Post by rob-s on Dec 6, 2008 16:07:21 GMT
PORTSMOUTH — When a Fish and Game officer's business card was pulled from the stomach of a gutted deer in front of him, David Howard decided it was time to hand over his already typed-out confession, according to Fish and Game.
Authorities say Howard, the University of New Hampshire public works supervisor, illegally killed a deer in the Maud Jones Memorial Forest in Lee and moved its entrails to Stratham, where he showed them to a Fish and Game conservation officer as proof of no wrongdoing.
The problem? The officer had found the pile of guts the day before in Lee and placed his business card inside the animal's stomach, with the very same card being pulled out of the belly Howard brought to them a day later in Stratham.
It was the same stomach in a different location and the card proved it, according to Fish and Game.
Howard, 44, of 14 Deerfield Court in Rochester is facing a Class B misdemeanor charge of "unsworn falsification" for registering a killed deer in Greenland, when authorities believe it was taken in a Lee town forest that has signs forbidding hunting.
A Fish and Game affidavit filed by Conservation Officer William Boudreau in Portsmouth District Court states the department first began looking into the hunting incident on Nov. 8 when they got a call from a resident in Lee who reported he heard what appeared to be a gunshot coming from the direction of the Maud Jones Memorial Forest at approximately 7 a.m.
Boudreau went to the man's residence and noticed the town forest was posted against hunting.
The officer was led by the Lee resident into the forest to a gut pile, which are left by hunters who clean deer in the woods.
The affidavit indicates Boudreau determined the deer to be a female and observed evidence indicating the body of the animal had been dragged to and then loaded into a vehicle in a gravel pit on a nearby road.
Court paperwork indicates the pit — accessed only by a locked gate — is owned by UNH and surrounded on three sides by the town forest.
The affidavit says Boudreau checked various official deer registration stations in the immediate vicinity for any white-tail female deer that had been taken in Lee, but found none. Hunters are required to register deer within 24 hours at the nearest open registration station.
On Nov. 12, conservation officers went to UNH and met with the school's manager of grounds and events, as well as Howard, who is described in court papers as having been identified as the university's public works supervisor.
UNH officials told Fish and Game the gravel pit is owned by the university and is locked on the weekends with Howard having the only key.
The affidavit states that Howard admitted to hunting in the pit area, but told Fish and Game he had only taken a female deer in Durham during the early bow hunting season and one in Greenland on Nov. 8.
Boudreau obtained Howard's signed registration for the deer at the registration center at Suds and Soda Sport Shop in Greenland, which indicated an animal had been taken in the town on Nov. 8.
Court papers indicate the conservation officer later asked Howard where he shot the deer in Greenland and was told by the man that he began hunting from the "salt piles" on Route 108.
Boudreau told Howard that Route 108 does not go through Greenland and Howard responded by saying he was unfamiliar with the area. The officer asked Howard to point on a map where he killed the deer and was allegedly unable to do so.
The officer subsequently asked Howard to take him to the kill site and Howard allegedly changed his story telling him the deer had been shot in Newfields near the town highway shed.
The two agreed to meet on Nov. 13 to view the kill site.
However, before they met, Boudreau returned to the town forest in Lee and found the stomach of the deer that had been taken in an area posted against hunting.
The affidavit indicates the officer placed one of his business cards in the stomach with the date and time written on the back.
The next day, Boudreau met Howard near the Newfields DOT shed and was told the deer was actually shot in Stratham.
The two went into the woods in Stratham and Howard showed the officer a gut pile there where he allegedly killed the deer on Nov. 8.
The affidavit states Boudreau opened the stomach and found his business card.
"At this time Howard handed CO Boudreau a typed confession that he had typed up that morning," according to the affidavit.
Authorities say Howard admitted to shooting the deer on posted property in Lee and using an incorrect tag to register the deer in a improper "Wildlife Management Unit."
Howard is slated to be arraigned in Portsmouth District Court on Jan. 9.
UNH spokesperson Erika Mantz told the Portsmouth Herald that she could not say if the charges against Howard would have any effect on his job.