Dog stabbed, taped to steering wheel
Pond Gap, WV (US)Incident Date: Tuesday, Mar 15, 2005
County: Kanawha
Disposition: Acquitted
Person of Interest: Mark Allen Starcher
Case Updates: 7 update(s) available
Authorities are investigating the torture and killing of a dog found taped to the steering wheel of an abandoned SUV.
The animal was tied to a vehicle and dragged and then left to die with its front paws and chest cavity taped to the steering wheel. It appeared to have been stabbed and tortured.
Riders on all-terrain vehicles found the hound's body. An animal shelter official says patches of skin were torn off and bone was exposed near the left shoulder. The back of the skull had been impaled with an object.
Lieutenant B-C Stover with the Kanawha County Sheriff's Department says the Blazer's owner had left the vehicle after it got stuck in the mud. The tires were later stolen.
Stover says a bullet hole was found in the side of the vehicle, but it was unclear whether the shot came from the inside.
No arrests had been made in the dog's death. The sheriff's department was trying to determine who owned the animal.
Anyone with information can call (304) 357-0169
Case UpdatesA man on a hunting trip said he disagreed when Mark Starcher shot a dog and allegedly said it would be a funny joke to tape the dog to the driver's seat of a sport utility vehicle.
"I said, 'You'll go to jail quicker for killing a dog than for killing a person,' " said David Mooney, 22, a witness in Starcher's animal cruelty trial in Kanawha Circuit Court.
Cousins David Mooney and Mark Mooney, who owned the dog, testified Tuesday that they went raccoon hunting with Starcher and his 9-year-old stepson in March 2005.
Starcher, 38, is accused of shooting the dog and then dragging the dead dog to an abandoned Chevy Blazer up on cinderblocks and taping the animal's paws to the steering wheel.
The defense has maintained that Starcher had permission to put down his friend's vicious dog.
David Mooney said he had never met Starcher before the night they went drinking and hunting in a remote part of Kanawha County near Sanderson.
He said before the dog bit Starcher, he was down-to-earth and sociable.
"After the dog bit him, he had a real attitude problem," David Mooney said. He said that while the dog behaved well outside of its box, it was mean and snappish inside.
"Everyone there that night knew that that dog was aggressive in the box," he said. "If you wanted to get him out without getting bit, you had to wear protection."
He said Starcher yanked the dog out of the back of his SUV and shot it in the head.
Mark Mooney, 19, said Starcher told him his dog was untrainable and needed to be killed.
"He pulled the dog out of the box, and when it got on the ground he kicked it," Mark Mooney testified. "He said nobody needed a dog like this."
He said Starcher asked him to put the dog down, but he refused.
Both men said after Starcher killed the dog, he wheeled around with the pistol in his hand, making them fear for their safety.
Later that night, while they were eating reheated chili in Starcher's house, he told the cousins that they needed to come up with a story to account for the dead dog, according to Wednesday's testimony.
Kanawha County Sheriff's Detective Sean Snuffer testified that when he arrested the defendant several days after the incident, Starcher led him to the entrance of an abandoned mine where he had buried the 9mm pistol used to kill the dog. | Source: Charleston Daily Mail - Aug 11, 2006
Update posted on Aug 11, 2006 - 11:54AM |
Mark Starcher, the Pond Gap man who admitted he shot his friend's hunting dog after it bit him, was acquitted on animal cruelty charges in Kanawha Circuit Court on Thursday.
The jury deliberated for less than an hour before returning the not guilty verdict.
Starcher, a former Marine who is now a long-distance truck driver, smiled broadly and hugged his attorney, Peggy Collins, after the verdict was announced. His fiancée, Teresa Keith, sobbed audibly in the gallery. Starcher declined to comment as he left the courtroom.
Prosecutors said Starcher, 38, became enraged after he was bitten by Jake, a dog belonging to 19-year-old Mark Mooney, when they went hunting together in March 2005.
The dog's carcass was found with its paws taped to the steering wheel of an abandoned Chevrolet Blazer in the woods near Sanderson.
During the three-day trial, Starcher acknowledged that he shot the dog and later put it in the driver's seat of the SUV. However, he testified that he had Mooney's permission to put the aggressive and unruly dog down, and he and Mooney came up with the idea of taping the lifeless animal to the steering wheel together.
In her closing argument, Collins said the whole case turned on whether the dog was maliciously killed.
"It died instantly when [Starcher] killed it. That dog didn't suffer," Collins said. "This is a humane way to kill something."
Assistant Kanawha County Prosecutor Teresa Tarr pointed out that Starcher concocted a story to hide his role in the dog's death, lied to police and hid the 9mm pistol he used to shoot the dog.
"Why make up a story if you were justified in killing a dog?" Tarr asked. "Consciousness of guilt."
Kanawha County Prosecutor Bill Charnock said no civilized person would do what Starcher did to the dog.
"The law does not allow for a coon hunter exception to the [animal cruelty] statute," Charnock said.
