May 19, 2013
A jury handed down a split verdict yesterday for the second of two men accused of killing a pet emu on a Buchanan-area farm in 2011, according to our reporting partners at the herald palladium.
Thomas Clark, 21, of Galien was found guilty of a misdemeanor charge of larceny for taking the large bird, but not guilty of the felony charge of killing or torturing an animal.
A judge sentenced him to 90 days in jail and $2,000 in fines and costs, with a restitution amount to be set later.
His co-defendant, Jack Keldsen, 21, of New Carlisle, pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of attempted killing or torturing an animal and was sentenced in May.
The two men were charged in connection with the fatal beating of the large pet bird on a hobby farm last October.
Keldsen says the two had been drinking when Clark suggested they go to the farm and ride an emu.
He testified this week that Clark beat and strangled the animal, before they dumped the dead bird on their friend's porch as a prank.
