Judge sends felony charges in dogs' gunshot deaths to Franklin County grand jury

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A Franklin County Circuit Court grand jury will decide next month whether Terry Eugene Michel will stand trial for felony animal cruelty and filing a false police report in the deaths of his Labrador retrievers, Caleb and Colby.

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Judge sends felony charges in dogs' gunshot deaths to Franklin County grand jury
A Franklin County Circuit Court grand jury will decide next month whether Terry Eugene Michel will stand trial for felony animal cruelty

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Judge sends felony charges in dogs' gunshot deaths to Franklin County grand jury

JASON DUNOVANT The Roanoke Times 9 min ago

ROCKY MOUNT — A judge on Thursday sent the case against Terry Eugene Michel, the Ferrum man charged in the gunshot deaths of his two black Labrador retrievers, to next month’s Franklin County grand jury. ... The grand jury will decide whether Michel will stand trial in circuit court. Michel is being held without bond. ... The sheriff’s office charged Michel with killing the two dogs and took him into custody Feb. 16. Michel had reported them stolen at Waid Park. ... Investigator Steven McFarling with the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office began investigating shortly after Michel reported the dogs stolen.

During questioning by Franklin County Commonwealth’s Attorney Cooper Brown, McFarling said he had multiple conversations with Michel over the course of several days. McFarling testified that Michel eventually admitted to killing the two dogs. The sheriff’s office charged Michel with two counts of felony animal cruelty, one count of filing a false police report and two summons for improper disposal of a companion animal.

McFarling said Michel admitted to killing the dogs in what Michel said was an attempt to save his marriage. McFarling said Michel claimed his marriage wasn’t where it should be and the dogs were interfering. ... McFarling said Michel admitted to taking the two dogs, named Caleb and Colby, to a remote area on Prillaman Switch Road in Ferrum on Feb. 7 and shooting them in the back of the head with a 9 mm pistol. He then covered the dogs with leaves and branches with the intention of coming back to bury them, according to McFarling.



Caleb and Colby were reported stolen near the entrance of Waid Park on Feb. 7. They were found dead on the side of a road about 4 miles away days later.

Courtesy Rhonda Michel

The two dogs were discovered Feb. 14 on the side of the road near the 500 block of Carolina Springs Road approximately 4 miles north of Waid Park. McFarling said Michel moved the dogs to an area where they would be found to “get the pressure off of him.”

Aaron Houchens, attorney for the defense, questioned the state of the two dogs when they were discovered. McFarling said the dogs had no appearance of being beaten, tortured or injured other than the gunshot wounds. ... Due to the lack of any evidence of animal cruelty that would fit that definition, Houchens argued that Michel’s case should be reduced to a misdemeanor based on the state law for animal cruelty. ... “There is no evidence whatsoever that these animals were tortured, that they were beat, that they were maimed or that any other injuries exist outside of the isolated gunshot wound to the back of the head,” he said.

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