Accused horse shooters ordered to stand trial, some charges dismissed

Scott Sonner

Friday, Sept. 10, 1999 | 9:10 a.m.

VIRGINIA CITY, Nev. - Two ex-Marines and a former high school buddy were ordered Thursday to stand trial in the killings of more than two dozen wild horses shot with high-powered rifles last winter.

A Storey County justice of the peace ruled there was enough evidence to order all three bound over to district court on felony and gross misdemeanor charges of maiming or killing another person's animal.

Justice Annette Daniels dismissed four other charges against the three young men who attended high school in Reno together, including theft and grand larceny charges.

Storey County District Attorney Janet Hess said she was pleased with the outcome, as did lawyers for the three defendants - former Lance Crpls. Scott Brendle, 22, and Darien Brock, 21, and Anthony Merlino, 20, a Reno construction worker.

"It's better than nothing," said Lydia Hammack, president of the Virginia Range Wildlife Protection Association and one of the horse advocates who sat through the hearings in county court.

Prosecutors admitted at the close of the extraordinary five-day preliminary hearing Thursday that their case was based so far solely on circumstantial evidence.

But they argued - and Daniels agreed - there was enough evidence to move to a criminal trial in the horse slaughter that received widespread attention and prompted the equivalent of dishonorable discharges for the servicemen after their arrest in January.

"This was a massacre," said Deputy District Attorney Sharon Claassen.

The free-roaming horses were shot multiple times within a three-day window of time beginning Christmas Day. They included young colts, pregnant mares and wounded mustangs that wandered for days before authorities chased them down and destroyed them.

The men admitted they shot at horses and killed one in the area on the night of Dec. 27, the first day authorities began discovering the string of carcasses in a canyon just east of Reno within a mile of Interstate 80.

Brendle also confessed to spraying one already-dead horse with a fire extinguisher. But all three deny any other involvement.

Their lawyers hammered away at inconclusive ballistics tests and the lack of fingerprints on spent shell casings. They told the justice the evidence shows that the real horse killers remain free.

"Where are they? Are they sitting back right now ready to watch the evening news tonight so they can get another chuckle?" asked John Ohlson, representing Brendle.

Claassen said the circumstantial evidence provided more than the "marginal evidence" required to bound the three over to a trial.

"What are the odds these three men are so unlucky to have been in Largomarcino Canyon at the same time as some maniac is there killing 33 horses?" Claassen said.

"We have 33 dead horses in the canyon where these guys just happened to be at, just happened to have guns and just happened to be shooting at horses in the dark with a spotlight," she said.

Claassen said the most important fact was all three admitted that upon reading about the shootings in the newspaper, they hiked back into the hills at night to retrieve spent shell casings and beer bottles.

Claassen said her case was bolstered by the fact "those casings weren't found because they were picked up by the individuals who fired the weapon."

Defense lawyers said they were taken aback by the prosecution's argument that failure to discover shell casings helped prove their case.

"The state has basically told you there is no evidence, an incredible argument at best," Marc Picker, representing Brock, told Justice Daniels.

The defense said in closing remarks that Daniels was under extreme public pressure to send the case to trial. Afterwards, Scott Freeman, representing Merlino, said he was glad she "showed the courage" to dismiss the charges of theft, grand larceny, attempted theft and attempted grand larceny.

"Overall we're very pleased," Freeman said.

"It gives a message to the district court that shows evidence is lacking," Picker said.

The dismissal of the other charges apparently centered on the prosecution's failure to prove the horses were valued in excess of the $2,500 required to establish grand larceny or theft. One witness said the high bids valued the dead horses collectively at more than $9,000 but acknowledged low bids put them as low as $1,700.

The horses are considered the property of the state of Nevada. The three men originally were accused of killing 34 wild horses, but that was dropped to 27 in an amended complaint and reduced further to 26 on Thursday.

No date has been set for a new arraignment on a new complaint, which is required before a trial date can be scheduled.