Case Details

Hoarding - 13 dogs seized
Pleasant Hill, IA (US)

Date: Sep 26, 2005
Disposition: Not Charged

Persons of Interest:

  • Dana Earl Elting
  • Peggy Jean Webb

    Case Updates: 2 update(s) available
  • Case ID: 5627
    Classification: Hoarding
    Animal: dog (non pit-bull)
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    Child or elder neglect
    Drugs or alcohol involved
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    The 49-year-old man charged with criminal neglect of his 76-year-old mother who died on Sept 24 is wanted on charges in Iowa.

    Dana Earl Elting, who was arrested Sept 26, 2005 along with his wife, Peggy Jean Webb, 51, on suspicion they mistreated bedridden Jeanette Elting in a house filled with trash and feces, will be in court on Sept 30 for review of his bail-bond status.

    The couple brought the woman on the night of Sept 24 to a La Crosse, Wis., hospital, where she died two hours later. The La Crosse County coroner found severely elevated levels of body acid (a sign of illness), severe bruising and bed sore ulcers on one-fifth of her skin. The coroner alerted the Winona County Sheriff's Office, who searched the home the following Monday and Tuesday.

    Winona County Attorney Chuck MacLean said he discovered Iowa authorities issued an arrest warrant in 2003 for Elting after he escaped supervised probation on two felony cocaine delivery convictions in 2000.

    MacLean discovered two other Iowa warrants for Elting, one for a vicious animal charge and the other for having a dog running at large.

    Winona Area Humane Society workers recovered 13 dogs on Sept 27 from the house near the Houston County line in Pleasant Hill Township. A veterinarian had to euthanize two dogs at the site because they were too dangerous, MacLean said.

    Webb's next appearance is Oct. 13. Both remained in jail on the afternoon of Sept 29 facing two gross misdemeanor counts each of intentionally neglecting or knowingly permitting conditions that constituted abuse or neglect of Jeannette Elting.

    Wednesday, Judge Jeffrey D. Thompson set bail at $3,000 for Elting and Webb with orders not to leave the state or go to their rented home on County Highway 103 if they post bail or bond.

    MacLean said a judge approved his request for a hearing to review release conditions because of Elting's Iowa criminal history.

    Also that Thursday, the court denied public defenders for Elting and Webb based on their financial affidavits, court records showed.

    Both told the court they were unemployed, but Webb said she had rental property and stock holdings.

    Both have drunken driving convictions in Winona County. Webb was convicted this spring for fourth-degree drunken driving and given one year pm probation. Elting was convicted  in 2004 for second-degree drunken driving and fined $665.

    The regional coroner at Regina Medical Center in Hastings, Minn., conducted an autopsy of the victim on Sept 27. Results will not be ready for a "number of days," MacLean said.

    MacLean also is awaiting veterinary reports to decide whether he will file animal neglect charges against the couple. In the 1990s in Iowa, Elting pleaded guilty to several charges regarding nuisance animals.

    Case Updates

    A husband and wife charged with neglecting a 76-year-old woman before she died Sept. 24 have hired separate attorneys.

    Jailers brought Dana Earl Elting, 49, and Peggy Jean Webb, 51, to Winona County District Court on Monday morning for separate probation violation hearings.

    Webb appeared with attorneys Richmond H. McCluer and J.P. Plachecki of Winona. Elting told Judge Margaret Shaw Johnson he has hired attorney Mark A. Ostrem of Rochester.

    After the hearings, Webb posted bonds of $3,000 in the human neglect case and $500 in the probation violation case, a Winona County jailer said. Johnson set Elting�s bail at $12,000 cash or bond. Attorneys said they expected Elting to post bond Monday but he had not as of 4 p.m., the Winona County jail said.

    McCluer said Webb had made a living arrangement in the city of Winona, �at least in the short term.� The court forbid them from returning to their rented home 4 miles south of Ridgeway because authorities classified it unfit for human habitation.

