December 05, 2008
UPDATE ON PIT-BULL CASE

On Friday evening (12-05-08) at about 7:15PM, McCracken and the Graves County Sheriff's Departments made an arrest in the case involving the (11) eleven dead pitt bull dogs that were found dumped in the Clarks River off of Bryant Ford Road on November 06.

Since the recovery of the eleven dead dogs, numerous tips have been called in to the sheriff's department. Numerous pit-bull dogs owners have been interviewed, as well as others that lived in the area where the dead dogs had been located. Until this week, the investigation was not producing any promising leads.

Det. Darrin Frommeyer was assigned the case and had interviewed numerous individuals. Wednesday and Thursday of this week, two different sources of information named 30 year old Thomas E. Timmons as a suspect.

On Friday, Timmons and a relative were both interviewed at the McCracken County Sheriff's Department. At the conclusion of the interviews late Friday, and after a consultation and evaluation of the investigation and evidence with the McCracken County Commonwealth Attorney Tim Kaltenbach, sheriff's investigators moved forward with the investigation in charging Timmons with two (2) counts of Tampering with Physical Evidence.

Timmons was in possession of the eleven pit-bull dogs at his Symsonia Kentucky home. On the Wed night (November 05), he saw a television news cast (WPSD-TV) were it was reported that approx 80 pit bulls had been seized at a home in Graves County and the owners had been arrested. It had been reported that some of these dogs may had been involved in dog fighting.

Timmons recognized one of the men arrested on the news cast as being the same man that brought the eleven pit bull dogs to his home about a month prior, paying him $200.00/week to care and store the dogs. Timmons told Det. Frommeyer and myself that he after seeing the newscast, was afraid that he would be caught with these dogs and possibly charged (or get into trouble) with having these dogs in his possession. He stated that they had signs (scars) where he suspected that they had been fought by the owner.

He stated that he went outside his home and shot the eleven dogs in the head with a .22 caliber rifle. He then put the dead dogs in his pickup truck and drove them into McCracken County and dumped them in a creek off of Bryant Ford Road. He stated that he did not want to be caught with these dogs. About two days later, (approx Nov 07), he threw the .22 caliber rifle he used to kill the dogs off of the Tennessee River Bridge at the McCracken and Livingston County Line.

The act Timmons is alleged to have committed deals with disposing of evidence in a possible crime. The only jurisdiction McCracken County would have in this case deals with the dead animals being dumped in the creek to hide them, and keep them from being found.

"We have been in constant contact with the Graves County Sheriff's Department in sharing information about this case. They are aware of the latest developments in this case. We do expect these latest developments could lead to addition charges in Graves County."

Thomas Timmons was arrested at his home in Symsonia on Friday evening at about 7:15PM by Graves Dep. David Warner and myself. He was transported back to the McCracken County Sheriff's Department and lodged at the McCracken County Regional Jail at about 8:45PM.

Arrested: Timmons, Thomas E.   30 yoa                                                                                                                         1101 St. Rt. 348 West                                                                                                                                   Symsonia, Ky

Charges: Two Counts of Tampering with Physical Evidence. Each count is a class d felony which carries a possible sentence of 1 to 5 years in prison.

" As sheriff, I appreciate the time and effort Det. Frommeyer put in to this case."
End of Release
Sheriff Jon Hayden

November 06, 2008                                                                                                                                                                                      

Eleven (11) dead pit-bull carcasses found off of Bryant Ford Road in McCracken County

Approximately two (2) weeks ago a call was received at the McCracken County Sheriff's Department of dead pit-bull dogs being thrown off of a bridge on Bryant Ford Road near the Powers Road intersection. At that time, there was only one or two carcasses located. The McCracken County Animal Wardens Office was given this information as well Sheriff's deputies. They were requested to keep a watch on that location.

On Thursday morning at about 9:00AM, I (Sheriff Jon Hayden) went to the area to check it again in light of last nights investigation by the Graves County Sheriff's Department where that agency seized numerous pit-bull dogs that were suspected in being used in possible dog fighting in northern Graves County.

This bridge on Bryant Ford Road crosses the Clarks River which is in close proximity to the Graves County line near Symsonia.

I located numerous dead pit-bull carcasses (11) eleven that had been thrown off the bridge. Fresh blood smears were located on the bridge and the bridges railing. The McCracken County DES were summoned to the scene to assist in the recovery of the animals. Paducah Veterinarian Gene Ceglinski also responded to scene to assist in the investigation by examining the carcasses.

Most all of the carcasses with the exception of two appeared to have been killed and thrown off the bridge within the past 24 to 48 hours, possibly even late last night. Each of the animals appeared to have been shot in the head with a small caliber firearm, each in the exact same manner (single shot). Three of the eleven dogs (males) did exhibit signs of recent dog-fighting. The remainder of the dogs were females and were most likely used for breading only. Bullets were recovered from two of the eleven dogs.

"The timing of the killing of these dogs and when and where they were dumped is very suspicious in relation to the investigation conducted by the Graves County Sheriff's Department last night. It would appear that these two incidents could be connected but that remains under investigation."

The McCracken Sheriff's Department was contacted today by "The Humane Society of the United States" Louisville Kentucky office which a national organization and has approxiamtley 10.5 million members. After hearing of this mornings findings in McCracken County, they have offered the following reward in this investigation:

An arrest and conviction for Cruelty to Animals: $2500.00 reward
An arrest and conviction for Dog Fighting: $5,000.00 reward
The Humane Society of the United States website: http://www.humanesociety.org

Anyone with information concerning the owners of the

End of Release

Thanks,
Sheriff Jon Hayden
McCracken Co. Sheriff's Department