LIHU‘E — The first of two defendants accused of killing a goat was sentenced to felony probation in 5th Circuit Court Wednesday. Ryan Jacob Winchell, 29, Las Vegas, was sentenced to his 56 days in jail already served, and the
LIHU‘E — The first of two defendants accused of killing a goat was sentenced to felony probation in 5th Circuit Court Wednesday.
Ryan Jacob Winchell, 29, Las Vegas, was sentenced to his 56 days in jail already served, and the plea deal asking for 30 days incarceration. He was ordered to pay more than $8,000 in restitution for the April 27, 2011, killing of a domesticated milking goat that belonged to Kaua‘i’s only dairy.
He also received a five-year probation period.
Winchell was sentenced for the killing of a tame and pregnant 4-year-old goat named Kaitlyn that belonged to the Kunana Dairy in Kilauea. He read a prepared statement to express remorse and take responsibility for the crime.
This absolutely “senseless, selfish and horrific crime” made a family fear for the safety of their animals, and created a bad feeling in the community, said Judge Kathleen Watanabe in court.
Winchell blamed a drug and alcohol addiction, but also went on to say that he was under the impression that his neighbor was taking him hunting and not trespassing to kill a farm animal.
The day of the incident Winchell said he was assembling a new gun in his yard, and his Kapa‘a neighbor, Russell Kekoa Hoomanawanui, 31, took an interest. Winchell wanted to go hunting and said the neighbor agreed to take him to a place in exchange for firing the gun.
Winchell said he was drinking and taking prescription medication.
After firing the gun Winchell said it was the co-defendant who stabbed and disemboweled the goat. They shared the meat and left the goat’s organs and two unborn kids behind in the Moloa‘a field.
Winchell said he did not recall there was anything wrong until police showed up with search warrants and arrested him on June 30, 2011. Hoomanawanui and his girlfriend alerted police about the crime.
Hoomanawanui was arrested and charged with the same crime on July 18, 2011.
Winchell asked for leniency from the court, saying the incident has created problems for him professionally and in his marriage.
Watanabe said the victims in the case did not express a desire to see the defendants serve more time in jail. However, they were concerned about restitution and she ordered the higher of two requested amounts of $8,847.21.
Louisa Wooten of Kunana Dairy addressed the court, saying Kaitlyn was a milking goat who was like a pet that used to greet visitors to the farm.
The goat walked up to the defendants when they shot and/or stabbed the animal to death, Wooten said. The goat was killed far inside the pasture and not near the outlying electric fence, which shocked one of the defendants.
Wooten didn’t buy the hunting story, saying that no one shoots large animals at night. The defendants were sneaking around the farm with the intent to steal the goat, she said.
The family-owned farm raises goats by hand to domesticate them for their milking business. These specially bred goats will produce up to 300 gallons of milk a year in their prime, and at $20 per gallon brings the business roughly $7,000 per goat in revenue, Wooten said.
A goat such as Kaitlyn in its prime is worth up to $1,500 to farmers who don’t like to sell their money-making animals, she said. The two unborn kids that died in Kaitlyn’s womb were the product of artificial insemination, which requires hydrogen freezers.
A sizable reward was never handed out, as Hoomanawanui and his girlfriend approached the police to implicate Winchell, according to Wooten.
Watanabe sentenced Winchell on the first-degree theft of livestock charge, and for place to keep firearms, both class C felonies. He was also sentenced to 30 days jail with credit for 56 days already served on a misdemeanor cruelty to animals charge.
Hoomanawanui pleaded guilty on March 18 to theft of livestock, and amended second-degree criminal property damage, and faces a possible extended term of up to 10 years prison for two class C felonies. He also pleaded guilty to second-degree cruelty to animals, a misdemeanor with a possible one-year jail term.
Hoomanawanui also pleaded no contest in a separate case to an amended third-degree assault or mutual affray charge, a petty misdemeanor with a maximum 30 day jail sentence. His sentencing is set for June 12.
• Tom LaVenture, staff writer, can be reached at 245-0424 or tlaventure@thegardenisland.com.
