Men who mutilated horses sentenced
to probation, fines, written apologies
BY STEPHEN HUNT
AND MARK HAVNES
The Salt Lake Tribune
Two men who killed and
mutilated two horses on a Kane
County ranch -- apparently just
for kicks -- were sentenced Fri-
day to probation, during which
they must pay $200 court fines,
write apologies and deliver
$27,500 in restitution.
Gavin Demont Ewell, 22, and
his brother-in-law, Jeremy
Douglas Katzenbach, 20, each
pleaded guilty as charged in 6th
District Court to third-degree
felony criminal mischief and
class B misdemeanor animal
cruelty.
Judge David Mower sus-
pended potential zero to five
year prison terms and placed
the defendants on probation for
36 months.
Ewell, of Toquerville, and
Katzenbach, of Hurricane, were
also ordered to write apologies
to be published in the Southern
Utah News.
The horses -- a mare and a
prized stallion -- were discov-
ered Aug. 17 on a ranch leased
by Jessie and Jeff Allen, who
offer horseback riding trips
into southern Utah's red rock
country.
The horses were shot several
times with a .22-caliber rifle.
The stallion also was mutilated. |
Ewell, the apparent instiga-
tor of the killings, is a relative of
someone permitted access to
the ranch and knew the combi-
nation of the locked gate.
On Aug., 10, according to
sheriff's reports, Ewell and
Katzenbach drove to the ranch,
which sits on the eastern
boundary of Zion National Park.
After shooting pellet guns
for a while, the pair drove over
a rise and discovered a herd of
horses.
Ewell suggested shooting
one, according to police reports,
but Katzenbach asked: "Isn't
that poaching?"
"Yeah," replied Ewell. " But
the guy who owns these horses
is an ass----, anyway."
Ewell fired more than 15
rounds into the herd. Katzen-
bach fired about five rounds.
After felling a valued 4-year-
old quarter horse stud named
Saint Shem, the men cut off its
ears, shot it through the legs
and hooves, jammed a stick into
its rectum ans scrawled vulgar-
ities on its carcass with a tube of
construction silicon, according
to reports.
Then they took turns smash-
ing the dead hors's skull with a
rock wrapped in a T-shirt.
When police began inter-
viewing people who had access
to the ranch, they learned Ewell
had been seen there a week be-
fore. Ewell initially denied any
involvement, but later turned
himself in. |
The Salt Lake Tribune 12-6-03