Just a little evidence will bite you in the end so a crime does not pay.
Tip helps break elk slaughter case
11/20/03
DILLON - An abandoned sweatshirt and a faint, roundabout tip have helped game wardens close a yearlong investigation into the slaughter of 13 elk on the Martin Jackson Ranch in the Big Hole Basin during the 2002 hunting season.
Six men have pleaded guilty to a variety of charges over the killings, paid fines and lost their hunting privileges.
The carnage was some of the worst that game warden Mark Anderson has ever seen.
The elk were left scattered across the field. Three were gutted, none was tagged. Blood trails led away from the area, indicating that other animals were wounded and possibly died.
For a year, Anderson and other wardens across the state kept their ears open, hoping for a break.
“It was a long, drawn-out process,” Anderson said. “I spent a lot of sleepless nights thinking that nothing would ever happen.”
The tip that started the final crack in the case came from a friend of a friend who had a cousin who had a friend who'd heard something and passed it along to another warden, Anderson said.
“The tip brought everything back to life,” Anderson said. “It was just the slightest little piece of information, but it was all we needed.”
Evidence at the scene had included a sweatshirt reading “2002 Montana State Wrestling Championship, Billings, Montana.” Anderson and other wardens identified “big wrestling families” in the Polson and Ronan area, then matched those names with people who'd received cow permits for Hunting District 321.
“We were able to establish who owned the clothing and who had left it there,” Anderson said. “After that we were able to establish who had done a lot of the shooting, and who had trespassed onto the Martin Jackson ranch to do the shooting.”
“I think they were glad that we'd finally showed up,” he said. “It had been eating on them.”
Jerry Wills, 42, of Ronan, and Dennis Dellwo, 41, of Polson recently pleaded guilty in Beaverhead County Justice Court to possession of unlawfully taken elk, taking more than the limit of elk, and failure to get landowner's permission to hunt. They lost their hunting privileges for three years, and each paid $1,205 in fines, surcharges and restitution.
Joe Schindler, 21, of Belgrade was charged with failure to get landowner's permission to hunt, using an elk license issued to another, and taking more than the limit of elk. He forfeited his bond and paid $905.
Ted Coffman, 52, of Charlo and Morris McConnell, 53, of Polson forfeited $135 bonds on charges of failure to get landowners' permission.
Francis Schindler, 59, was charged with criminal trespass to private property and forfeited a bond of $145.
Minors, ranging in age from 12 to 17, were involved in the slaughter, but wildlife officials decided not to charge them, Anderson said.
“They shot at the direction of their parents,” he said.
“They were told to violate the law by their parents - that's just really sad. These people do feel extremely bad about what happened and they feel extremely bad that their kids were involved.”
Tip helps break elk slaughter case
11/20/03
DILLON - An abandoned sweatshirt and a faint, roundabout tip have helped game wardens close a yearlong investigation into the slaughter of 13 elk on the Martin Jackson Ranch in the Big Hole Basin during the 2002 hunting season.
Six men have pleaded guilty to a variety of charges over the killings, paid fines and lost their hunting privileges.
The carnage was some of the worst that game warden Mark Anderson has ever seen.
The elk were left scattered across the field. Three were gutted, none was tagged. Blood trails led away from the area, indicating that other animals were wounded and possibly died.
For a year, Anderson and other wardens across the state kept their ears open, hoping for a break.
“It was a long, drawn-out process,” Anderson said. “I spent a lot of sleepless nights thinking that nothing would ever happen.”
The tip that started the final crack in the case came from a friend of a friend who had a cousin who had a friend who'd heard something and passed it along to another warden, Anderson said.
“The tip brought everything back to life,” Anderson said. “It was just the slightest little piece of information, but it was all we needed.”
Evidence at the scene had included a sweatshirt reading “2002 Montana State Wrestling Championship, Billings, Montana.” Anderson and other wardens identified “big wrestling families” in the Polson and Ronan area, then matched those names with people who'd received cow permits for Hunting District 321.
“We were able to establish who owned the clothing and who had left it there,” Anderson said. “After that we were able to establish who had done a lot of the shooting, and who had trespassed onto the Martin Jackson ranch to do the shooting.”
“I think they were glad that we'd finally showed up,” he said. “It had been eating on them.”
Jerry Wills, 42, of Ronan, and Dennis Dellwo, 41, of Polson recently pleaded guilty in Beaverhead County Justice Court to possession of unlawfully taken elk, taking more than the limit of elk, and failure to get landowner's permission to hunt. They lost their hunting privileges for three years, and each paid $1,205 in fines, surcharges and restitution.
Joe Schindler, 21, of Belgrade was charged with failure to get landowner's permission to hunt, using an elk license issued to another, and taking more than the limit of elk. He forfeited his bond and paid $905.
Ted Coffman, 52, of Charlo and Morris McConnell, 53, of Polson forfeited $135 bonds on charges of failure to get landowners' permission.
Francis Schindler, 59, was charged with criminal trespass to private property and forfeited a bond of $145.
Minors, ranging in age from 12 to 17, were involved in the slaughter, but wildlife officials decided not to charge them, Anderson said.
“They shot at the direction of their parents,” he said.
“They were told to violate the law by their parents - that's just really sad. These people do feel extremely bad about what happened and they feel extremely bad that their kids were involved.”
