Attorneys/Judges
| Prosecutor(s): | David Hajak |
51 bison shot to death
Aspermont, TX (US)Incident Date: Monday, Jan 4, 2010
County: King
Charges: Felony Non-CTA
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged: Jackie Doyle Hill
Case Updates: 1 update(s) available
A West Texas man has been indicted for allegedly killing 51 bison earlier this year after the majestic animals strayed from their ranch.
Jackie Doyle Hill is accused of shooting the bison over two days in early January after they strayed from the QB Ranch to a nearby one in remote King County, about 80 miles east of Lubbock.
The 50-year-old Aspermont man was indicted Feb. 16 on a third-degree felony charge of criminal mischief for allegedly killing the animals.
Hill has a nonpublished phone number and could not be reached Thursday. Prosecutor David Hajak said he did not believe Hill had an attorney yet.
If convicted, Hill faces up to 10 years in prison.
Case UpdatesThe killing of 51 stray buffalo on a ranch in King County in January will come under scrutiny next week in 50th District Court with the trial of Aspermont resident Jackie Doyle Hill.
Hill, 50, is charged with shooting the animals "on or about the 4th day of January," a criminal mischief felony offense. His trial is set to begin Tuesday in Guthrie.
Hill's Feb. 16 indictment claims he shot the bison without the consent of their owner, Wayne Kirk, manager of QB Pasture Reserve. The indictment sets the value of the animals at between $20,000 and $100,000, making the charge a third-degree felony punishable by two to ten years in prison and a fine up to $10,000.
The QB Ranch is adjacent to the property where the buffalo were shot, reportedly after they strayed off the QB through a barbed wire fence.
Hill has been free on a $5,000 bond since papers were served on him by King County Sheriff Cotton Elliott on Monday, Feb. 22.
The buffalo shooting incident has raised questions about open range laws and the ethical and legal responsibilities of livestock owners not to let their animals stray, as well as the other-side-of-the-fence responsibility of landowners to keep straying animals fenced out, not to mention whether bison should be classified for legal purposes as domestic livestock like other cattle in the bovine family.
But the decision of David Hajek, 50th District attorney, to handle the shooting simply as the destruction of one person's property by another means the murkier issues are less likely to come into play in the courtroom.
In an interview after the return of the indictment, Hajek acknowledged the need for the clarification of various statutes regarding animals, hence his decision to take the clearer "destruction of property" approach.
"There is a lot of confusion (regarding animal statues)," Hajek said.
Kirk, meanwhile, has said that he is filing a civil for damages in the buffalo-killing incident.
Both Kirk and his foreman, Edmund Casillas, have acknowledged the incident involving Hill wasn't the first time the buffalo had wandered off the QB Ranch.
"If they want to go through a fence, they'll go through a fence," Casillas said in an interview in January. | Source: Times-Record News - March 13, 2010
Update posted on Mar 14, 2010 - 4:46AM |
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