A man who was killed in a shootout after traveling from California to a ranch southwest of Tucson intended to leave there with some "loot," an official said Wednesday.
Detectives from the Pima County Sheriff's Department have not been able to determine how the 26-year-old Californian was connected to the two men who lived at the ranch and were also killed, Lt. Michael O'Connor said. The California man had a note on his body saying that he had expectations of getting valuables from the property, according to Sheriff's Bureau Chief Rick Kastigar. His name has not been released.
Investigators initially weren't sure if the California man had accidentally gone to the wrong location, but a map and aerial photos found in his vehicle indicate that it was his intention to go to the ranch southwest of Tucson in the 8600 block of West Old Ajo Highway, Kastigar said.
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The men who lived on the ranch have been identified as 72-year-old William Lee Blankinship and 60-year-old George Ernest McCumber.
McCumber worked on the ranch, which spans several acres, as a night watchman, O'Connor said. There were many cars with valuable parts being stored on the property, along with personal belongings.
Nearly two years ago, Blankinship caught two men removing belongings from a residence in the 300 block of East River Road, according to Arizona Daily Star archives. He shot one of the men to death but was not charged because both of the men were armed with knives and he had a statutory right to defend the property.
It is a very likely scenario that this was the situation in the most recent shooting, but that has not been confirmed, O'Connor said.
Before this incident, the owners of the ranch reported to the Sheriff's Department that people were trying to steal from them.
One of the reports came earlier this month when Blankinship and another man began yelling at a deputy who was parked at a convenience store that he'd better catch the guy who was stealing from him before he kills him, according to Sheriff Clarence Dupnik.
The incident escalated when one of the men pushed the deputy and both were arrested.
On Monday morning, deputies were called to the ranch after a caretaker found two bodies.
The Pima Regional SWAT team, consisting of various agencies, searched the ranch and found the third body.
Both Blankinship and McCumber were shot to death, but the autopsy on the man from California was inconclusive so authorities are waiting for toxicology results to come back.
The man from Newport, Calif., rented a Chevrolet Suburban and a U-Haul trailer in San Diego and came to Tucson.
It is unclear when he arrived at the ranch, but at some point a shootout erupted between him and Blankinship and McCumber, authorities said. The man wore a bulletproof vest. Authorities do not know if he came alone.
The U-Haul trailer was empty, but authorities did find three homemade pipe bombs and a dead pit bull in the vehicle. A necropsy will determine the dog's cause of death.
Two detectives from the Sheriff's Department were traveling to California on Wednesday to notify the man's family of his death and to seek information about what motivated him to go to the ranch.
The ranch was used primarily for storage.
Anyone with information on the three deaths is asked to call 911 or 88-CRIME, the anonymous tip line of the Pima County Attorney's Office.
