March 30, 2012
By Cristina Corbin, FoxNews.com
A Wisconsin man, who along with his three friends is suspected of
illegally slaughtering as many as 100 deer in what prosecutors call
an unprecedented "thrill-kill" spree, faces up to six months in
jail.
Nathan Blaha, 20, of Hillsboro, Wis., and his
accomplices allegedly wandered the backroads of Richland County in a
pickup truck, stunning deer with a light before shooting them and
leaving their carcasses to rot in what he called a contest to “get
the most deer,” according to court documents.
"This is the
antithesis of hunting," Richland County District Attorney Jennifer
Harper told FoxNews.com Thursday. "This is thrill killing."
Blaha, and his alleged accomplices, 17-year-old Steven Blaha and
18-year-old Brogan Gillingham, face criminal charges in the December
killing spree, when the suspects allegedly shot whitetail deer from
the road after dark and without a license. A fourth suspect, a
juvenile male who has not been named, was issued citations, Harper
said. Steven Blaha can be tried as an adult under Wisconsin law.
According to a criminal complaint obtained by FoxNews.com, the
older Blaha, who is believed to have done most of the shooting,
confessed to killing 20 to 30 deer “this past fall and during the
2011-2012 gun deer season illegally.”
"The reason I was
doing this was because we all kind of had bets who could get the
most deer," Blaha said in a written statement to Conservation Warden
Mike Nice of Richland Center.
But Blaha's co-defendants
estimated the number of slain deer to be much greater, telling
authorities they believe he illegally shot and killed as many as 100
whitetail deer within the past two years.
"There have been
cases of shining and road hunting," Harper said, "but nothing to
this extent." Deer shining is the practice of using a high-powered,
hand-held light to see the animal at night. The bright light is
commonly used by hunters to track the location of deer herds at
night when the animals are most active.
The 20-year-old
Blaha is charged with three counts that each carry a penalty of up
to six months in jail and a $1,000 minimum fine. He also faces
revocation of hunting rights for the next nine years.
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