Prosecutors want Nogales rancher's border violence novel used in his murder trial
NOGALES — State prosecutors argued Friday to introduce a 2013 book apparently written by the Nogales-area rancher accused of killing a Mexican citizen into his upcoming March murder trial.
Mike Jette, deputy Santa Cruz County attorney, asked Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge Thomas Fink to allow the inclusion of the self-published book in order for prosecutors to use it during cross-examination if George Alan Kelly testifies.
Kelly is facing one count each of second-degree murder and aggravated assault. Kelly is accused of killing Gabriel Cuen Buitimea on Jan. 30, 2023, when Buitimea was walking through Kelly’s nearly 170-acre Kino Springs property.
Kelly’s attorneys maintain that he only fired warning shots above a group of migrants moving through his property.
During Friday's hearing, Fink cleared the way for Kelly’s wife, Wanda, to be deposed for another 90 minutes by state prosecutors. Fink ruled in favor of the state during a hearing to resolve remaining motions at the Santa Cruz County Superior Court in Nogales.
Fink ruled in favor of the defense to include a prior conviction of a pivotal eyewitness for the prosecution into trial.
In 2013, Kelly allegedly wrote a 57-page book titled "Far Beyond the Border Fence.” The book follows a southern Arizona rancher who must rescue his family and horses after they’re kidnapped near the Arizona-Mexico border.
Many of the book’s characters and places share similarities with Kelly’s real life.
The book’s main character is named “George” and his wife is named “Wanda,” the same names as Kelly and his wife. The ranch in the book is called “VMR Ranch,” a possible acronym for the name of Kelly’s real life ranch, Vermilion Mountain Ranch.
The book details how the rancher must patrol his property with an AK-47 daily to guard against drug runners. In one of the book’s scenes, the rancher shoots a man who is suspected of stealing the rancher’s horse as the thief rides toward the U.S.-Mexico border.
Book details: Who is George Alan Kelly? What we know about the Nogales rancher accused of murdering Mexican migrant
“(The rancher) emptied the clip as close to the horses as he could without hitting them, the horses that is,” the author writes. "George flipped the duct taped clip over and began firing the second thirty round clip, aiming directly at the riders themselves.”
In the book, the borderlands are described as a “war zone” where U.S. landowners have no choice but to protect their lives and property “by risking their very lives.”
Jette described the beginning of the book as “eerily” outlining a situation that mirrors the shooting of Buitimea in January 2023.
“(Kelly) wrote a book about shooting his AK-47 at people who are on his property, which mirrors this event exactly,” Jette said. “This individual has thought about using an AK-47 against individuals on his property.”
Brenna Larkin, one of Kelly’s attorneys, argued that the book is only a work of fiction and asked for additional time to respond to the prosecution’s motion to introduce the book into trial.
“It's frankly just misleading to suggest that this book somehow shows that (Kelly) has had this idea for over 10 years, that one day he's just going to go out and start shooting people,” Larkin said.
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Larkin asked to seal the contents of the book from the court record so as not to potentially “taint” jurors who may read it. Fink granted the defense’s motion to seal the contents of the book from being entered into the court as an exhibit.
The book, however, is publicly available to buy on Amazon. Fink is awaiting the defense's response before issuing a ruling.
“If anyone can read it online in the court's record Mr. Kelly is going to lose some book sales too,” Fink seemingly joked in his response.
Kelly’s wife, Wanda, will be further deposed by state prosecutors on Feb. 15, Fink ruled Friday.
Wanda’s deposition was one of the reasons why Kimberly Hunley, chief deputy Santa Cruz County attorney, filed special action requests with the Arizona Court of Appeals Division Two. Fink had previously denied the state’s request to further depose Wanda.
The appeals court sided with Hunley in November and cleared the way for the continued deposition.
Fink ruled in favor of the defense to include the prior conviction of a key witness in the state’s case against Kelly. The conviction can now be used by the defense during their cross-examination of the witness.
Prior conviction unearthed: Key witness in Nogales rancher murder trial previously smuggled cannabis across border
The key witness, identified only by his initials D.R.R.. was imprisoned for smuggling cannabis across the Arizona-Mexico border in 2015. D.R.R. dramatically reenacted how he said he saw Kelly shoot and kill Buitiema during a preliminary hearing in February 2023.
D.R.R. is the only publicly known reported eyewitness to Buitimea’s death.
The witness carried a nearly 50-pound cannabis bundle in a backpack from Mexico into the U.S. near Sonoita, Arizona, per court documents. The man accepted a plea agreement to misdemeanor possession of cannabis and served nearly seven months in federal prison.
“This entire case hinges on (D.R.R.’s) credibility,” Larkin said.
Larkin argued that the conviction corroborates Kelly’s version of events on the day of the shooting, which was that people with large backpacks were running through his property.
Have a news tip or story idea about the border and its communities? Contact the reporter at josecastaneda@arizonarepublic.com or connect with him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @joseicastaneda.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: George Alan Kelly: Will his trial feature fiction book about border?