    Elting and Webb had been in jail 14 days since their arrest, which came 48 hours after they brought Elting�s mother, Jeanette Elting, to an emergency room in La Crosse, Wis. Medical staff found the woman unresponsive, declared her dead two hours later and alerted the Winona County Sheriff�s office.

    On Sept. 26, deputies arrested the couple at home. The home�s interior was filthy with trash and human and dog waste, court documents and photos showed. On Sept. 27, the

    La Crosse County medical examiner visited the home and concluded it contributed to the death. Authorities rescued 10 dogs and killed two judged too unhealthy and vicious for rehabilitation.

    The Winona County Attorney�s office charged the couple with human neglect and animal maltreatment. The new offenses caused the Department of Corrections to charge them with violating their probation on separate drunken driving convictions.

    Webb denied her violation, and Elting has not yet entered an admission or denial. Each has hearings again Thursday.

    Elting was convicted of third-degree drunken driving a year ago and placed on two years probation. Webb was convicted of fourth-degree drunken driving and sentenced in March to one year of probation.

    The court appointed Elting a public defender last year for his DWI case but denied one to Elting and Webb for their current case, based on financial affidavits. Both paid off their drunken driving fines, $893 for Elting and $590 for Webb, court records show.

    Winona County Attorney Chuck MacLean said Monday he has received the autopsy report on Jeannette Webb but will not consider more charges until he meets with medical examiners.
    Source: Winona Daily News - Oct 11, 2005
    Update posted on Oct 11, 2005 - 7:35AM 
    Dana Earl Elting, accused of neglecting his 76-year-old mother who died a week ago, has lost his opportunity for bail-bond release from the Winona County jail.

    The 49-year-old man was to have a hearing Friday on a motion by Winona County Attorney Chuck MacLean to modify Elting's bail-bond conditions in light of criminal warrants in Iowa. However, Winona County District Court cancelled the hearing, and MacLean withdrew his request, saying the jail is holding Elting on a 2003 Iowa arrest warrant for escaping supervised probation on a conviction in 2000 for felony cocaine delivery.

    Jail staff said the couple had not hired attorneys by midday Friday. The court on Thursday denied their requests for public defenders based on the couple's finances.

    Elting and Webb, 51, each face two gross misdemeanor charges of intentionally neglecting a vulnerable adult or permitting conditions equivalent to neglect in their rented house south of Ridgeway.

    Photographs and court documents show trash with human and dog waste covering the floors. Jeanette Elting's bed and bedside were filthy as well, according to photographs and court documents.

    The victim was bedridden the last two or three months, and the couple took her to Gundersen Lutheran hospital in La Crosse, Wis., on Sept. 24. Medical staff found her unresponsive, and she was pronounced dead two hours later.

    A coroner in Hastings, Minn., conducted an autopsy Tuesday, and MacLean is awaiting results.

    MacLean is also awaiting veterinary reports on 13 dogs seized from the home to decide if he will file animal neglect charges. A veterinarian killed two vicious dogs at the site.

    Elting is wanted in Iowa on warrants for two animal violations, MacLean said.

    He pleaded guilty to six animal violations between 1995 and 2001 in Burlington, Iowa. Elting and Webb have drunken driving convictions from the past year in Winona County.

    Four neighbors said this week that the couple's dogs ran loose, causing traffic hazards and chasing livestock and other animals. All said they did not know Jeanette Elting was living in the home.

    Judge Jeffrey D. Thompson set bail-bond at $3,000 Wednesday and ordered the couple not to leave the state or go to the house. With Elting held for the Iowa warrants, release conditions only apply to Webb now. Her next appearance is Oct. 13.

    County environmental services ordered the home demolished after the owner and investigators have removed what they need.
    Source: La Crosse Tribune - Oct 1, 2005
    Update posted on Oct 3, 2005 - 12:07PM 

    References

    Winona Daily News - Sept 30, 2005

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