Court Sides With Fronteras Desk For Border Murder Case Files
A Cochise County Superior Court judge ruled Tuesday that the widow of a murdered Arizona border rancher could not prevent the law enforcement report on her husband’s death from being released to the public.
The injunction request was filed in November by Susan Krentz (see PDF, left). Her husband Robert Krentz was killed on their ranch in 2010 in the San Bernardino Valley where Arizona abuts Mexico and New Mexico.
Susan Krentz asked a judge to prevent the Cochise County Sheriff’s office from releasing records of the murder to the Fronteras Desk and other news organizations.
Attorney Dan Barr represented the Fronteras Desk, the Arizona Daily Star and the Arizona Republic in court.
"He ruled that while he was sympathetic to her status as a victim, that she did not have the right to simply prohibit all further release of records concerning her husband’s death," Barr said.
The injunction asked the judge to stop the release of those records because they contained autopsy photos and some personal information.
Krentz’s killing has never been solved. There was widespread speculation that the killer was a Mexican national.
However, after more recent law enforcement reports obtained by the Fronteras Desk show that investigators are also looking at U.S. citizens whom Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels calls persons of interest in the case.
