About the Arizona rancher who was killed

This email came this morning from Arizona. It was passed along by an Arizona resident who professes to know information that has not been reported in the media - the "... real truth on the killing of Bob Krentz, the rancher from Douglas, AZ a few weeks ago." The sender included a message he had received which may, itself, be second- or third-hand.

"I received this e-mail from a friend and fellow resident of Santa Cruz County. He is trustworthy and honest. I believe the content to be true. It gives me great cause for concern. I have sent a copy of this to Senator Kyl's office and Senator McCain. Unfortunately McCain must be contacted through a mail "form" and it's questionable if anyone will read it.

"Forwarded to me by a friend who recently retired from border patrol.........

"As you know, one of the local ranchers was murdered in Douglas two weeks ago. His funeral is tomorrow. I received three messages similar to the one below from different officers within the Rangers and law enforcement.

"Yesterday afternoon I talked to another rancher near us who is a friend of ours and whose great grandfather started their ranch here in 1880. These are good people. He told me what really happened out at the Krentz ranch and what you won't read in the papers. The Border Patrol is afraid of starting a small war between civilians here and the drug cartels in Mexico.

"Bob Krentz was checking his water like he does every evening and came upon an illegal who was lying on the ground telling him he was sick. Bob called the Border Patrol and asked for a medical helicopter evac. As he turned to go back to his ATV he was shot in the side. The round came from down and angled up so they know the shooter was on the ground. Bob's firearm was in the ATV so he had no chance.

"Wounded he called the Cochise County Sherriff and asked for help. Bleeding in the lungs he called his brother but the line was bad so he called his wife but again the line was bad. Several ranchers heard the radio call and drove to his location. Bob was dead by this time. The ranchers tracked the shooter 8 miles back towards Mexico and cornered him in a brushy draw. This was all at night. The Sherriff and Border Patrol arrived and told them not to go down and engage the murderer. They went around to the back side and if you can believe it the assassin managed to get by a BP helicopter and a Sherriff's posse and back to Mexico. So much for professional help when you need it.

"One week before the murder Bob and his brother Phil ... hauled a huge quantity of drugs off the ranch that they found in trucks.

"One week before that a rancher near Naco did the same thing. Two nights later gangs broke into his ranch house and beat him and his wife and told them that if they touched any drugs they found they would come back and kill them. The ranchers here deal with cut fences and haul drug deliveries off their ranches all the time. What ranchers think is that the drug cartels beat the one rancher and shot Bob because they wanted to send a message. Bob always gave food and water to illegals and so they think they sent the assassin to pose as an illegal who was hungry and thirsty knowing it would catch Bob off guard.

"What is going on down here is NOT being reported. You need to tell people how bad it is along the border. Texas is worse. Near El Paso it's in a state of war. 5000 people were killed in Ciudad Juarez last year and it's over 2000 so far this year. Gun sales down here are through the roof and I get emails from people wanting firearms training.

"Something has to be done but I don't hold out much hope. These gangs have groups in almost every city in the US. Please read below. This is serious business. The Barrio Azteca and their sub gangs are like Mexican Corporations and organized extremely well. If this doesn't get dealt with down here you guys will deal with it on your streets."