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Arizona rancher defense consultant claims 'cartel influence' in murder probe, rips sheriff's past comments
Fox News
George Alan Kelly's defense is expected to call Santa Cruz County Sheriff David Hathaway, arguing the probe was mired by "cartel influence."
The sheriff referenced the Kelly case on camera, without using the rancher’s name, describing how "there are people that’ll come to the border thinking they’re going to find some action." "Like, we had a rancher here that had been writing fan fiction on Amazon, and he was describing himself hunting migrants with his AK-47, and he actually even used his name, and his wife’s name, and his ranch’s name, and he came from somewhere else," Hathaway said. "Then we caught him out there actually shooting at some people out there, shooting at some migrants, killed one of them, and one of them got away, so now he’s being prosecuted for homicide in the county." Danielle Wallace is a reporter for Fox News Digital covering politics, crime, police and more. Story tips can be sent to danielle.wallace@fox.com and on Twitter: @danimwallace.
Walking his property, and speaking to the camera, the sheriff continued, "That’s an example of a guy with that mentality. They come out here, and they want to say, ‘I’m out here in the Wild West,’ and they want to have a big tough story to tell. ‘I’m gonna go out there, and hunt me some Mexicans,’ you know? And that appeals to some people, but that’s not a common thing."