Dog tied to railroad tracks, crushed by train - Martinsburg, WV

Tuesday, Oct 12, 2004

County: Berkeley

Charges: Felony CTA
Disposition: Convicted

Defendant/Suspect: Richard William Faircloth

Case Updates: 4 update(s) available

An arrest warrant was issued Monday charging a Martinsburg man with a felony count of animal cruelty following the death of a dog tied to a set of railroad tracks.

Richard Faircloth, 30, of� Martinsburg, was taken into police custody�stated Cpl. R.L. Gardner of the Berkeley County Sheriff's Department.

Gardner said the dog belonged to Faircloth and his wife.

Berkeley County Animal Control Officers Jason Ahalt and Clark McDaniel started the initial investigation after a train conductor told a police officer that he hit and killed a dog tied to the railroad tracks last.

The conductor was not able to provide an exact location and officers did not find the dog that night, after searching for half an hour or longer, Ahalt said.

The dog was found the next morning on a set of tracks behind the Adam Stephen House in Martinsburg, off John Street, Ahalt said.

The dog had been tied to the tracks with a short blue leash in an apparent attempt to decapitate it, Ahalt said. Instead, the dog was able to wiggle its head a little, causing its lower jaw and tongue to be cut off, Ahalt said.

"I'd say this is the most horrible thing I've seen,"�stated Ahalt, who has been an animal control officer since 1998. "This is the most gruesome and the most coldhearted (case)."

Animal Control Officer Larry Light said the dog did not die instantly.

"It suffered. It bled to death," Light said.

As the officers talked in their office, the dog's owner, Amy Faircloth, asked if she could have Kujo's body to bury. The officers said the dog is frozen and needs to be kept awhile longer.

Amy Faircloth, 23, stated her husband bought the dog for her as a gift for her protection. Kujo, a shepherd/pit bull mix, would have turned 3 years old in December.

"He was very loyal, the smartest dog I've ever seen. I did all of his obedience training myself. I was really, really attached to him," said Faircloth, who formerly worked at a no-kill animal shelter in Charles Town, W.Va.

Gardner said the warrant was for a felony charge of animal cruelty rather than a misdemeanor because there was intentional malice, an element that separates the two charges.

Gardner said the arrest was possible because of the work of Animal Control officers and Berkeley County Sheriff Randy Smith, who took a Crime Solvers tip about the case and immediately assigned Gardner to look into it.

Conviction on a felony charge of animal cruelty carries a sentence of one to three years in prison.

To contact the Honorable Judge David Sanders and urge him to impose the maximum sentence on Richard Faircloth for the brutal killing of his own companion animal, Kujo, use the information below. Please request that he also require that Faircloth undergo mandatory psychiatric evaluation and counseling. Remind him that people who commit violent acts against animals rarely stop there:

The Honorable Judge David Sanders
100 West King Street Courtroom
Martinsburg, WV 25401

Case Updates

Richard W Faircloth, 30, was sentenced Monday in West Virginia under a 2004 state law that made the malicious killing or torture of an animal a felony. He received up to 3 years in jail. Kujo, a German shepherd-pit bull mix, was struck by a train in October 2004 and died when its lower jaw was severed - a crime Judge David Sanders called "heinous" and "just shocking". Faircloth apologised to his family for the crime. He maintained that he killed the dog because it was vicious and a danger to his children, but prosecutors said the motive was to frighten his wife, whom Faircloth believed was having an affair. If he is released on parole, he also must undergo counseling. He is barred from owning an animal for 15 years after his release.

Source: Jamaica Observer - Aug 10, 2005 Update posted on Aug 10, 2005 - 1:52PM

A Martinsburg man has been convicted of killing his dog last October by tying the animal to a railroad track. Jurors deliberated for three hours on Thursday before finding Richard Faircloth, 30, guilty of a felony charge of animal cruelty. Berkeley County Assistant Prosecutor Betsy Giggenbach said it may be the first time a jury has returned a conviction under the two-year-old law. Berkeley County Circuit Judge David Sanders revoked Faircloth's bond and ordered him held until his sentencing on Aug. 8. Lawmakers passed the law in 2003 to make the intentional torturing or malicious killing an animal a felony punishable by up to three years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000. Faircloth was charged with tying his dog Kujo, a German shepherd-pit bull mix, to the tracks. The dog was hit by a train on Oct. 12 and later died. Faircloth had told Berkeley County sheriff's deputies he tied the dog to the tracks because it was mean and had tried to bite his children. During the one-day trial, Faircloth's lawyer David Camilletti told the jury that tying the dog to the tracks was "stupid,'' but the act did not constitute torture.

Source: Charleston Daily Mail - June 10, 2005 Update posted on Jun 12, 2005 - 12:47AM

Faircloth was indicted Tuesday, Feb 15 2005, by a Berkeley County grand jury on a felony count of animal cruelty. Richard William Faircloth, 29, of Swartz St., Martinsburg, could face a jury trial in Circuit Court. Faircloth previously told police that he killed the dog because it growled at his children, according to police. Conviction on an animal cruelty charge carries a sentence of one to three years in prison and a fine of $1,000 to $5,000.

Source: The Herald-Mail - Feb 16, 2005 Update posted on Feb 20, 2005 - 8:34AM

Faircloth appeared in court on Tuesday, where the Berkeley County States Attorney called the killing "well thought out," because Faircloth took the dog to the tracks "with nylon" to tie the animal down. Faircloth`s attorney argued the dog was dangerous to his family. Police said Faircloth told them he tied the dog to the tracks because he didn`t have the courage to shoot him. Christine Wolf with the Fund for Animals said this case is a first in West Virginia. "The state of West Virginia has strengthened its laws, so that animal cruelty is a felony, to maliciously torture and kill an animal. So today was really an example of how that legislation and that new law is being implemented," she said. Chief Brad Sheppard, with Berkeley County Animal Control, said Kujo struggled to pull away, and that only the dog`s jaw and tongue were severed that night by the train, leading the States Attorney to question just how long the dog actually suffered. This case will move ahead to the grand jury in the spring. Faircloth is currently being held at the Eastern Regional Jail in Martinsburg.

Source: NBC25 - Oct 28, 2004 Update posted on Oct 28, 2004 - 7:01PM

References

• , Martinsburg WV, 304-263-3381

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