by
Brent McCluskey
A
former Colorado police officer was found guilty Tuesday of illegally killing an
elk last year that he says had become aggressive.
On
Jan. 1, 2013, former Boulder police officer Sam Carter fatally shot “Big Boy,”
a domesticated elk that had become a beloved member of the community. He was
charged and recently found guilty on nine counts. Carter said the elk had
become dangerously domesticated and was aggressive, but prosecutors said he
killed it for the trophy aspect, NBC News reports.
According
to Daily Mail, defense attorney Marc Colin defended his client, saying Carter
was only trying to protect the public.
“Sam
Carter is not guilty of anything but trying to protect the citizens of Boulder
from a nuisance elk,” Colin said.
But
according to Boulder County prosecutor Stanley Garnett, there was more to it
than that. Garnett said Carter had turned off the GPS in his squad car before
he shot Big Boy, then later falsified a tag that claimed the elk was road kill.
Carter
also swapped text messages with a fellow officer about “hunting” for elk,
texting one message that said, “He’s gonna die.”
Garnett
said the community took the death of Big Boy hard, but added Carter’s covering
it up was equally bad.
“The
fact that somebody would use the uniform and badge of a police department in
such a case was equally disturbing to the community,” Garnett said.
One
person who frequently saw Big Boy, including the day he died, said the elk was
completely docile.
“The
day he was shot, I was walking at Eighth and Mapleton, and he was at a house
eating leaves,” said Mary Lee Withers. “My dog barked at him. He looked at us,
then turned back to eating leaves.”
According
to ABC News, Carter was convicted of three felonies: forgery, tampering with
evidence, and attempting to influence a public official. He was also convicted
of six misdemeanors: misconduct, illegal possession of a trophy elk, conspiracy
to commit illegal possession of wildlife, unlawfully taking a big game animal
out of season, and unlawful use of an electronic communication device to
unlawfully take wildlife.
Carter
is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 29 and could face as much as six years in
prison.