Barbara Lawlor, Gilpin County.  Gilpin County resident Eric Miller, 53, was found guilty of Aggravated Cruelty to Animals and Petty Theft on Tuesday morning at the Gilpin County District Court. Miller was charged with shooting and killing his neighbor’s dog on October 11 and hiding the evidence, including throwing away the dog’s collar.

The trial began on Monday morning and was turned over to the jury around 9 a.m. Tuesday morning after attorneys gave their closing statements. Within 50 minutes the jurors had their verdict: guilty on both counts.

Because the Aggravated Cruelty charge is a felony and because a firearm was involved, Miller was taken into custody in the courtroom without bond until the date of sentencing, which is July 15. He was handcuffed and led out of the courtroom by a Gilpin County Sheriff’s deputy.

The dog’s owner Josh Davis said the verdict is more than he hoped for, that he has been devastated since Ragnar, his three-year-old German Shepherd/Akita mix was killed on October 11. It was a Sunday morning and Davis was sleeping after a night shift as a chef at the Sundance Cafe when his housemate woke him, saying “I think your dog just got shot.” Zach Starcher told Davis that he had heard a gunshot from the neighbor’s property, followed by a bunch of yelps, another gunshot and then silence.

When Starcher went to investigate, he saw Miller walking down the driveway with a pistol. The two men waited, hoping Ragnar would come home, but he didn’t and a walk around the property proved fruitless. The next morning, after Miller left, Starcher and his lab Clyde picked up a trail of blood leading to disturbed soil in a ravine. He found Ragnar’s body under about eight inches of soil. The collar and tags were gone and there were two bullet holes in his chest.

They called Gilpin County Law Enforcement and the deputies went to talk to Miller. The next morning, Davis was informed that Miller had been issued a misdemeanor summons for Cruelty to Animals, but the case was turned over to the Gilpin County District Attorney to investigate the possibility of a felony charge because of Aggravated Circumstances. At the time, Davis said he was considering pursuing a lawsuit, that a misdemeanor was not the appropriate charge for the crime.

On October 22, the Jefferson/Gilpin County District Attorney’s office, changed the charges to the felony Aggravated Animal Cruelty and Petty Theft.

On Monday, the case witnesses took the stand, as well as Davis and Miller. A tape of the initial interview with Miller and a GC deputy was played in which Miller admits killing the dog and says he wasn’t scared at the time.

Veterinarian Doc Joe Evans reported his findings on a necropsy of Ragnar’s body.

Early Tuesday morning, GC prosecutor Katherine Decker gave her closing statement, stating that although Miller had told the jury he was afraid of the dog and shot him in a panicked state of mind, his testimony was different than when he was first interviewed, that his credibility was in question.

“He said the dog was 50 to 100 feet away, he wasn’t moving, even when Miller went to get his gun and walked back, he wasn’t a threat. But yesterday, he said the dog was growling and his hair was standing up on end. Can you hear that, see that, from 100 yards away. What makes sense?”

She said the shooting was more a result of anger and entitlement than fear, that the killing was needless. He could have done nothing, could have walked away and complained to the neighbor or called law enforcement. Decker said that that would have been the appropriate thing to do. To hide the evidence and throw away Ragnar’s collar was the cowardly thing.

“Nothing he says justifies the action he took.”

Defense attorney Eric Zale of Boulder claimed that his client had been scared and at that moment, he saw no other option. “He looked up and saw the 95 pound or more German Shepherd/Akita mix and we all know the temperament of that mix. It is easy to say he shouldn’t have done it, now in the courtroom. It happened when he was by himself.”

Zale said that the Gilpin Sheriff’s Office did not investigate former complaints that Miller had against the dog. That no one had listened to Miller.

“Does Eric feel bad? Yes. Can you do something legally and feel bad? Yes. Did he want to shoot the dog? No. He was alone and afraid. He had no choice at the moment.”

The jury was given instructions and sent to come up with a verdict. Less than an hour later, Miller was pronounced guilty of both charges.

Davis says he is feeling good about the verdict. Since Ragnar was killed, a friend gave him a puppy, Princess Buttercup, now nine months old, who has helped ease the pain of his loss.

“But just watching her grow up brings back so many memories of Ragnar when he was a puppy. I don’t think Eric is remorseful. All he wants to do is get out of this. I just hope they take his gun away from him.”