The images from a farm field in the town of Lind won't soon leave DNR warden Ted Dremel.

"I would describe it as totally senseless," said Dremel. "I don't see any point on why somebody would try to do this or find any enjoyment out of it."

Dremel says five deer were run down and repeatedly run over by a group of snowmobilers.

"One I believe was still alive when it was dragged by a snowmobile and tied to a tree," he said.

Both the DNR and the Waupaca County Sheriff's Department say these individuals could face several charges, both civil and criminal.

"If you get into the serious stuff like cruelty to animals, it may be jail time," said Don Conat with the Sheriff's Department.

Investigators say they've received more than a half-dozen tips since the story went public. They've also received other calls from as far as Appleton and Oshkosh from people wanting to donate to the reward for information in the case.

"I am just appalled at what they did to these deer, it's just terrible," said Deb Lewis, Executive Director of the Fox Valley Humane Association.  The Humane Association contributed $500. Lewis says cruelty to any animal is unacceptable but calls this especially disturbing.  "Because we frequently see the mutilation and death of animals lead to other things like children and adults," she said.

The landowner has closed about five miles of the snowmobile trail where the incident happened. The DNR says the local snowmobile clubs and Recreation Department have talked about closing trails county-wide until the culprits are caught.  The snowmobile clubs are also contributing to the reward that could now total more than $10,000.

Update 1/14/09:  An Investigation Fund was started to aid in the investigation of the complaint in which the deer were killed by the snowmobilers as a result of the Sheriff's Department receiving a request from a citizen who wanted to donate to an Investigation Fund as well as the Reward Fund.

If DNA testing needs to be done on the case it will be done whether we have donations or not. We will need to match blood found on the snowmobiles and the clothing of the snowmobilers to the six deer. We were told DNA testing will cost approximately $150.00 per test. We believe that we will need a large number to be done so it could get costly.

Update 1/16/09:  Three Weyauwega men accused of corralling and running over deer with snowmobiles have been arrested in what a state official described as an unprecedented thrill killing.

"There could be more arrests. We feel we have the main players at this point," Waupaca County Sheriff Brad Hardel said.

Nicholas Hermes, 22, was charged with five felony counts of being a party to mistreatment of animals. Brothers Robby Kuenzi, 23, and Rory Kuenzi , 24, have been arrested but not formally charged because the paperwork isn't done, Hardel said.

Four deer were found dead near a snowmobile trail about five miles south of Waupaca where a herd of around 40 deer were known to gather. A fifth deer was severely injured and euthanized, authorities said.

One deer had its stomach ripped open by a snowmobile that stopped on top of it and then quickly took off, said Ted Dremel, a state Department of Natural Resources warden. Another deer had been tied to a tree, where it wrapped itself around and choked to death.

The killings outraged snowmobilers, hunters and others, and a reward fund grew to more than $10,000 before the arrests were announced. Investigators received numerous tips that helped break the case, but no reward money has been dispensed yet, Hardel said.

Asked what was the most important tip, the sheriff wouldn't comment.  One tip led investigators to Hermes, who worked at a dairy business. He told them he accidentally hit a deer while snowmobiling with his girlfriend and the Kuenzi brothers, according to a criminal complaint.

Hermes then saw the brothers chasing and running over deer with their snowmobiles, he told investigators. Rory Kuenzi dragged one deer behind his snowmobile and then tied it to a tree near a road, he said.

Hermes told investigators he tried to get the brothers to stop hitting deer, and he hit one or two only accidentally.

Hermes changed his story to investigators at least once, and his girlfriend, Emily Scofner, 18, gave a slightly different version, the complaint said.

Scofner said Robby Kuenzi hit a deer first, and then his brother and Hermes hit it. The men later rode into a field where all three chased deer with their snowmobiles, she said.

After they finished chasing the deer, the men talked about coming back to get one to eat. That's when Rory Kuenzi dragged a deer to a tree and left it, Scofner said. She said she thought the deer was already dead and did not realize it was tied to the tree.

The dead deer included two bucks and three does. One was a fawn.

Update 1/17/09:  One of two brothers from Weyauwega accused of running over and killing deer with their snowmobiles told investigators he also killed a sixth deer on his way home from the first killing field and butchered it, a criminal complaint said.

Rory Kuenzi, 24, told investigators he took the deer "back to his mother's place for the purpose of eating the meat," the complaint said.

Kuenzi was charged with six counts of felony mistreatment of animals, one count of felony vehicle theft and one count of misdemeanor theft.

The felony theft charge accuses Kuenzi of stealing the snowmobile he was riding the night of the deer killings from a bowling alley in Manawa around Christmas. The misdemeanor involves the theft of a fishing shanty from White Lake that was reported stolen.

