America is familiar with the illegal “Fast & Furious” scandal resulting in Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry’s murder –and ensuing cover-up by Attorney General Holder. Official sworn statements of deputies and agents who were at the scene of Border Patrol Agent Ivie’s murder have been obtained by David Morgan of the Cochise County Recorder (http://www.cochisecountyrecord.com) from the Cochise County Sheriff’s Department. These documents are direct evidence contradicting the official Border Patrol explanation. The Border Patrol’s near instantaneous explanation of BPA Ivie’s death was debunked by me as “More Benghazi Bullshit” (www.LigonClanLaw.com ) and it appears less plausible now.
The quick-draw rationale by the Border Patrol for the death of BPA Ivie published in the Sierra Vista Herald and several national media outlets was that his death occurred in “dense brush limiting visibility causing the separated BPAs to initiate fire on each other as they approached a site where a sensor had been tripped. …..The area is a frequently used route for drug and alien smugglers.” A few weeks after my initial analysis it was quietly reported in local media Agent Ivie had been shot in the back of the head from a lower to upward angle with a .223 caliber bullet – the same used by some Border Patrol agents. I automatically assumed this confirmed my theory that someone with the same caliber of weapon had lain in ambush as Ivie approached and killed him with the same type of weapon in order to sound like friendly fire to other agents in the area. Perhaps not.
The most damning – but not the only – direct evidence contradicting the official Border Patrol’s official statement is the sworn statement of the female BPA who was implicated in the “friendly fire” incident. In her statement she stated that as she and her partner approached the tripped sensor location she could see Agent Ivie approaching from a different direction at a distance and that, in fact, they waved flashlights at one another in recognition. This confirms my previous assumption that the operations center agent was vectoring them toward the location and advising them of one another’s proximity per SOP. Immediately after, she heard gunshots and took cover behind a mesquite bush, waited until the firing stopped and for a Border Patrol helicopter to arrive many minutes later. According to her sworn statement, the female Border Patrol Agent accused of killing Agent Ivie did not fire her weapon during the entire incident. Her partner’s sworn statement states he heard many “long-gun” shots being exchanged as he took cover with her …indicating by exclusion that he also did not fire his weapon. The .40 caliber pistols most BPAs carry and those of an M-4 military-style rifle have distinctly different and easily recognizable sounds.
CCSO Detective A. Estrada’s sworn statement: “A call for service appeared (on their computer screen) ….information given was that one of the agents had been shot in the buttocks and leg.” In fact, several BP agents reported that Ivie had been shot in the hip. It is difficult – even in the dark with flashlights – to mistake a head shot with a military-style M-4. If these shots were –not only more shots than the official “initial exchange of gunfire” – but the ones that put BPA Ivie on the ground, then the “lower-to-upward” gunshot to the back of BPA Ivie’s head was in fact an upward-to-downward execution shot.
CCSO Deputy Sergeant L. Hernandez’ sworn statement: “Sgt. Morales stated some suspected undocumented aliens had been involved.” The Border Patrol’s official version of “friendly fire” makes no suggestion as to even the possible involvement of illegal aliens. Why? Statistical probability would indicate that of an alien/drug smuggler ambush – not the first “friendly fire incident in Border Patrol history.”
One responding BPA arriving at one of the tops of the saddle – a terrain feature over looking a depression leading to another hilltop – “could clearly see the saddle where the agents were located.” This refutes the official version of “visibility limited by dense vegetation.”
Another responding BPA’s sworn statement (name redacted): “…..due to information which Sgt. Morales had provided of several UDA’s having been involved which had not been apprehended.”
CCSO Detective Filipelli said in his sworn statement he was “tracking for sign in the area.” And, “Sgt. Hernandez arrived on the scene and said they would patrol the north side of the hill where the incident occurred to ensure no other subjects were in the area.” Why invest labor intensive efforts like these to look for illegal aliens who were allegedly not involved in the incident?
CCSO homicide detective Mark Genz’ sworn statement states: “BPA commander Denney was in the camera room. ….I met with him in the camera room.” I mentioned the ability of the operations center to see the “frequent route used by alien/drug smugglers” through both day and night vision cameras in my last blog. Why would the BP shift commander be in the camera room? Because that is where the best over-all view of the area is –somewhat akin to the battalion commanders of the Vietnam War directing battles from helicopters above the battlefield. Any activity occurring as a result of a sensor alert was most certainly recorded. There is no statement by BP commander Denney in the Recorder documents. Nor is there any statement or description of the video camera’s view of the murder as it occurred. If it could be seen clearly from a hilltop at night by a responding BPA it most certainly was seen by the agent controlling the video camera covering the sensor alert. The most important unasked question in the murder of BPA Ivie is where is the video?
More direct evidence contradicting the BP’s official description of the incident being a quick exchange of “friendly” fire misrecognition occurs in the sworn statement of the BPA who was present when BPA Ivie was placed in a body bag and was there when the body bag was opened at the morgue. BPA (name redacted) stated the FBI’s seal securing the zipper of the body bag was missing from the time he saw the FBI agent put it on at the border patrol station, Ivie’s body being helicoptered from border patrol station, to the time he arrived at the morgue by vehicle. He also states he saw the medical examiner take close up photos of Ivie’s leg and arm. Again, not indicative of a single, instinctive shot. When the angled head shot is added to the sequence, Agent Ivie was intentionally shot and killed by someone. And it wasn’t the female border patrol agent …..if her and her partner’s statement are true. The missing video and the ops center agent‘s viewing of the real-time occurrence (his statement is missing) should be able to confirm or refute their statements.
CIA Analyst Heure’s “Analysis of Competing Hypothesis” requires all alternative factors be considered regardless of plausibility. Good analysts list them from Most Likely to Least Likely. There are several for the murder of BPA Ivie:
1. The female agent and her partner are lying. Their statements should be checked with the video and the ops video agent’s statement under oath. It would be interesting to interview other BPAs for their opinion of the female BPA. If she is lying -and this can be proven by matching the weapon with the fatal bullet (to my knowledge this has not been released …strangely) – why cover it up?
2. Smugglers murdered Agent Ivey. Several sworn statements by both CCSO and BPAs attest to the effort to find UDAs “involved and not apprehended.” If that is true why the fiction of fratricide? To avoid another “Fast & Furious” investigation? To avoid offending PC feminist politicians?
a. Why would smugglers choose to murder BPA Ivie rather than simply surrender and be VR’d back to Mexico or spend a few months languishing in comfort in a U.S. jail?
1. Were they U.S. citizens? (see “An Analysis of ‘One if by Land” on my bog site.) and thus subject to much stiffer penalties?
2. Were they escorting some unusually valuable cargo or persons making delivery more necessary –and the lucrative payment (simple cost benefit analysis.)
3. Finally, -and I hope this isn’t so – in an agency riven with corruption, it would not be implausible for a Mormon of impeachable integrity to have been murdered by a fellow BPA(s) for not being a “team player” in the most active drug and alien smuggling corridor in the United States.
There is one undeniable fact supported by direct evidence presented: Border Patrol Agent Ivie was not killed by “friendly” fire.
