Trial in Slaying of Horses Centers on One Killing

The case against three young men charged in the mass killing of wild horses east of Reno now hinges on whether prosecutors can prove they shot and killed one single horse.

Anthony Merlino, 21, and two former Marines, Darien Brock, 21, and Scott Brendle, 22, were accused of shooting more than two dozen free-roaming horses in the hills east of Reno in December 1998. They admitted they shot at one horse, but denied any other involvement.

On Thursday, District Judge Michael Griffin ruled the former high school friends from Reno can be tried in the death of only one animal. The gross misdemeanor of maiming or killing another person’s animal carries a maximum penalty of up to one year in County Jail and a $2,000 fine.

If convicted of the original charges, the three men had faced up to 10 years in prison.

“Without the admission of the defendants you have no case,” Griffin told Deputy Storey County Dist. Atty. Sharon Claassen at the conclusion of a two-hour hearing.

Claassen conceded her case was based largely on circumstantial evidence, but argued that the defendants’ presence in the area around the time of the killings and their admission to the shooting of one horse was enough to let a jury decide their guilt or innocence in the mass slaughter.

Griffin disagreed.

“You may well believe these defendants did what you think they did,” Griffin said.

But the judge said there was no ballistics or other physical evidence linking the suspects to the other horse killings.

Claassen said her office will decide within a week whether to appeal Griffin’s ruling.