Cochise County Rancher Murdered

This is so sad. He was the father of former NMSU Rodeo team member Frank Krentz.

Cochise County rancher Rob Krentz was shot and killed on his ranch some time Saturday, presumably by a drug smuggler. The death, which is being investigated as a homicide, occurred in the San Bernardino Valley, part of the Malpais region. The event has rocked the towns of Douglas and Portal, and the ranches in between, both of which have been under siege by cross-border smugglers for years. As the Weekly has reported, the situation in the so-called Chiricahua Corridor has deteriorated lately, leaving residents fearful that an episode of this kind was inevitable. The grief is great for the Krentz family and their many friends throughout Southeast Arizona; Krentzes have been ranching in Cochise County for more than a century. The Weekly has received word that a representative for Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords has placed calls to Cochise County, trying to set up a community meeting, either Monday or Tuesday at 11 a.m., possibly at the Apache School. The Giffords' rep making the arrangements said it is possible she will ask the president to place military units in the besieged area...more

From: Caren Cowan
Sent: Sunday, March 28, 2010 10:48 AM
Subject: Tragic News

Rob Krentz, Apache, Arizona, was killed sometime yesterday, apparently by illegals on his ranch. He was checking cattle on his 4-wheeler. He radioed home that he had come across some Mexicans, one of them in need of care. He requested that his brother contact the Border Patrol to send assistance. That was the last that was heard from him. When he didn’t come home around noon, the family began looking for him. He was found by helicopter in the middle of the night. Both he and his dog had been shot.

Rob was a kind and gentle man, a husband, brother, father and grandfather --- as well as a friend to all. He graduated from Douglas High School, attended the University of Arizona, and was a life-long rancher. He was active in the Arizona Cattle Growers Association, a past president of the Cochise Graham Cattle Growers’ Association and a member of the New Mexico Cattle Growers’ Association.

Please keep the Krentz family in your thought and prayers. As we have more details we will share them.

Caren Cowan
Executive Director
New Mexico Cattle Growers' Association

Slain Ariz. Rancher May Indicate Increased Border Violence "There's a war going on in Mexico and its spilling across our borders," minutemen member Chris Simcox said. If you don't believe Simcox, proof may by just a couple hundred miles away on the remote ranch of Robert Krentz. "He's always been a humanitarian. He always gives water and food to the people he finds in distress which seems to be the case last night and he called his wife and said he was giving some water to illegals and said to call border patrol and she tried to call him back and he never answered his phone and they found him last night shot to death -- he and his dog," Simcox said. The news was understandably upsetting, but not a surprise. "He's been working with border patrol for years, begging and pleading for help with his property being vandalized and his home being robbed," Simcox said. The Cochise County Sheriff's Office is investigating the death but have not released any information surrounding the search for the person or people responsible. US Border Patrol is also helping...

Well-known Douglas-area rancher is found slain A longtime rancher was killed on his Douglas-area property over the weekend, and neighbors worried that his homicide was connected to increasing border-related crime in the area. The Cochise County Sheriff's Office offered little information into the late-Saturday shooting death of 58-year-old Robert Krentz, whose family began the Krentz Ranch more than 100 years ago. Area residents said Krentz had no enemies, and they could think of no motive for his death other than the possibility it was related to what they called the growing level of crime in the area related to illegal immigrants and drug smugglers. Others who live nearby were unwilling to disclose their names when they spoke about the homicide Sunday because, they said, they were afraid of possible repercussions. In a 1999 PBS interview, Robert Krentz and his wife, Susan, said illegal immigrants once stole property from their ranch, but that incident didn't stop him from aiding other trespassers. "You know, we've personally been broke in once. And they took about $700 worth of stuff. And you know, if they come in and ask for water, I'll still give them water. I, you know, that's just my nature," Krentz was quoted as saying in written transcripts of the interview. The Krentz family's cattle ranch was inducted into the Arizona Farming and Ranching Hall of Fame in 2008. The family started the ranch in 1907...