Kuenzi's younger brother, Robby, 23, was charged with five counts of being party to mistreatment of animals.

Rory Kuenzi told investigators that he, his brother and Nicholas Hermes, 22, of Weyauwega, saw 30 deer in a field as they rode down the trail Jan. 9 and tried to corral them, the complaint said.

"They then began to chase the deer and strike them."  "Rory Kuenzi states he hit two deer while Robby Kuenzi struck two. He also stated that Robby Kuenzi did a 'burn out' on one of the deer," ripping open its abdomen.

Rory Kuenzi said he struck one deer in the back legs, knocking it down, and then he sat on the animal while his brother retrieved a nylon tow strap.  The two tied the strap to the deer's neck and dragged it to some woods, where it was tied to a tree, the complaint said. Investigators said that deer was found dead after choking itself.

Hermes was charged with five counts of being party to animal cruelty.  The complaint charging Robby Kuenzi was based on statement Hermes and his girlfriend made to investigators about what happened.

During initial appearances in Waupaca County Circuit Court, a judge ordered Rory Kuenzi jailed on $25,000 bail and the younger brother on $1,000 bail.

The maximum punishment for each charge of animal cruelty is 3.5 years in prison. The felony theft charges carries a maximum of six years in prison.

Update 1/19/09:  Court records allege Rory Kuenzi is a suspect in the 2004 death of Kevin McCoy, who was struck by a vehicle while walking home from a party in Farmington.

Waupaca County District Attorney John Snider says the investigation has been set back by a bungled reconstruction effort. The case was later sent to the State Patrol for a reconstruction report, and there it remains.

Update 1/23/09:  People were moved to outrage this month over the news that a group of snowmobilers ran down deer in Waupaca County, even tying one still alive to a tree and leaving it to strangle itself trying to break free.

(Photos courtesy of Post Crescent - Rory & Robby Kuenzi, Deer slaying suspects in court)

When investigators named the suspects — Nicholas D. Hermes, 23, and brothers Robby Kuenzi, 23, and Rory Kuenzi, 24 — a startling connection between the deer killing and a 2004 hit-and-run death emerged: Rory Kuenzi is the same man who struck and killed 20-year-old Kevin McCoy.

Rory Kuenzi remains free from criminal charges in McCoy’s death, a galling fact for McCoy’s friends and family. In the years since he died on the side of a road in Waupaca County, there’s been no public outcry for justice, no donations rolling in to a reward fund, no letters to prosecutors from international human-rights groups demanding action.

That it took the deaths of deer to turn a spotlight on the death of a young man is a disappointing but unsurprising reality to retired Outagamie County Circuit Court Judge Joseph Troy. “You can’t help but observe the irony of it with some sadness that we don’t react as strongly or the public doesn’t seem to be as inflamed over the human tragedies that routinely come into courts.”

Thomas Johnson, the attorney for one of the men charged in the deer killing, tried to put the incident into perspective. At a bond hearing, he pointed to the three television news cameras within feet of his face and the gallery of onlookers.  “I must assert that these were deer that were the victims, not children, women, or people,” Johnson said. “There is a certain amount of hysteria regarding these allegations but they are just allegations.”

His point appears lost. Hundreds of people posted comments online about the deer killings, most calling for harsh punishment. The small courtroom where the Kuenzi brothers appeared to waive their preliminary hearing was packed with onlookers, some of them friends and family of McCoy, but many of them animal-rights activists spurred by the deer killings to attend the hearing.

There’s no easy answer for why people rise to action when animals are killed but not when people meet horrible ends at the hands of other people, says a University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh psychologist. But parental instincts might explain part of it.

“When you talk to people about their pets they think of them as vulnerable offspring, vulnerable entities at the mercy of society,” said David Lishner, an associate professor of psychology at UW-O. “It triggers this parental response in people.”

The feelings people experience for the young often carries over to animals, which are defenseless and at the mercy of humans. “There is moral outrage that comes from why would one track animals and run over them,” Lishner said. “It seems inhuman. There is a constellation of responses that come together.”

McCoy’s family and friends are banking on the outrage over the deer killings to renew interest in his death. They attended the preliminary hearing, many wearing buttons that read, “In loving memory of Kevin “Billy” McCoy, RIP, 1-18-1984 to 10-23-2004.”

They’ve established a reward fund of their own to encourage tips about McCoy’s death. He died as we walked home from a party that also had been attended by Rory Kuenzi, and others were in his truck and a car that was following close behind when McCoy was struck.

Kuenzi told investigators he thought he hit a deer, not a person, but McCoy’s family is convinced his actions were criminal. The investigation remains open, but it fell apart early after McCoy’s death, in part because the prosecutor assigned the reconstruction to an expert who retired, and it was a year before anyone figured that out.

