Slaying of border rancher still a mystery 1 year later

The murder of a prominent Cochise County rancher that triggered a nationwide outcry about border security remains unsolved a year later. Investigators have identified a man who fits the description of the possible killer - a tall, cross-border smuggler with a violent criminal record. But they don't know for sure if he's in the U.S. or Mexico - or if he's dead or alive. And even if they find him, it won't mean the crime is solved. Authorities haven't found the gun used to kill Robert Krentz on his ranch last March 27, and they have no witnesses, show investigation documents the Daily Star obtained through public records requests. Alejandro Chavez-Vasquez is not an official suspect in Krentz's murder but is a "person of interest" in a series of Portal burglaries in early 2010, say Cochise County sheriff's officials. Investigators believe there is a link between two of those burglaries and the murder, documents show. A search warrant affidavit filed in Cochise County Court on March 31, 2010, by Immigration and Customs Enforcement shows investigators believe the burglar who stole a Glock 26 handgun and two cellphones from a vehicle near the town of Portal the day before is the person who killed Krentz. Krentz was murdered with the same caliber firearm that was reported stolen from the car, the affidavit said. The burglary occurred in the Herb Martyr campground in the Chiricahua Mountains about seven miles southwest of Portal, a Cochise County Sheriff's Office report shows...more