Reward offered in horse killings

Jace Radke

Thursday, Jan. 6, 2000 | 11:22 a.m.

U.S. Forest Service officials believe four wild horses and two burros found slaughtered along Lee Canyon Highway were shot and left to slowly die in the bottom of a scrub-choked wash.

Animal rights activists are expressing dismay and anger over the incident about 45 miles northwest of Las Vegas and are offering a $5,000 reward to bring the culprits to justice.

The decomposing animals were discovered on Dec. 30, and investigators are trying to determine who shot the horses, Forest Service officer Melody Stehwien said.

"We have no leads at this time," Stehwien said today, noting that agents from the Bureau of Land Management and Metro Police are assisting in the investigation. "We have no idea at this point what motivated this."

Stehwien said it appears the animals were shot in the last three weeks to a month.

"From where the bullet holes are you can tell that they weren't shot in a manner that allowed them to die quickly," she said. "The veterinarian who came out and examined the remains said they were some of the worst horse deaths she'd seen."

The veterinarian confirmed that the animals eventually died from gunshot wounds, and that they were all between the ages of 2 and 15 years old, Stehwien said.

The fact that whoever shot the animals did not put them out of their misery has angered and frustrated animal rights activists.

"They weren't even clean kills,' said National Wild Horse Association board member Laurie Howard. "These weren't hunters, but someone sick who disabled the animals and then let them die slowly on the desert rocks."

National Wild Horse Association President Craig Leets expressed equal dismay.

"The thing that surprises me the most is the number that were shot," Leets said. "I mean maybe the guy is a little off and decides to shoot one, but six? Whoever did this had a serious problem."

"After all these years, I am still shocked about what people do to animals," said Jennifer Palombi, director of the local Society of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. "It is especially sad because these animals, especially the burros, come in contact with humans so often that they are so friendly and trusting of people."

Under Nevada Revised Statutes the killing of wild horses or burros is a felony punishable by a $2,000 fine and a possible prison sentence, Stehwien said.

The Forest Service and the National Wild Horse Association, which is based in Las Vegas, initially offered a $3,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the killings. The Nevada Humane Society today offered another $2,000 to boost the reward to $5,000.

The animals were found a few miles up State Route 156, west of U.S. 95, off a dirt road in the Spring Mountains National Recreation Area of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest. The four horses have been identified as part of the Wheeler Pass-Wallace Canyon herd, one of three herds roaming in the Lee Canyon area. Combined, the herds include about 50 horses, and there are around 40 burros in the area, according to a 1997 Forest Service census.

"One of the horses is a black stallion, and we haven't been able to identify exactly what kind of horses the other three were," Stehwien said. "There is nothing that indicates any mutilation on the part of whoever did the shooting. It looks like the animals were just shot and left to die."

The animals were found sprawled in the wash within several feet of each other, and in some cases the remains no longer looked much like horses because of the work of predators like coyotes and birds.

One of the horses had a quarter-sized bullet hole in its shoulder. Invstigators are still working to determine the type of gun that was used to shoot the animals, Stehwien said.

Leets visited the sight of the killings near a rough and rocky dirt road. He believes that the shooting was done from the back of a pickup.

"It looks to me like they didn't leave their truck because there were no shell casings anywhere out there," Leets said. "They probably shot three of the horses pretty quick before getting the burros, and finally the last horse further up the canyon."

Stehwien couldn't comment on whether the shooting was done from a vehicle, four-wheel drive or otherwise.

Howard said killings like this and the 1998 shootings of more than two dozen mustangs in the hills east of Reno has caused a dilemma for those who want to view Nevada's wild horses and burros.

"We want the wildlife to stay close by where people can see it, but not if it's a risk to the animal's lives," Howard said. "As the population begins to encroach on wildlife areas, we'd hope people would be enlightened enough not to commit these sick acts."

Three men accused of killing the mustangs in Northern Nevada on Dec. 27, 1998, will go to trial on April 17 in Virginia City. The horses were found dead in a canyon near Lockwood just south of Interstate 80.

Anthony Merlino, 20, Scott Brendle, 22, and Darien Brock, 21, each face one felony and one misdemeanor charge of harming or killing another person's animal.

All three had attended high school in Reno, and at the time of the shooting Brendle and Brock were on leave from the Marine Corps. Both have received the Marine equivalent of a dishonorable discharge.

Anyone with information on the animals killed in Lee Canyon can call Forest Service officials at 888-818-8177 or leave an anonymous message after 7 p.m. at 435-652-3119. The SPCA also has a secret witness hotline -- 873-7722. Sun reporter Ed Koch

contributed to this report.