On March 9, 2008, Eric Finch, an employee of Struthers Farms, 71299 305th St, Collins, IA, reported vandalism at the farm. A hog confinement building had been entered and the hog pens had been opened. Several of the hogs had gotten out of the building. The animals had been injured and some were dead. Damage was estimated at $1500.00.

Update 3/18/08:  A Story County man was expected to turn himself in today in connection with the killing or maiming of some 41 pigs at a confinement facility at Struthers Farms Inc., 71299 305th St., near Collins.

Jonathon Lee Wright, 21, of 28835 710th Ave., Collins, was expected to turn himself in, according to Story County Sheriff Paul Fitzgerald.

At a press conference held at the Story County Sheriff's Office, Fitzgerald said a tip generated by a reward offer led to investigators focusing on Wright, who later confessed to the crime. Evidence from Wright's truck also was recovered from the scene of the crime.

Fitzgerald declined to comment on what motive Wright may have had for the crime, save to say that there may have been some tension between his family and the family that owned the animals.  "I don't think he was ticked off at the hogs," Fitzgerald said. "It appears there's been some family issues involved, and tempers may have flared up over the years."

Fitzgerald said Wright and his family felt remorse for the incident.  "In a situation like this, they're feeling a lot of remorse and hurt, and of course their son does as well," Fitzgerald said.

Sheriff's office investigators were called to the Struthers family farm March 8, when Eric Finch, son-in-law of one of the facility's owners, went to work and found that approximately 500 pigs had been let loose from their holding pens, and some appeared to have been struck or run over by a vehicle.

Capt. Barry Thomas said investigators were able to recover pieces of a plastic bumper from the scene, and from that they were able to generally identify the make of the vehicle that was involved.

However, the break in the case came after a $1,500 reward, put up by private companies, was offered to the public. An anonymous tip led police to Wright, and they attempted to figure out whether the pieces they'd recovered could have come from a vehicle Wright owned.

Wright was out of town at the time the tip came in. When he returned, he agreed to an interview at the sheriff's office, and he apparently arrived in the same vehicle he had allegedly used to run over the pigs. While Wright talked to investigators, deputies were in the parking lot, matching the pieces of evidence to damage sustained on Wright's pickup, a small Chevy pickup.  Wright reportedly confessed shortly thereafter.

Finch declined to comment on the family's reaction to a nearby neighbor being named as the culprit.  "We are pleased that progress has been made," he said. "We're deeply saddened by these events, but we are going to move on with our farming practices as we always have."

Finch also noted that he was unaware of any animosity existing between the Struthers' and the Wrights.  "I'm not aware of the sheriff's comments, but to my knowledge I'm not aware of any conflict," he said.

Fitzgerald told reporters at the press conference that roughly 20 of the 41 injured animals had either died or been euthanized due to injuries.

Update 3/19/08:  Wright, of Collins, a 2005 graduate of Collins-Maxwell High School, who lives at 710th Ave., has confessed to the crime.  It was announced that he would be held in the Story County Jail on an $18,500 bond.

Sheriff Paul Fitzgerald said Wright will be charged with 41 counts of livestock abuse, criminal mischief 2nd degree and criminal trespass, for his March 9 actions of releasing and then running over hogs with a vehicle at the Struthers Family Farms, located at 71299 305th St. Each count of livestock abuse is an aggravated misdemeanor, while the Criminal Mischief 2nd charge is a Class D felony.

Sheriff's spokesman Capt. Barry Thomas said the most recent count on the hog fatalities and injuries is that 20 hogs either died during the crime or had to be euthanized. Twenty-one other hogs were injured and some of those may still need to be euthanized. The loss, Thomas said, is at least $2,000 on the hogs that have died, and with the remainder of the injured hogs, he said, they are worth only 10 percent of what full market value would be, therefore at least another $1,800 in loss.

Eric Finch, had gone out to the site on Sunday, March 9, and realized that approximately 500 pigs were on the loose. Dave Struthers said he was out of town, but his father, Don, showed up to help his brother-in-law.  Struthers is one of four family members who runs Struther's Farms.

"On this location, there's no house, it's just a building site, and it's around the corner from my folks' place," Struthers said.  He explained that the road is gravel for about half-a-mile and then it's dirt. "The rest of the road has never been plowed out all winter, so you can only get in from the west," he said.

Struthers said it was obvious that a human had let the pigs loose, because the gate pin had been pulled to let them out, and then replaced. "We knew it wasn't a pig that did that (replaced the pin)."  As his father and brother-in-law rounded up the pigs, they began to notice that some had severe injuries. At first it appeared it might be from the pigs fighting, but it soon became evident that it was more than that.  "Some of the pigs were really beat up. We had some with scars and some with broken legs and some with broken from shoulders. One had a deep cut around the anus," Struthers said, saying it was a terrible wound, very deep and very painful. "We'll have to euthanize him; he's bad."  "You could see in the field a place where a hide had been scraped off," Struthers said. And from the tracks in the field, it appeared that some of the pigs had been run over and then dragged by the vehicle.