Earlier Thursday, Starcher testified that he had tried to work with the dog to make it less aggressive, taking it in and out of its box while wearing heavy welder's gloves. He said he put a shock collar on the dog, zapping it on a low setting when it misbehaved.
When that didn't work, he took his gloves off to remove the collar, Starcher said. After he put the collar away, he forgot to put the gloves back on, and the next time he handled the dog, it bit him, drawing blood.
"That agitated me," Starcher said. "The dog bit me after my being very nice to it and working with it."
A few minutes later, the dog lunged at Starcher's 9-year-old stepson when the boy tried to pet it, nipping him on the hand when he raised his hand to protect his face, Starcher said.
Finally, the dog tried to climb up Starcher's back when it was turned, prompting him to tell Mooney that his dog was beyond training, the defendant said.
"I kept telling Mark Mooney, 'You need to do something with this dog,' " Starcher testified. "I said if it was my dog, and it bit me like that, I would put it to sleep."
When Mooney hesitated, Starcher said he offered to shoot the dog. According to Starcher, Mooney told him, "If you think that's best."
"He actually told me to shoot the dog," Starcher said. "He wasn't going to do it, so he told me to shoot the dog."
Starcher admitted that he was drinking and driving with his stepson in the vehicle the night he killed the dog, but denied saying anything inflammatory immediately after he pulled the trigger.
On Wednesday, Mark Mooney's cousin David Mooney, who also went hunting with Starcher that night, testified that Starcher said "Bite me now, [expletive]," after he shot the dog.
When asked why he taped the dog to the SUV's steering wheel, Starcher said he did that out of "stupidity."
Starcher said he told police that he and Mooney had lost the dog and denied owning a pistol because he panicked after the media coverage after the dead dog was discovered.
"I was scared to death," Starcher said. "I didn't know what to do." | Source: Charleston Gazette - Aug 11, 2006
Update posted on Aug 11, 2006 - 11:45AM |
| Starcher has been indicted on a charge of animal cruelty. If convicted, Starcher could face up to three years in prison and a $3,000 fine. | Source: West Virginia Gazette - Oct 1, 2005
Update posted on Oct 3, 2005 - 12:40PM |
| The defendant requested and was granted a time waiver, which means he is giving up his right to have a hearing within 10 days. The Kenawha County Magistrate Court was not sure when the hearing will be reset. | | Update posted on Mar 25, 2005 - 1:33PM |
This will be heard in Kenawha County Magistrate Court on March 25, 2005 at 1:30 p.m. TIme is short. The Magistrate Court phone no. is 304-357-0400 and they are inquiry friendly. CASE NO. 05 F 622
The prosecutor is Michael T. Clifford, Esq., who won a convication in the "Sunbear" case of starvation under the old (misdemeanor) law. The present case is a felony due to the outrage from the "Sunbear" case.
Email for the Prosecutor's Office is: webmaster@kanawhaprosecutor.com | | Update posted on Mar 24, 2005 - 10:35PM |
A man has been arrested and accused of torturing and killing a dog that was tied to a vehicle and dragged, and then taped to the steering wheel of another vehicle and left to die.
Thirty-seven-year-old Mark Allen Starcher of Pond Gap was charged today with one count of felony animal cruelty.
Lieutenant Jess Bailes with the Kanawha County Sheriff's Department says Starcher is being held at the South Central Regional Jail.
All-terrain vehicle riders found the dog's body on Monday near Sanderson. Its front paws and chest cavity had been taped to the steering wheel of an abandoned sport utility vehicle.
Patches of skin were torn off and bone was exposed near the left shoulder. The back of the skull had been impaled with an object, possibly a screw driver.
Officers with the Kanawha-Charleston Humane Association said the dog likely was alive when someone taped it to the steering wheel because its paws were swollen, indicating blood was still flowing. | Source: WCHS-TV - March 19, 2005
Update posted on Mar 20, 2005 - 6:28AM |
Groups are offering at least $7,125 for information leading to the arrest of the person who tortured and killed the hound.
Story by The Associated Press
More than $7,000 in reward money has been offered for information leading to the arrest of the person responsible for torturing and killing a dog in Kanawha County.
The animal was dragged from a vehicle and then taped to the steering wheel of another vehicle and left to die.
All-terrain vehicle riders found the hound's body on Monday near Sanderson.
Its front paws and chest cavity had been taped to the steering wheel of an abandoned sport utility vehicle.
Patches of skin were torn off and bone was exposed near the left shoulder.
The back of the skull had been impaled with an object, possibly a screwdriver.
Kanawha County Sheriff's Detective Samantha Ferrell said people in the community have offered rewards totaling $5,125. Two animal groups, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and United Animal Nations, have each offered a $1,000 reward.
The Humane Society of the United States also is offering a reward, Ferrell said, but will determine the amount after an arrest is made. | Source: WOWK 13 - March 17, 2005
Update posted on Mar 20, 2005 - 6:21AM |
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