Horse thought to have been murdered found to have fallen to ‘freak accident’
WABAUNSEE CO., Kan. (KCTV) - Through a twist of fate, it would seem that a horse in Kansas who was believed to have been shot truly met his end through a “freak accident.”
The Wabaunsee County, Kansas, Sheriff’s Office announced on Monday, May 19, that it has closed the case of Joe the Horse. On March 27, law enforcement officials were called to the area of SW Carlson and Glacier Rd., west of Topeka, with reports of a horse that appeared to have been shot.
When first responders arrived, they said they believed Joe had been murdered. A relentless investigation began as K-9s from federal agencies were brought in to search for shell casings and staff at the Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine performed an autopsy.
The Sheriff’s Office noted that teams of investigators from far and wide all believed they had been looking at a gunshot wound. However, science found differently - exhumations, CT scans and tissue analysis by 9 separate pathologists all confirmed that Joe had not suffered any ballistic injury, despite all initial appearances.
Furthermore, law enforcement officials said, despite a community-funded $10,000 reward for information and national-level attention in the case, no leads were received.
Ultimately, investigators indicated that no projectile had been discovered in or around the scene of Joe’s death. No evidence of malice was found; however, a small, non-penetrative fatal injury to the skull that resulted in a traumatic brain injury was found to have led to Joe’s death.
While the Sheriff’s Office said all it has at this point are theories about what caused Joe’s fatal injury, investigators do believe the death to be a “freak accident.”
“We raised life-changing level money and there was nothing but silence, yet in the end, through an exhaustive, multi-disciplinary, team-oriented, relentless investigative effort collecting evidence in pursuit of truth - based on the totality of circumstances and objective reasonableness we have discovered and concluded that Joe was not shot and that no human had hurt him,” said Wabaunsee County Sheriff Eric Kirsch.
Investigators indicated that they are glad they could let Joe’s family know that no one intentionally hurt him and that they gave the investigation their all.
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