January 8, 2004
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. -- A Wisconsin hunter has been
charged with criminally negligent homicide in the shooting death of a friend
he mistook for an elk.
The district attorney filed charges Wednesday against
Douglas Jones, 44, in the Sept. 20 death of Gerald Holverson. Both were from
South Wayne, Wis.
Holverson, 44, was with a group of six hunters from
Wisconsin and Indiana in southern Routt County when he was shot below the
right shoulder with a back-powder muzzleoader.
In October, the coroner ruled Holverson's death a homicide
after talking to witnesses and investigators.
Authorities said Holverson, who was hunting with a bow,
was wearing an orange hat. State law doesn't require bow hunters to wear
orange clothing, which is supposed to make hunters more visible to other
hunters.
Investigators said a summons will be issued for Jones to
appear in Routt County court. If convicted, he could receive probation or
from one to three years in prison.
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