| A man is in custody in Gilmer County after he allegedly shot and killed two dogs with a shotgun.
On Dec. 7, troopers with the Glenville detachment of the West Virginia State Police received information on an incident involving two dogs which had been reported missing since Oct. 4, according to a criminal complaint.
The information stated that Ricky Frashure, 48, of Linn, had been seen on that date “killing the dogs,” then loading them into a vehicle and drove them to his house in an attempt to dispose of the dead animals, troopers said, and another individual is believed to have assisted Frashure.
After receiving that information, troopers went to Frashureâs residence to question him about the October incident, to which Frashure claimed to know about the missing dogs, but that he had no knowledge of where they were or what happened to them, the complaint states.
When Frashure was told of the allegations against him, he claimed a small dog that his girlfriend owned had been run over a few months before the alleged incident in October, and that he transported that dogâs body behind his house to be buried, troopers said.
Troopers were led to the location where Frashure claimed he buried his girlfriendâs dog, but “nothing could be confirmed based on the environmental changes that has occurred since the date [of the incident],” according to the complaint.
In a Mirandized statement, a witness provided a statement providing full details about how Frashure “maliciously and intentionally killed the two missing dogs,” and the details given matched the information troopers had received earlier that day, troopers said.
According to the statement, Frashure was drinking heavily on the day of the incident in October and had gotten into a fight with another individual after “drinking heavily,” the complaint states.
Then, Frashure grabbed a 12-gauge shotgun from a truck, walked up to the dogs who were freely roaming around the witnessâs property, and fired four shots at the animals, troopers said, and then loaded the bodies into a Kubota UTV.
The witness went to Frashureâs house a few days after the incident to ask if Frashure knew he killed the dogs whose owners had been posting missing posters all around the area, and Frashure responded by laughing and saying, “Yeah, they put a flyer in my mailbox,” according to the complaint.
After troopers questioned him, on Dec. 8, Frashure was seen washing out the bed of his UTV, troopers said.
Frashure is charged with cruelty to animals and being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm. He is being held in Central Regional Jail on $50,000 bond.
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