Pet-Abuse.Com - Animal Abuse Case Details: Dog beaten to death with shovel, shot

Dog beaten to death with shovel, shot
Weissport, PA (US)

Incident Date: Monday, Mar 27, 2006
County: Carbon
Local Map: available
Disposition: Convicted

Abusers/Suspects:
» Randy Miller
» Wendy Kneller

Case Updates: 3 update(s) available

Case ID: 8044

Classification: Beating, Shooting

Animal: dog (non pit-bull)

View more cases in PA (US)

Animal was offleash or loose

Abuse was retaliation against animal's bad behavior

A Weissport man has been charged with beating and shooting to death a dog, then threatening to kill a teenager who saw him kill the animal, police said.

Police also charged a Weissport woman with ordering the animal's killing and giving the man the pistol he used because she said the dog bit her baby.

Randy Miller of 230 White St., was charged on April 4 with terroristic threats and cruelty to animals, both misdemeanors, state police at Lehighton said.

Wendy C. Kneller, 32, of the same address, was charged March 27 with conspiracy, police said.

Miller was carrying a shovel and walking the black chow mix into the woods in the borough about 3:15 p.m. March 24 when a group of teenagers at a nearby basketball court saw him and were curious, according to an arrest affidavit filed by state Trooper Francis L. DeMatto.

The teens followed Miller along a path between the Norfolk-Southern Railroad tracks and the Lehigh River, according to the affidavit, which was filed with District Judge Edward Lewis of Jim Thorpe.

One teen told police he watched Miller beat the dog to death with the shovel, ignoring the yells of some girls in the group to stop hurting the animal. After the dog collapsed, Miller then fired a bullet from a .40-caliber pistol into its body and buried it in a shallow grave, the affidavit says.

As he left the woods, Miller yelled to the teenager, ''If you don't keep your mouth shut, I will find out where you live and I will come and kill you,'' the affidavit says.

The teenager ''took this as a threat,'' according to the affidavit.

DeMatto says in the affidavit that he went to Miller's home at 8 p.m. that day and was met at the door by Kneller, who told him she gave Miller the pistol and ordered him to kill the dog because it ''bit my baby today.''

But when DeMatto asked to see the child, Kneller did not provide one, DeMatto said. He wrote that he did not ''enter the residence due to a number of other large breed dogs, and at least one pit bull, being on the premises.''

The affidavit says that when DeMatto asked to speak with Miller, Kneller said he had gone to his brother's and she had no way of reaching him.

DeMatto said he told her to come to the state police barracks with Miller at 3 p.m. the next day to be interviewed about the incident, but neither showed up.

Police said they recovered the dog's body and gave it to Lehighton Animal Hospital, which properly disposed of it.

Case Updates

A Carbon County man and woman convicted of cruelty to animals for killing their pet dog, a 6-year-old pit bull-chow mix, have appealed to the judge who presided over their case.

But Judge David W. Addy, who did not rule after listening to lawyers' arguments Friday, said he expects that a state appeals court will eventually decide the case.

Lawyers for Randy Miller, 25, and Wendy Kneller, 33, both of East Penn Township, argue that dog owners have the right to dispatch their animal as long as it isn't done in a cruel way.

''The case comes down to whether an individual has a right to destroy their own animal,'' said Paul J. Levy, Kneller's public defender.

Carbon County District Attorney Gary F. Dobias, who prosecuted the case, disagreed.

Addy indicated that he doesn't agree with the defendants' position. But he said will rule later and issue an opinion explaining his reasoning.

''Certainly [the case] will go to appeals courts,'' Addy said. ''It will give us guidance on dog laws.''

The killing of the dog, named Bouta, happened in March in Weissport, where Miller and Kneller lived together at the time. According to testimony, the dog bit Kneller's 4-year-old son, so she told Miller to shoot the dog.

Before shooting the dog with a .40-caliber pistol, Miller hit it over the head four or five times with a shovel. Dobias reminded Addy Friday that witnesses testified the dog yelped and whined as it was struck.

The case went to trial in September, and a jury convicted Miller of cruelty to animals and intimidating a witness. Kneller was convicted of conspiracy.

Addy sentenced Miller to seven months to two years in county prison and Kneller to six months to a year in county prison. However, he allowed them to remain free while they appeal.

In addition to arguing that it's proper for a dog owner to destroy a pet humanely, lawyers raised several other issues.

Miller's lawyer, Brian Gazo, asked Addy to reduce his sentence, noting it was his client's first offense and that Miller suffers from a mental illness, which he did not identify. He also told Addy that he erred because he sentenced Miller and Kneller without the benefit of a presentence investigation by the Carbon County Adult Probation Office.

Meanwhile, Levy wondered what act the jury considered cruel � the beating with the shovel, the shooting or both. He said if the jury considered just the beating cruel, Kneller should have been acquitted because she told Miller to shoot the dog.

Source: The Morning Call - Jan 13, ,2007
Update posted on Jan 19, 2007 - 2:51AM

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A Carbon County man and woman were sentenced to prison on Oct 23 for beating and shooting to death their pet dog, a 6-year-old pit bull-chow mix, in March.

But Randy Miller, 25, and Wendy Kneller, 33, will remain free while they appeal their convictions, county Judge David W. Addy ruled.

Addy also rejected a suggestion from District Attorney Gary F. Dobias to have the couple clean pens at the county dog shelter in Nesquehoning as part of their punishment.

Addy sentenced Miller, 25, to seven months to two years in county prison for cruelty to animals and threatening a witness. The threat charge stemmed from Miller telling a teen witness he would kill him if he told anybody about the death of Bouta.

