Aaron Hendricks and David McLeskey, seated, face a judge in Lewis County Superior Court
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – A 35-year-old man, his father-in-law and a companion are charged with first-degree animal cruelty and other offenses for allegedly hunting bobcats with dogs in East Lewis County and allowing the canines at least once to maul their wounded target.
The evidence in the case comes from videos on a JVC camcorder seized from the Woodland home of Aaron B. Hendricks earlier this year and an interview with his now-11-year-old daughter who accompanied them on the outings, according to the allegations in court documents.
It was the huge poaching investigation that began in the Dalles, Oregon last year and resulted in numerous defendants charged in Skamania County that yielded evidence that led to the three men, Lewis County Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher said today.
Hendricks and David R. McLeskey, 58, both of Woodland, went before a judge this afternoon in Lewis County Superior Court.
They had been summonsed to appear.
Meagher told the judge both defendants have no criminal history and asked they be allowed release conditions with $5,000 unsecured bonds.
They are charged with first-degree animal cruelty – a felony with a maximum penalty of five years in prison – with unlawful hunting black bear, cougar, bobcat or lynx with dogs, and with second-degree unlawful hunting of wild animals.
None were properly licensed to hunt wildlife, specifically bobcats or bobcats using dogs, according to charging documents.
Hendricks and McLeskey pleaded not guilty.
Yakima lawyer Richard Smith, representing Hendricks, told the judge that since the search warrant was served in March at his client’s home, he contacted every law enforcement officer in the other case to let them know they were available for questioning.
“Ultimately seven people were charged, we weren’t,” Smith said.
He said he reached out to Meagher to get his client’s case taken care of.
Judge Joely O’Rourke ordered the two men to get finger printed and photographed at the Lewis County Jail before Jan. 1.
She imposed no travel restrictions as they both work across state lines and granted Meagher’s request not to impose standard firearms prohibitions while their cases are pending.
The men waived their speedy trial rights to allow for the schedule of one of their lawyers. They were ordered to return to court on Feb. 8 to set their trial dates.
The two defense lawyers outside the courtroom didn’t want to answer reporters’ questions, but before the elevator doors finished closing, one of them stated: “We’re not connected to all that other stuff.”
McLeskey’s attorney is Stephen Hormel, out of Spokane.
Charging papers in the case describe how digital evidence in the original Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife case identified several additional suspects and co-conspirators in those unlawful hunts, including Hendricks and his father-in-law McLeskey.
The videos found at Hendricks residence in March were examined and showed the two men as well as Aaron C. Hanson, 38, of Kelso, participating in two bob cat hunts in Lewis County, according to the documents. Also present were Hendricks 9-year-old daughter and 10-year-old stepson, the documents relate.
The two unlawful hunts allegedly occurred on Nov. 27, 2015, near National Forest Service Roads 85 and 84, north of the Randle area.
“The video of the first hunt shows Hendricks walking on a snow covered logging road in snow early in the morning holding the camcorder,” Meagher wrote in the affidavit regarding probable cause.
Meagher writes that several dogs can be heard barking and the defendant pans the camcorder to a GPS device to record their location.
Subsequent video shows a bob cat up a tree with numerous barking dogs at the base, then Hanson posing with the dead wild cat, according to Meagher.
The second video is similar, showing a bob cat shot twice, pushed out the tree and immediately surrounded by dogs, Meagher states.
“(T)he video shows the bob cat attempting to defend itself, but the dogs begin to bite, pull, and crush the bobcat to death with undue suffering,” Meagher wrote.
In May, when Hendricks’ daughter was interviewed by law enforcement at her mother’s home in Longview, the videos were played for her and she was asked to identify those who were present.
She points out her dad, her grandfather and her dad’s friend, according to Meagher.
The friend, Hanson from Kelso, is expected to appear before a judge in Lewis County Superior Court tomorrow afternoon.
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