustration with all the illegal activity he was having to deal with. Some of the texts implied a willingness to use his rifle.
When the county prosecutor decided to charge Kelly with first-degree murder, the case went viral. As evidence accumulated, the prosecution reduced the charge to second-degree murder.
Several GoFundMe accounts were started. GoFundMe removed a number that took down the fundraisers set to aid George Allen Kelly.
Fox News Digital confirmed that GoFundMe removed multiple fundraisers set up to help 73-year-old George Alan Kelly.
GiveSendGo has proved to be less political and more reliable than GoFundMe, which defunded both Kyle Rittenhouse and the Canadian trucker. Here is the statement at the Give SendGo fundraising site. From GiveSendGo.com:
My name is Wanda Correll Kelly. George Alan Kelly (I call him “Alan”) is my husband of 53 years. Alan is a man devoted to his family, animals, and home. In his 75 years, he has been an upstanding member of his community and, more importantly, a rock to our family. He is a humble person with simple needs. He likes socks. He is an animal lover. Alan and I are living a nightmare. He has been accused of a serious crime, killing a Cartel member on our property and he is innocent. We are private people and are horrified about some of things being said about him in the media. We need funds for his legal defense and other related expenses that have arisen as a result of this terrible situation. Please help keep Alan home with me.
GOFUNDME has taken down all fundraising sites for George. I chose Spotfund as they allow freedom of speech.
As the trial proceeded, what Kelly told investigators and what the words meant were disputed. It appears some of Kelly’s statements were contradictory.
The Epoch Times reports a defense attorney said one juror was a hold out for conviction, and could not be persuaded, resulting in a hung jury.
About Dean Weingarten:
Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of Constitutional Carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.
I hope they don’t continue to persecute/prosecute this man. If they do, hopefully each subsequent jury will have at least one juror with the intelligence and integrity of the juror who stood with “Not Guilty”, this time.
Jury nullification, people! Know it. Use it.
hopefully the prosecutor will think again about trying this case which has no credible evidence other than an illegal was killed. maybe one of his compatriots killed him. our government attempts to put an innocent until proven guilty taxpaying citizen in prison but doesn’t care about the tens of millions felons running around our country committing crimes. the dichotomy of the progressive mind!
Be that juror. Even better, be those jurors. Talk with any marginally literate product of a law school and pose the question about jury nullification and you will get a neurological response. But folks, jury nullification is a real thing and our Founders intended it to be so. When twelve of our God Fearing peers look at both statute and application of statute and say ‘no thank you’ that is the essence of jury nullification. Misapplication of law and. the application of misdirected law must end in the jury box in a Constitutional Republic. We the People are the final… Read more »
Are they going to recharge him?
I hope not. He has every right to defend himself, and his wife.
the real criminal here is he DA.
NULLIFICATION!!! ALL Jurers MUST be taught about NULLIFICATION! When the RADICALIZED LEFT LEANING “prosecuters/da” insist on convicting someone in a trial just for DEFENDING THEMSELVES, the jurer can MORALLY and LEGALLY CANCEL OUT the charge by finding the person INNOCENT of the charge(s).
Why did he only shoot 1 ?
One of the major REASONS for a jury is to be able to hang one if you find the LAW or the “evidence” to be an issue. Reads to me that the dead illegal died because of his illegal activity. And I foresee a lot of that going on when someone catches a rapist or burglar or robber or other ILLEGALS committing other ILLEGAL acts. The reason they are COMING HERE IS BECAUSE AUNTIE SAMANTHA has a bit TIT out for them to give them FREE everything because they have a printing press to give it to them with. Don’t… Read more »
If they won’t convict the guy already, a few thousand bars of “they shall overcome” should get the job done!
Mr Kelly’s main problem was THAT HE CALLED THE AUTHORITAHs. He didn’t follow The Four Esses: Suppress, Shoot, Shovel, Shut UP. If he found the body, just dig a hole (Third Ess – Shovel), crush/disable the phone, shove the body in the hole, refill the hole, and walk away. Then—tell NO ONE (Fourth Ess – Shut Up), not even wife or closest mostest trusted BFF. There’s that saying about “the best way for two people to keep a secret is if one of them is dead”. Wise advice. And the DA will continue to try to convict Mr Kelly until… Read more »