This news has been shaking up the borderlands since Saturday (Sunday via the media). Updates are coming in slowly as the sheriff's department is still investigating the case. A suspect(s) has not been identified yet.
This is the first murder of a US citizen in Arizona by an illegal since I have been here. We get car jackings, hold-ups, break-ins, but Mexican criminals are normallyrespectful of Americans in the United States.
At any case I'm sure "La Raza" (or "La Racistas") will defend the Mexican(s) at any cost. Here in this country an illegal has more rights than a US citizen-landowner-homeowner.
We were out hiking in an area known for drug smuggling yesterday and Kevin carried his rifle with him even before this news broke out locally. Now I'm sure he's never going to set foot into the mountains without a rifle again.
I hope Krentz's death was not in vain.
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Douglas rancher reported encountering illegal immigrant before he was shot
By Brian J. Pedersen and Tim Steller Arizona Daily Star Posted: Monday, March 29, 2010 10:50 am
Related: Well-known Douglas-area rancher is found slain -->
A longtime rancher killed Saturday on his property northeast of Douglas was shot while sitting in his all-terrain vehicle, authorities said.
Robert Krentz, 58, and his dog were found shot to death just before midnight Saturday, several hours after Krentz’s brother called the Cochise County Sheriff’s Department to report Krentz missing, according to a department news release.
No suspects have been identified in the shooting, department spokeswoman Carol Capas said.
Krentz and his dog were spotted by an Arizona Department of Public Safety helicopter following a search of the Krentz Ranch, a 35,000-acre property along Arizona 80 between Douglas and Apache, about 20 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border, the release said.
Investigators determined Krentz and his dog were shot then Krentz drove about 1,000 feet before passing out, the release said.
Search crews from the Sheriff’s Department, DPS, the U.S. Border Patrol and the Arizona Department of Corrections found foot tracks at the scene and followed them 20 miles south to the U.S.-Mexico border, the release said.
Phil Krentz told authorities he and his brother were working the ranch in separate vehicles between 10 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Saturday when Robert called him on a hand-held radio phone, according to the release.
Phil Krentz said his brother mentioned the words “illegal alien” and “hurt” and assumed Robert was assisting someone in need but couldn’t reach Robert on the phone again, the release said.
After Robert failed to meet up at noon family members searched the area before contacting the Cochise County Sheriff’s Department at 6:20 p.m., the release said.
Krentz was out checking the water on his ranch when he spotted somebody, said Wendy Glenn, who lives on the neighboring Malpai Ranch.
Glenn said she heard Krentz radio to his brother Sunday morning on a radio network used by area residents.
“He said ‘There’s an illegal here that needs help’ and ‘I’m out at such and such windmill’ and ‘Please call the Border Patrol,’” Glenn said. “His brother said ‘I can’t hear you.’ ”
In that area, most ranchers use All Terrain Vehicles to check water supplies, fences, cattle and do other jobs on the ranch, Glenn said.
When Krentz’s body was discovered that night, Glenn’s husband and daughter helped officials track a person’s footprints from the crime scene south to the Mexican border.
The Krentz brothers’ conversation was routine for the area between the New Mexico border and the Chiricahua Mountains, which has been an active corridor for border crossers, she said.
Agents from the Border Patrol’s El Paso sector have helped in the area, but they have difficulty communicating with the agents from the Douglas station because of differences in their radio systems, Glenn said.
Krentz was a member of the board of the directors of the Malpai Borderlands Group, an organization of conservation-minded ranchers. The Krentzes also had a conservation easement on the family’s land, meaning the land can’t be subdivided.
“They really believe that if you take care of what’s out here, it will take care of you,” Glenn said.
Krentz’s family had been ranching their property since 1907, and in 2008 the Krentz Ranch was inducted into the Arizona Farming and Ranching Hall of Fame.
Officials have scheduled a news conference in Bisbee this afternoon.
http://www.azstarnet.com/news/local/crime/db544bc6-3b5b-11df-843b-001cc4c03286.html
http://www.azstarnet.com/news/local/crime/article_db544bc6-3b5b11df-043b-001cc4c03286.html
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