The sheriff's office had been called in by Struthers Farms to investigate, but Struthers said they didn't go public with the story until Tuesday, March 11, when they called upon help from the public relations department of the Coalition to Support Iowa's Farmers (CSIF). They wrote a piece and then, Struthers said, the calls began to come in.

Most people, Struthers said, "feel it's just plain mean. It could have been any animal species that someone could have done that to."  In addition to the approximately 500 pigs that were turned loose, there were an additional 400 that were left unharmed in other buildings. Struthers said he's glad those pigs, in particular, were not let loose because they are, on average, about 180 pounds lighter than the pigs that were out. "These pigs (that were out) were market size. Some were already marked and ready to go to market." The average size of the pigs ready for market is around 260 pounds.

Struthers Farms, along with the help of the Story County Cattlemen, Iowa/Story County Pork Producers, Story County Farm Bureau, Mid-State Milling, Ag-Land Realty, Struthers Farms and State Farm Insurance agent Carol Jones out of Newton, had put together a $2,000 reward to anyone who can produce information leading to the arrest of the person or persons responsible for the pig cruelty incident. Capt. Thomas said that reward money did generate a tip that helped lead to the warrant that was issued for Wright's arrest.

When it comes to the punishment for the crime, Struthers said if it was up to him, the person responsible would have to come out to the hog site and "pitch the barn" a few times, in addition to whatever other punishment the law allows.

"These are animals, granted we don't make pets out of them, but they need to be treated humanely and have proper food and water. We aren't attached to them like a dog or cat, but they have a life and feel pain, and we want to take care of them."

Thomas said the crime against Struthers Farms' pigs is an appalling and senseless killing of animals. "As far as livestock goes, it's the worst I've seen in my time with the sheriff's office." Thomas has been with the office over 16 years.

Update 7/16/08:  Wright will plead guilty to first-degree criminal mischief, a class D felony, one count of livestock abuse, an aggravated misdemeanor, and one count of criminal trespass, a serious misdemeanor, according to Travis Johnson, of the Story County Attorney's Office.

Wright was originally charged with these and 40 other counts of livestock abuse. The additional counts will be dismissed as part of a plea bargain between the state and the plaintiff.

Wright turned himself in to authorities March 19 after the Story County Sheriff's Office publicly announced they had issued a warrant for him in connection to the crime.

On March 17, Wright admitted to investigators he'd run over the pigs. During his interview at the sheriff's office, deputies also were able to match up damage on the body of the 2001 Chevrolet S10 pickup Wright had driven there to fragments found in the field where the incident had occurred.

Johnson said he was unable to comment yet on what recommendations the state would make at Wright's sentencing.

Update 8/30/08:  Wright will spend 14 days in jail, spend two years on probation and pay a multitude of fines after his sentencing was finalized (Case #02851 FECR040312

Wright received a 14-day jail sentence for the criminal trespass charge, to be served over two separate seven-day periods, and pay a minimum fine of $315. In order to work with his employer, the District Associate Judge Malloy gave Wright until Jan. 15, 2009 to complete the sentence, and a plan to complete the sentence must be delivered by Sep. 15.

For the criminal mischief charge, District Associate Judge James Malloy ordered Wright to serve a deferred five-year jail sentence, where he will be required to serve probation, pay a $750 fine, plus court costs and restitution, get a mental health evaluation, seek alcohol abuse treatment. He also will not be allowed to consume alcohol or be in an establishment that sells alcohol for 50 percent of its revenue while serving probation. If he meets these conditions, the criminal mischief charges can eventually be erased from his record.

Wright received a suspended two-year jail sentence, probation was ordered to pay a $625 fine, surcharges and court costs for the livestock abuse charge. He will have the opportunity of parole and work credits.

An additional 40 counts of livestock abuse were dismissed as part of a plea bargain between Wright and the state, which included a restitution payment of $3,649.92. However, if he fails to meet the requirements of his probation, he could potentially serve seven years in jail, five for the criminal mischief charge and another two for the livestock abuse charge.

"First off, I want to apologize to the court, to my friends and family that support me," Wright told the court. "I think I deserve a second chance. I'll prove it to you."  Wright said he let the hogs out of their pens as a prank, but he got spooked and ran them over trying to get out of their way.

Reference:

Mid-Iowa News

Story County Sheriff's Office

Story County Court Records