In a bizarre twist in the lengthy quest to find who’s killing central Alberta’s wild horses, two people associated with one of Calgary’s most well-known homeless shelters face some of the first charges laid in the shootings.
Jason Nixon, 29, and Earl Anderson, 40, are charged with wilfully killing cattle and careless use of a firearm in connection with the shooting of a single horse last year.
Both men are connected to the Mustard Seed’s Mountain Aire Lodge, a ministry near Sundre that provides outreach to formerly homeless men and women.
Calls to several Seed officials were not returned on Wednesday, but in a statement released late in the day, officials said the shelter and the accused are “co-operating fully” with authorities.
“Two individuals of the Mustard Seed’s Mountain Aire Lodge have been accused in connection with the shooting of a wild horse in central Alberta,” chief administrative officer Aart Schuurman Hess said in the statement, identifying Nixon and Anderson.
“Our primary goal is to ensure the legal process can unfold without disruption or interference, and to remain fully supportive of our staff throughout this time.”
Nixon, the director of the Mustard Seed’s mountain lodge ministry and eldest son of Seed founder Pat Nixon, also faces a series of additional charges, including assault, stemming from a separate investigation.
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Anderson is identified on the Seed’s website as a former guest and current employee of the lodge.
Meanwhile, a 13-year-old boy is also charged in the case, while charges are pending against a 25-year-old Calgaryarea man.
Authorities hailed the arrests as a breakthrough in the cases that have perplexed investigators and troubled residents of Sundre ever since dead horses began appearing near the town 100 kilometres northwest of Calgary nearly a decade ago.
The charges stem from a single instance of an alleged shooting of a feral horse — a pregnant mare — sometime between May 2009 and October 2009.
Since 2007, investigators have probed the deaths of at least 13 wild horses in a mountainous area west of Sundre, said RCMP Sgt. Patrick Webb.
The deaths occurred in isolated areas, leaving investigators with few, if any, witnesses. The rough nature of the terrain further complicated the investigations, Webb said.
The three arrests announced Wednesday are linked only to the death of the one horse, Webb stressed. Authorities are still investigating the rest of the cases.
A $25,000 reward offered by the Wild Horses of Alberta Society, based out of Olds, will likely be awarded after information was provided to authorities in the case, said the association’s president, Bob Henderson.
As many as 30 wild horses have been found dead in the area since 2001, Henderson said. For years, the deaths prompted concern from local residents and led to at least one Crime Stoppers re-enactment.
Henderson said he hopes news of arrests in at least one of the cases will fuel more interest in finding all the culprits. The arrests are a sign that if investigators find the evidence, “they are going to charge you and you will have to face the consequences.”
B7 The suspects are also facing additional charges under the province’s Wildlife Act in connection with an incident on Nov. 6, 2009. Police said RCMP members and Fish and Wildlife officers laid the charges after investigating a trespassing and poaching complaint in the area. Police have also charged Nixon with assault, alleging he attacked a witness to the incident.
Nixon has also been charged with uttering threats and obstruction in connection with a third incident. Police say the charges stem from an encounter between Nixon and a Fish and Wildlife officer investigating the trespassing and poaching complaint.
The three accused are to appear in Didsbury Provincial court on March 1.
jkomarnicki@theherald.canwest.com
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