Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, May 31, 1990 TAG: 9005310373
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: BEDFORD/FRANKLIN
SOURCE: DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ROCKY MOUNT LENGTH: Medium
Judge B.A. Davis said while he believed the men were guilty of baiting 13 dogs with a powerful insecticide, there was insufficient evidence under the law to convict them.
"I'm not going to find them `not guilty.' That's a matter for someone else to determine at another time and another place," Davis told the farmers, both members of the Dunkers religious sect.
Charges were dismissed against Vaiden Bowman, 57, his 26-year-old son, Harry Alan Bowman, and their farmhand, William Eugene Strickler, 58.
After the verdict, the Bowmans said they knew nothing about the rash of poisonings that has claimed the lives of about 20 dogs in the Callaway community since January.
"We want everyone to know that we've done nothing to anyone's dog," Vaiden Bowman said.
But Callaway residents attending Wednesday's trial were not as easily persuaded. "That's not my verdict," said Pete Guilliams, who lost two black Labradors.
The case presented by Commonwealth's Attorney Cliff Hapgood was circumstantial. Testimony showed that all the dogs that died lived within one-half mile of the farm on Virginia 641 that the Bowmans bought a year ago. Laboratory tests showed five of the dogs had died from ingesting Counter 15, a powerful insecticide that is fatal to dogs in doses as small as a teaspoon.
Hapgood argued the insecticide had been placed inside hamburger or a dead cow to bait wild dogs that reportedly had damaged the Bowmans' calves.
The Bowmans, however, testified they did not have problems with wild dogs and they had never purchased Counter 15.
Defense attorneys James Jefferson and David Melesco argued there was no evidence the Bowmans were responsible for the poisonings.
"This was an unfortunate situation," Jefferson said in his opening statement. "But they went all over that land up there and never found anything."
Jefferson and Melesco sought to discredit several former employees of the Bowman farm who testified they overheard the Bowmans and Strickler discussing how to get rid of wild dogs.
"Gene [Strickler] named off some type poison and said that if you put some of that in meat and threw it out [in the field], that would take care of the problem," said Vickie Carter, a former employee.
Jefferson and Melesco argued that Carter and three other employees who testified had left their jobs under bad terms and had grudges against the Bowmans.
Davis said he found several employees' testimony credible, but he was troubled by the lack of evidence showing exactly how the dogs had been poisoned and who poisoned them.
Davis said he would not "have any problem" convicting the three men of conspiring to poison the dogs, but state law does not allow conspiracy convictions in misdemeanor cases, he said.
As a result, Davis dropped 13 misdemeanor charges against each of the three men.
Outside the courtroom, the Bowmans criticized authorities for filing charges with no solid evidence against them. Harry Bowman said they made convenient scapegoats for investigators under pressure to make an arrest.
"We feel like we've been framed," he said.
Though they felt vindicated by Davis' ruling, the Bowmans said they realized it would take some time to regain the confidence of their neighbors.
"I worked to be a good friend to the neighbors up there," Harry Bowman said. "But when someone believes something, it's hard to convince them differently."
by CNB