A hunter thought he killed two coyotes. They were actually a family's German shepherds.
A New York hunter is facing multiple hunting charges after skinning two dogs he thought were coyotes.
The two German shepherds escaped from their family's home in late November, weeks before hunter Michael Konschak made what he called a "split second" decision to shoot the dogs with a crossbow.
The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection arrested Konschak, 61, in February and charged him with:
Tampering with evidence
Forgery
Interfering with an officer
Hunting on private land without written consent from a landowner
Violating wild game hunting regulations
According to Danbury State's Attorney David Applegate, the case is still being investigated and Konschak could be hit with more charges.
Konschak applied for a probation program that could've erased the charges but a judge rejected his request Wednesday, the Associated Press reported.
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What happened to the dogs?
According to court documents from the Superior Court of Connecticut, two German shepherds named Leiben and Cimo went missing on Nov. 18.
They escaped from their family's yard in Ridgefield, Connecticut, about 45 miles west of New Haven. According to the documents, an animal, possibly a black bear, had damaged the family's six-foot high fence, allowing the dogs to escape. Neither dog had a collar on.
Between Nov. 18 and Dec. 12, the family searched for the dogs; then on Dec. 12, a family member received a text from someone with a photo of the two dogs deceased.
The sender said he got the information from a friend and said a hunter killed the two dogs thinking they were coyotes.
The Ridgefield Police Department and an animal control officer launched an investigation.
Hunter says he is ashamed: 'It was never my intent'
During a hearing in Danbury Superior Court on Wednesday, Konschak said he is ashamed of what he did.
"Please know that it was never my intent that morning to harm the victims’ pets,” he said.
Erin Caviola, who owned the dogs, said the family "lives with the emotional pain as we think about what they felt in their final moments lying beside each other dying."
How did authorities get involved?
According to the documents, Konschak sent a photo of the dead dogs to someone asking to have their pelts tanned. When the person realized they weren't coyotes, an investigation was launched.
Officials contacted Konschak on Dec. 13 to tell him about the investigation. He "reluctantly" agreed to go to the Ridgefield Police Department on Dec. 16 to give a statement but never showed up, police said.
During the investigation, Konschak told investigators he encountered the animals on Nov. 18 while hunting on private property. He said he had permission to hunt on the property and had done so for 30 years.
He saw the animals chasing deer and thought they were Eastern coyotes. When one of the dogs ran into his line of sight, he "put it down" with a crossbow. When he went over to the dead dog, the other one approached him despite him trying to wave it off, he said.
Konschak said he was in a "split second situation" and shot the second dog.
He drove back to New York with the dogs and skinned them.
He said he didn't like the way they turned out, calling them "unsatisfactory," so he threw the pelts away and took the remains to an area called "Ridgebury Slope" in Connecticut.
Holes in Konschak's story
Investigators later spoke to a taxidermist Konschak contacted, who told the hunter he was certain they were not coyotes.
"If you need to make a quick decision, a person could make a mistake, but up close you could tell they were German Shepherds," the taxidermist told investigators.
In January, Konschak and his attorney met an investigator at Ridgebury Slope to point out where he dumped the remains, but the remains weren't found during the visit.
When asked, he showed a copy of his private land consent form, which wasn't filled out correctly and contained a signature dated Sept. 15, 2023.
Investigators spoke to the landowner where the dogs were shot, who confirmed Konschak had hunted on her property for 30 years but said the signature was not hers.
Investigators later asked Konschak about multiple red flags in his story, including his failure to acknowledge that a taxidermist told him the animals weren't coyotes and date discrepancies.
He told investigators he threw the pelts away on Nov. 18 but a taxidermist says he asked about having them tanned on Dec. 3.
He said the skinnings were "unsatisfactory" but professionals in taxidermy said they were done well so there would be no need to throw them away.
He said he threw the remains away on Ridgebury Slope but no remains were found there.
When investigators asked Konschak about the signature, he said the dates were typos and admitted the property owner did not sign the form.
Were the remains ever found?
Konschak and his lawyer later called investigators and told them he left the remains in Ridgefield and also near his home in Carmel, New York, court documents show.
He said he threw them out "a couple of weeks ago," which led investigators to believe he threw them out once he found out about the investigation.
On Jan. 10, he took officials to a spot in Ridgefield and pointed out where he left one of the pelts.
He admitted tucking the pelt under a rock and placing a tree in front of it. Once the tree was moved, investigators found the pelt and determined it did belong to one of the missing dogs.
He also took officials to an area in Carmel, New York, where he pointed out the skeletal remains of two canines.
Lastly, he drove to Hopewell Junction, New York, where he said he pulled off the road and threw a pelt down an embankment. The pelt was never found and was likely taken by other animals, court records show.
Konschak has another court date next month.
Contributing: Associated Press
Saleen Martin is a reporter on USA TODAY's NOW team. She is from Norfolk, Virginia – the 757 – and loves all things horror, witches, Christmas, and food. Follow her on Twitter at @Saleen_Martin or email her at sdmartin@usatoday.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NY hunter shot Connecticut family dogs, thinking they were coyotes
