Arizona attorney general says rancher’s slaying appears to be the work of drug cartels

Ariz. AG: Rancher’s slaying the work of cartels

PHOENIX — Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard said Friday he believes the slaying of a southern Arizona rancher was the work of a scout working for a drug cartel, but the agency investigating the shooting said there is no evidence supporting that.

Robert Krentz was found shot to death March 27 on his ranch near Douglas. Goddard said evidence at the scene appears consistent with the known behavior of drug runners working for cartels based in Mexico.

“It seems very possible and probable that this was one of their agents,” Goddard said in an interview with The Associated Press.

Goddard’s theory was news to the Cochise County sheriff’s office, which is investigating the killing.

“I have no idea where they’re getting that from,” sheriff’s spokeswoman Carol Capas said. “That’s not an indication that we have at this point.”

Capas said investigators don’t yet know a motive or have any suspect information, including the shooter’s nationality or gender. There was no evidence at the scene pointing to drug smuggling, she said.

She said the attorney general’s office is not involved in the investigation, although sheriff’s deputies are working with other state and federal agencies on it.

Goddard said his theory is “supposition” and “based on conjecture.” He said he came to the conclusion because the killer worked alone in a remote area known to be a hotbed for drug trafficking, and because authorities seized a large load of marijuana in the area the day before Krentz was killed.

“These guys are in constant radio contact with their bosses,” Goddard said of the scouts, who often spend months stationed in the remote Arizona desert. “They could easily have been told to come down and check it out, and after that it’s anybody’s guess what happened.”

Goddard, a Democrat who is running for governor, disputed a media report Friday that he had said it appeared a professional hit man working for a cartel killed Krentz. He said there is no evidence indicating that a trained killer was involved.

He said cartels often place scouts in remote areas to monitor and coordinate the flow of drugs across the U.S.-Mexico border, but he said the scouts aren’t necessarily trained killers.

Authorities say Krentz was on his all-terrain vehicle checking water lines and fencing when he was shot. The wounded rancher managed to speed away on the ATV before he lost consciousness and died.

Krentz’s 35,000-acre ranch is about 35 miles northeast of Douglas, which borders Agua Prieta, Mexico. Sheriff’s deputies found foot tracks and followed them about 20 miles south to the border.

Krentz, 58, was a prominent third-generation rancher and a father of three. He and his wife were well-known among cattle ranchers in Arizona and New Mexico for their active involvement in the Arizona Cattlemen’s Association, said Dan Bell, an acquaintance who has a 25,000-acre ranch near Nogales.