News Editor

May 2, 2000 10 PM

BRUNDIDGE - A juvenile suspect has been apprehended in connection with a cow killing spree that occurred late last year in Brundidge.

The Brundidge Police Department received a call on Nov. 25, 1999 from Jesse Dorrill reporting some of his cows had been shot.

Brundidge Police Chief Moses Davenport said when officers arrived at the scene, they found three female Charlois cows that had been shot with a high-powered rifle between 4 p.m. and 6:30 a.m. on Nov. 25. One of the cows was pregnant and due to deliver any day, he said.

Davenport said no leads developed in the case for a while, but with the help of the Pike County Sheriff’s Department and the Alabama Department of Agriculture, a juvenile suspect was arrested for allegedly shooting the cows.

Davenport said when the suspect was in custody he told investigators he did not shoot Dorrill’s cows, but he knew who did.

"The Alabama Department of Agriculture has an agent who investigates farm crimes," Davenport said. "Mr. Dorrill works for the Department of Agriculture as a meat inspector he knew the agent. They got together and the department of agriculture got involved and it helped out a lot."

Although the farmer suffered a financial loss when the cows were killed, the arrest of the suspect led to leads that developed in other crimes that had been committed in the county.

"This was a sizable loss to the farmer," Davenport said. "But leads in the cow killings developed into information connected to burglaries in the county."

Davenport said the Brundidge Police Department can not take all the credit for arresting the suspect because without the help of the Pike County Sheriff’s Department and the Alabama Department of Agriculture the suspect would not have been arrested.

The case is still under investigation by the Brundidge Police Department, and burglaries in the county that are connected with the cow killings are being investigated by the Pike County Sheriff’s Department.

The suspect who was apprehended is a juvenile. Names of juvenile defendants are not public record.

Pike County Sheriff Russell Thomas is hopeful his investigation will result in further information about the cases.