Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - 8

we’d been feeling from hours of interviews disappeared and exhilaration took its place. We were two happy officers. The U.S. Attorney agreed to a civil penalty instead of a criminal penalty, which could have included jail time. Several weeks later the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agent for Berks County, the Game Protector for the district where the eagle had been killed, Ted and I met with the suspect at his home. The suspect signed an agreement to pay a civil penalty of several thousand dollars and, with that, the eagle case was over. In less than 24 hours, Ted and I had solved a case that had been under investigation for several years; we were elated. As soon as the papers were signed, I confronted the suspect about killing the buck with a .22. He confessed to that, too, and turned over the antlers and the rifle to the local Game Protector, who prosecuted him for that violation. Little did we know, there was more to come. A short while after solving the eagle killing case we received another call from Special Agent Badger. He had another eagle case for us. Someone had shot and killed a bald eagle near Barnesville. Although they were sure of their suspect, they didn’t have enough evidence to convict him. Their informant told them that the suspect killed the eagle while turkey hunting, and then took it to show a friend. At the friend’s house they cut the eagle into pieces; the suspect kept the feet and tail, and the head was given to another young man visiting the friend. The carcass was thrown in a dumpster at a fast food restaurant. Badger asked us to take the agent 8 working on the case with us if we agreed to help with the investigation, and we arranged to meet Special Agent Emerson Gorham at the Game Commission region office in Reading. Agent Gorham told us he had been trying for several years to get enough probable cause to execute a warrant, and as in the other case, the statute of limitations would toll in a matter of days. Agent Gorham said his informant told him the feet and tail of the eagle were hanging on the wall of the suspect’s garage. He’d sat where he could observe the garage when he could, for years, waiting for the suspect to open the door so he could see the evidence to get probable cause for a warrant. But he’d been unsuccessful. Ted and I recommended a more direct approach because time was running out. We’d go to the man’s home and confront him. If we failed, we would be in no worse shape than we were now. Agent Gorham agreed, so we made plans to visit the suspect the next morning, at 6 a.m. We chose that time because it’s the earliest time allowed to serve a warrant, and it is always good to catch suspects with sleep in their eyes. The next morning at 0-dark thirty, we met Agent Gorham, who drove us to the suspect’s home. We arrived a little early, so we sat in the vehicle and discussed our strategy. At exactly 6 o’clock we knocked on the suspect’s door. It took a little while and he was rubbing his eyes when he answered the door; he’d still been in bed. We identified ourselves and he allowed us to enter his home. We read him his rights, explained what we knew and told him we wanted the eagle tail and feet immediately. The suspect blinked a few times, hung his head and said they were in the garage. Ted asked him to retrieve the items and followed him to the garage. While Ted was gone Agent Gorham said he couldn’t believe the guy had confessed so easily. I said, “If you don’t GAME NEWS

Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009

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