“We are seeking information that will help prove that this was not an accident,” said Kathleen Marsden, McCoy’s mother. “I would like people to come forward from that party.”

Update 3/4/09:  One of two brothers accused of running down and killing deer with snowmobiles has pleaded not guilty to multiple felony charges.

Twenty-three-year-old Robby Kuenzi entered the pleas during an appearance in Waupaca County Circuit Court. His brother, Rory Kuenzi , pleaded not guilty to similar charges of mistreatment of animals resulting in death. A third man charged in the incident, Nicholas Hermes, has not yet entered a plea.

Update 6/29/09:  Hours after prosecutors declined to dismiss any charges against Rory Kuenzi, Waupaca County Judge Philip Kirk issued an order dismissing felony animal cruelty charges.

Kuenzi is one of three men charged in Waupaca County with allegedly running down deer on snowmobiles, killing them last winter.

The ruling reflects a similar decision in a co-defendent's case.

The animal cruelty charges against Robby Kuenzi - Rory's brother - were dismissed several weeks ago after his attorney successfully argued that state law prohibits cruelty charges against those who are hunting. The judge ruled since prosecutors filed several misdemeanor and ordinance violations, alleging such crimes as hunting without a license and hunting during a closed season, that the animal cruelty charges be dismissed.

The county has asked the Attorney General's office to appeal the decision in Robby Kuenzi's case. A spokesman said no decision about an appeal had been made.

Rory Kuenzi's attorney then made the same arguments, but to a different judge.   In a letter to Judge Philip Kirk filed by the Waupaca County Asst. D.A. Jim Fassbender said he stands by his original charging decision and would not dismiss any counts.

Judge Kirk followed through on comments he made in court and dismissed the felony animal cruelty charges.

Each of the six animal cruelty counts carried a maximum penalty of 3 years, 6 months in prison, if convicted. The misdemeanor offenses could result in jail time and ordinance violations can only result in fines.

A third man, Nicholas Hermes, faces a similar set of charges. He returns to court July 22.

Update 7/15/09:  The state will appeal a decision dismissing animal cruelty charges in connection with the Waupaca County deer thrill kill case.

Nicholas Hermes, Robby Kuenzi & Rory Kuenzi (Photo's courtesy of Fox 11)

Two different judges have dismissed the animal cruelty charges against Rory Kuenzi and Robby Kuenzi, with the reasoning that because the men face several hunting related charges, state law prohibits them from being charged with animal cruelty counts.

The Waupaca County District Attorney's office asked the state Attorney General's office to appeal that decision - wanting both the set of illegal hunting charges and the animal cruelty charges to stand.  The Attorney General's office agreed to do so.

“We intend to pursue an appeal of the judges’ decisions because we believe the court erred in its interpretation of the relevant statutes," Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen said in a statement.

No court dates have been set for the appeals.

Update 11/12/09:  Prosecutors charged Rory Kuenzi with hit-and-run and vehicular homicide while driving drunk in Kevin McCoy's death in 2004. Both counts are felonies. Together they carry a maximum penalty of $200,000 in fines and 65 years in prison.

McCoy's family filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Kuenzi in 2006 that is still pending. Their attorney, Steven Toney, said they're pleased with the charges but the case is far from over.  "We can't say the family has closure or feels vindicated here. There's no convictions," Toney said. "There's a lot of work to be done here. But they're definitely feeling much better now that charges have been brought."

Kuenzi's attorneys, listed in online court records as Troy Nielsen and Jefren E. Olsen, couldn't be reached.

Kuenzi is serving two years at Kettle Moraine Correctional Institution for violating conditions of his probation for domestic abuse.

According to the criminal complaint in McCoy's death, Waupaca County investigators found McCoy's body in a Farmington ditch in October 2004 near a debris field of broken glass and vehicle parts. They determined a lens in the field came from a Chevrolet S-10 truck.

Detectives learned McCoy, 20, and Kuenzi attended a party the night before McCoy's body was found. Toney said they argued over a woman and McCoy decided to walk home.

Kuenzi allegedly told investigators he drove an S-10 pickup, drank at the party and then left with Walter Engel. Another partygoer, Adam Klotzbuecher, followed in another vehicle.  Toney said many witnesses at the party were reluctant to talk, and the case stalled.

The thrill-kill case rekindled interest in Kuenzi, Toney said. The state Justice Department got involved and investigators started taking secret testimony from witnesses in front of a judge.

According to the complaint, Engel testified that he thought they hit a deer, but Klotzbuecher confirmed he helped Kuenzi move the body.

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