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Case Snapshot

Case ID: 17458

Classification: Vehicular, Mutilation/Torture, Choking / Strangulation / Suffocation

Animal: other wildlife

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Animal was bound

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Attorneys/Judges

Prosecutor(s):	James Fassbender
Defense(s):	Troy Nielsen
Judge(s):	Philip M. Kirk, John P. Hoffmann

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CONVICTED: Was justice served?

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Case #17458 Rating: 3.0 out of 5

Deer corralled, run over with snowmobile
Lind, WI (US)

Incident Date: Friday, Jan 9, 2009
County: Waupaca

Charges: Misdemeanor, Felony CTA
Disposition: Convicted
Case Images: 1 files available

Defendants/Suspects:
» Rory A. Kuenzi
» Robby D. Kuenzi
» Nicholas D. Hermes

Case Updates: 10 update(s) available

Three Weyauwega men accused of corralling and running over deer have been arrested in what a state official described Thursday as an unprecedented thrill killing.

"There could be more arrests. We feel we have the main players at this point," Waupaca County Sheriff Brad Hardel said.

Nicholas Hermes, 22, was charged Thursday with five felony counts of being a party to mistreatment of animals. Brothers Robby Kuenzi, 23, and Rory Kuenzi, 24, have been arrested but not yet formally charged because the paperwork isn't done, Hardel said. The brothers could be charged Friday, he said.

Four deer were found dead Saturday near a snowmobile trail about five miles south of Waupaca where a herd of around 40 deer were known to gather. A fifth deer was severely injured and euthanized, authorities said.

One deer had its stomach ripped open by a snowmobile that stopped on top of it and then quickly took off, said Ted Dremel, a state Department of Natural Resources warden. Another deer had been tied to a tree, where it wrapped itself around and choked to death.

The killings outraged snowmobilers, hunters and others, and a reward fund grew to more than $10,000 before the arrests were announced Thursday. Investigators received numerous tips that helped break the case, but no reward money has been dispensed yet, Hardel said.

Asked what was the most important tip, the sheriff declined comment.

One tip led investigators to Hermes, who worked at a dairy business. He told them he accidentally hit a deer Friday night while snowmobiling with his girlfriend and the Kuenzi brothers, according to a criminal complaint.

Hermes then saw the brothers chasing and running over deer with their snowmobiles, he told investigators. Rory Kuenzi dragged one deer behind his snowmobile and then tied it to a tree near a road, he said.

Hermes told investigators he tried to get the brothers to stop hitting deer, and he hit one or two only accidentally.

Hermes changed his story to investigators at least once, and his girlfriend, Emily Scofner, 18, gave a slightly different version, the complaint said.

Scofner said Robby Kuenzi hit a deer first, and then his brother and Hermes hit it. The men later road into a field where all three chased deer with their snowmobiles, she said.

After they finished chasing the deer, the men talked about coming back to get one to eat. That's when Rory Kuenzi dragged a deer to a tree and left it, Scofner said. She said she thought the deer was already dead and did not realize it was tied to the tree.

The dead deer included two bucks and three does. One was a fawn.

State wildlife officials have documented 17 thrill killings of wildlife in recent months, but they've never seen a snowmobile used as the weapon, DNR regional warden Byron Goetsch said at a Thursday afternoon news conference. He described the incident as unprecedented.

"It is an unfortunate trend. We have to look to see why these things are occurring," he said. "Something like this is not normal behavior and would suggest it could lead to other things."

What's known is the "indiscriminate killing" generally involves males in their early 20s, they have used baseball bats, vehicles and guns, the incidents occur after dark and the killers have disregard for their own safety, Goetsch said.

No alcohol was involved in the Waupaca incident, Hardel said during the news conference.

One snowmobile used in the roundup had been stolen from a bowling alley in nearby Manawa around Christmas and later abandoned, the criminal complaint said. Investigators found another snowmobile with blood and deer fur on it during a search of Hermes' home, it said.

Hardel said a third snowmobile was also seized.

Judge Raymond Huber set a signature bond of $15,000 for Hermes during his initial appearance Thursday in Waupaca County Circuit Court, the district attorney's office said.

The maximum punishment for each charge of animal cruelty is up to 3 1/2 years in prison.

Neither Nicholas Hermes nor Robby Kuenzi has a criminal record, according to online court records, though Robby Kuenzi was ticketed in 2003 for shining wild animals.

Rory Kuenzi was convicted in 2005 of substantial battery and sentenced to a year in prison on the conviction in December 2007 when his probation was revoked.

Case Updates

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