Horses stolen, sold to slaughter house
North Randall, OH (US)Incident Date: Sunday, Apr 30, 2006
County: Cuyahoga
Disposition: Convicted
Defendants/Suspects:
» Charles Burneson
» John Queen
Two men were convicted of stealing two retired race horses from a thoroughbred race track and selling them to a slaughterhouse.
Charles Burneson, of Chippewa Lake, and John Queen, of Grove City, both 37, face up to 18 months in prison for taking the horses from Thistledown in North Randall, a Cleveland suburb. Both were convicted on Tuesday.
The horses, named Jakeman and For All You Girls, stopped racing in 2004. The horses' owner, Mike Newell of Fort Erie, Ontario, had arranged to put them out to pasture with an organization that finds new homes for them, said Jeffrey Kocian, an assistant prosecutor.
Each horse was worth more than $5,000, said Newell, who would have received tax deductions for donating the horses. "It was never about the money," he said.
Trial testimony indicated that Burneson and Queen stole the horses from their stalls and Burneson sold them to a slaughterhouse for $250 each. Burneson has been a trainer and Queen a jockey agent.
But James Dawson, an attorney for Burneson, said Wednesday that the jury received conflicting accounts, including Burneson's testimony.
"It's my client's position he did not steal the two Newell horses. He sold two other horses he owned to a broker, and I don't know what the broker did with them. Generally they are then sold at auction," Dawson said.
Howard Maniker, the lawyer for Queen, confirmed his client also will appeal.
Dawson also said the two horses were not worth as much as described in court.
"Those were old race horses with problems and really do not have much value," Dawson said.
Both men plan to appeal. References« OH State Animal Cruelty Map
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