Preliminary hearing continues for accused horse shooters

Wednesday, Sept. 8, 1999 | 3:36 a.m.

By Scott Sonner

ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

VIRGINIA CITY, Nev. - One of the ex-Marines accused of killing wild horses admitted he had a mustang in the cross hairs of a rifle scope, squeezed the trigger and watched the animal buckle to the ground, an investigator testified Wednesday.

Former Lance Crpl. Scott Brendle, 22, "said the hindquarters dropped first. He thought he hit it in the torso," Navy Special Agent Mike Chapman said.

"He fired the second shot because the horse was still moving around on the ground."

Chapman testified Wednesday in Storey County Justice Court on the statement he took from Brendle after Brendle was arrested in January. It was the first time the killing of a specific horse was detailed at the hearing that continues into its fifth day Thursday.

Brendle, former Lance Crpl. Darien Brock, 21, and Anthony Merlino, 20, are accused of shooting 27 horses in the hills east of Reno on Dec. 27. All three men had admitted to shooting at horses, but deny killing any more than one.

Chapman testified Brendle said he drove a Ford pickup into the hills that day after the trio had stopped at a Wal-Mart to buy a spotlight and shotgun shells.

"He had decided he was going to shoot the horse. That's why he stopped. That's why he got out of his truck," Chapman said.

"He had the cross hairs on the horse" and fired a shot from a .270-caliber bolt-action rifle, he said.

"That's when the horse fell to the ground," Chapman said.

Brendle fired "two or three" additional rounds into the herd but didn't believe he hit any other horses, Chapman said.

The three defendants could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted of all the charges of grand larceny, theft and killing of another person's animal.

Much of the testimony so far has focused on statements from investigators, with no physical evidence to link any of the three to any of the dead horses.

Defense lawyers have highlighted the absence of fingerprints or any ballistic tests that tie the bullets to the defendants' guns and maintain the real killers are still out there.

But Storey County District Attorney Janet Hess remained confident Justice of the Peace Annette Daniels would determine there was enough evidence to bound the case over for a criminal trial in district court.