The Colorado Bureau of Investigation is expected to join the widespread probe of last week’s shooting of 32 bison south of Hartsel.
Park County Undersheriff Monte Gore said he formally requested the CBI’s help in the investigation Monday.
Gore said today that he expects the CBI to concentrate on examining forensic evidence gathered from the carcasses of the 32 bison owned by ranchers Monte and Tracy Downare.
Gore said it will be up to the CBI to determine what the agency wants to look at. “I’m going to give them some directions, as far as what I want completed, but they are going to be looking at some of the evidence removed from the bison,” such as bullets and bullet fragments.
Gore said he needs the CBI’s help because of the complicated nature of the case.
“This is a very complex case. It involves just a lot of players. Due to the size of it, and locating bison and things like that, it is going to take a while to basically do the work we need to do,” said the undersheriff.
The CBI agents and forensic experts will team up with investigators from several divisions of the sheriff’s department, the state brand inspector’s office and prosecutors from the 11th Judicial District, who are already conducting the investigation, said Gore.
The shootings of the Downare bison happened just days after Jeff Hawn, a businessman from Austin, Texas, filed suit in Park County District Court saying that the Downares’ bison were stampeding onto his nearby property in South Park.
Hawn, who identifies himself as 50 percent shareholder and manager of Wateredge Properties, claims that “herds” of the Downares’ bison had repeatedly broken through the fences erected to keep the buffalo off Wateredge property, damaging or destroying the fences in 50 places.
Hawn said the fences were first erected in 1995 and were very sturdy — constructed of wooden poles and barbed wire and similar to other fences in Park County designed to keep livestock and other animals from crossing into Hawn’s property.
“The damage that (the Downares’) buffalo have caused to the property is staggering,” said the lawsuit. “The bent poles and broken wires (of the fence) has compromised the integrity of the entire fence.
“Additionally, (the Downares’) buffalo have killed hundreds of trees on the property, including many trees near to the home that Mr. Hawn professionally installed within the past year,” the lawsuit added.
The lawsuit also alleged that the bison knocked the TV and satellite Internet dishes off-line, forcing Hawn to contact technicians to repair the damage. Hawn also contended the bison have congregated near the solar panels, requiring him to repair damage to them.
Stephen Csajaghy, a lawyer for the firm that represents Hawn, said neither he nor Hawn would comment on the situation.
The lawsuit, however, alleges that repeated requests by Hawn to the Downares to keep their bison off his property have not been heeded.
“Despite this knowledge that their buffalo had broken through the fences and stampeded onto the property, (the Downares) have made very little effort to prevent the buffalo from further breaking through the fence and damaging the property,” the lawsuit says. “In fact, the (Downares) have stated that they will take little action to prevent further intrusions of their buffalo onto the property.”
The Downares have said that they have been asked by Park County Sheriff Fred Wegener not to comment because of the ongoing criminal investigation.
Undersheriff Gore said today that it appears all the bison were shot.
He said that one aspect of the investigation is to determine whether the bison were chased and then shot.
The dead bison were found on the Hawn Ranch, some other private properties and on Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service lands.
A group of more than 10 people claimed, when interrogated by investigators, that they had permission to shoot the bison. A total of 14 people have now been interviewed by investigators, and those interviews are continuing, said Gore.
Gore said he was not sure whether investigators had yet talked to Jeff Hawn but said they have talked to his lawyer.
Gore said that there is a possibility that additional dead bison or bison remains will be found.
“This crime scene involves several hundred acres and a lot of different properties,” said Gore. “The terrain is rural, and it is mountainous, so, certainly, there is a possibility that additional bison will be found.”
In the lawsuit, Hawn said his property — once “pristine pasture on rolling hills” — has been scarred by the Downares’ bison.
“The defendants’ buffalo have left dung, tracks and hair everywhere on the property,” said the Texas businessman. “They have destroyed landscaping. The property looks like a feedlot. There are broken and dead trees, as well as piles of bison dung scattered around the property, up and down the drive, and around houses, barns and outbuildings.”
The Downares are expected to file a response to the allegations next week.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