Addy sentenced Kneller, Bouta's owner, to six months to a year in county prison for conspiracy to commit cruelty to animals.

''I think your actions are despicable,'' Addy told the couple, who lived in Weissport at the time of the crimes but have moved to East Penn Township.

A jury in August found that Miller hit the dog over the head five or six times with a shovel, then shot it with a .40-caliber pistol March 24 in a wooded area on the outskirts of Weissport. Miller had said he killed the dog after it bit Kneller's 4-year-old son.

Public Defender George Dydynsky, who represented Kneller, and Brian Gazo, who was court-appointed to represent Miller, both said they plan to appeal.

''The law in Pennsylvania permits an owner without cruelty to dispatch their animal in any way they see fit,'' Dydynsky said. He said numerous county farmers have shot their dogs.

Dydynsky said the killing was a ''clean dispatch like the cowboys did to their horses.''

But veterinarian Dawn Mriss testified during the trial that the beating caused 2-inch-deep cuts to the dog's skull and inflicted extreme pain. According to testimony from three teenage girls, the dog whimpered, cried and yipped as Miller hit it before shooting it.

Both Dydynsky and Gazo told Addy the dog was so vicious it had to be killed.

''This dog needed to be destroyed,'' Gazo said.

Miller and Kneller both apologized to the judge.

Kneller, who is scheduled to plead guilty Thursday to charges she had her children steal from a county store, told Addy she will make better decisions. Miller said he now understands he was wrong.

Dobias told Addy the case has spurred dozens of outraged residents to write letters to his office.

Dobias reminded the judge that Kneller is to plead guilty to new charges this week. He also said that Kneller, who has five children, has been ''dishonest, belligerent and hostile'' with county Children and Youth caseworkers, and called agency supervisor Sally Newton to testify.

Dydynsky, citing Children and Youth confidentiality rules, objected.

''The mere fact we're are talking about this is wrong,'' Dydynsky said.

Addy then cleared the courtroom to listen to Newton's testimony. He later said he did not consider Newton's testimony in his decision.

Source: The Morning Call - Oct 24, 2006
Update posted on Nov 3, 2006 - 10:49AM

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Bouta, a 6-year-old chow, walked calmly alongside Randy Miller, who held the handle of the dog's leash in one hand and a shovel in the other.

But man and dog weren't just out for a daily walk. Miller led the large black dog into the woods in Weissport on March 24, beat it with a shovel and put a bullet through its head, witnesses at a preliminary hearing testified Wednesday.

Miller, 25, of 230 White St., Weissport was ordered by District Judge Edward Lewis of Jim Thorpe to face Carbon County Court on charges of animal cruelty and terroristic threats. The ruling came after testimony from witnesses including a veterinarian who said the dog had 2-inch-deep cuts on its head and neck, and a man who said Miller threatened to kill him if he told anybody about the dog's death.

Miller's girlfriend, Wendy Kneller, 32, who police said urged Miller to kill the dog, was ordered to face court on a conspiracy charge.

Lewis released both on $30,000 unsecured bail, meaning they don't have to post cash or property.

Miller, who is free on $3,500 bail on unrelated terroristic threat charges, must also undergo anger management classes, have a mental health evaluation and have no contact with the witnesses who testified at the hearing.

Kneller was represented by public defender Paul Levy and Miller was represented by his court-appointed attorney Brian Gazo. District Attorney Gary Dobias presented evidence.

Miller yawned frequently, took notes and folded paper, and smiled slightly as he listened to testimony. Kneller watched as witnesses spoke.

Behind Kneller sat her estranged husband, John, who said he had owned Bouta since he was a puppy, but couldn't take the dog with him when the couple separated about 10 months ago and he moved to Kresgeville.

Instead, Bouta stayed with Wendy Kneller in the house where she and Miller, both unemployed, live with Wendy's five children, ages 4 to 14, and 16 dogs, including a pit bull with 11 puppies. John Kneller is the father of Wendy's 4-year-old twin boys.

Candice Swartz, 14, testified she was at a basketball court with friends about 3:15 p.m. when they saw Miller lead the dog into the woods and followed him because ''we suspected something.''

She cried as she told the court how she hid behind a bush and watched as Miller slammed the shovel on the whimpering dog's head several times, then shot it in the head. She said she ran, but soon returned with friends and followed a trail of blood to the dog's shallow grave.

Swartz said she knows Kneller and Miller and has been to their house to play with Kneller's children. Bouta was never aggressive, she said.

Mike Williams, 20, who was in the group of friends, said Miller threatened him as he left the woods with the shovel.

''If you say anything about what just happened, I'll find out where you live and kill you,'' he testified Miller said. ''He told me to go home. I said, 'OK' and got on my bike and went home.''

Trooper Francis L. DeMatto of state police at Lehighton said he found Bouta's shallow grave, then interviewed Kneller, who told him she ''asked her boyfriend to kill the dog because it bit her baby today.'' DeMatto said he saw the child three days later and there were no bite marks.

DeMatto said he did not go into the home because there were several large dogs and he did not have backup and was concerned for his safety.

Lehighton Animal Hospital veterinarian Dawn Mriss testified that police called her to dispose of the dog's body. She said the dog had cuts on its head and neck 2 inches deep and 1 to 3 inches long. A bullet had pierced its skull on the left side and exited through its neck, she said.

Source: The Morning Call - April 27, 2006
Update posted on Apr 28, 2006 - 4:46PM

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Dog beaten to death with shovel, shotWeissport, PA (US)

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Dog beaten to death with shovel, shot
Weissport, PA (US)