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Case #375 Rating: 3.7 out of 5
Fireworks start fire, killing 19 horses
Grosse Point, MI (US)Incident Date: Sunday, Jul 8, 2001
County: Wayne
Disposition: Convicted
Defendant/Suspect: Stephen Richard Fennell
Case Updates: 1 update(s) available
Stephen Richard Fennell, age 23, went to a party given by Joseph Evola and began drinking. Around 4 am. The party started dying down and Fennell began to joke about throwing a firework into the 91-year-old Grosse Point Hunt Club barn, which was across the street.
According to witnesses, Fennell walked across the street a few minutes later and threw a firework, described as a mortar, toward the barn. By the time the sun was up the barn was burned to the ground and 19 horses were dead.
Fennell (case # 82-01115766-01) was charged with 1 count of arson and 19 counts of willful and malicious killing and/or torture of an animal. The arson charge could bring Fennell 10 years in jail. Each of the animal cruelty charges carries a 4-year sentence and/or $5000 fine and/or 500 hours of community service and the reimbursement of the veterinary bills.
The partygoers (brother & sister, Joseph and Jaclyn Evola, Tom Zorwick & Greg Grosfield) all assembled in the kitchen of the Evola home, never calling 911. Instead they decided to lie to the police and say they were all sleeping at the time of the fire. The Evola's, Zorwick and Grosfield will have to testify in the court case. The Evola's have lived across the street from the Hunt Club for 11 years.
The Hunt club's night watchman Ray Neal, heard a "voop" sound on the roof of the barn and then the fire started. Neal saved 5 horses but the fire was so intense he couldn't get to the rest of them. One horse named Bart, tried to jump through one of the barns small windows but sustained severe chest trauma an had to be euthanised the next day.
6 of the horses belonged to the Hunt clubs' riding school. The rest were being boarded.
The Hunt Club has sued Fennell, Joseph Evola and his parents, Benny & Julie Evola for $1.25 million dollars.
Upon investigation it was determined that Fennell purchased the fireworks the day before on a trip to Cedar Point, Ohio. He then transported them illegally to Michigan.
In court, the Prosecutors state the stable fire burned so quickly that some of the horsed were burned alive.
Fennell was convicted of killing the horses but was acquitted of the arson charges. He was immediately taken to the Wayne County Jail after the verdict because he violated his bond in February 2002 in Troy Michigan where he was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol.
Judge Lynne Pierce said there was not sufficient evidence that Fennell intended to burn down the barn only that he intended to torture or possibly mutilate the horses. "There is no question in my mind that when you throw a firecracker into a barn full of hay and horses, that's torture," stated the Judge.
Fennell was sentenced to 1 year in jail and 2 years probation. Fennell will also have to pay restitution for court costs and the veterinary bills, the dollar amount to be determined later. He must also serve 100 hours of community service and attend substance abuse counseling sessions.
Case UpdatesIn a 2-1 decision released Friday, the court said there was sufficient evidence to convict Stephen Fennell. The 25-year-old Grosse Pointe Woods resident was found guilty in 2002 of malicious destruction of an animal because he threw a firecracker into the barn. The jury found him innocent of arson in the July 2001 fire.
He was sentenced to one year in jail and two years of probation, which he currently is serving.
Read More: Update posted on Jan 9, 2004 - 1:45PM |
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