Gun test planned to rule out connection between dead horses, cows

RENO, Nev. - Guns seized from two Navy airmen charged with killing seven cows near Fallon last week were headed today for crime lab tests to determine whether they were used in the slaughter of wild horses near Reno in December.

Three other men, including two ex-Marines, are awaiting trial in the shootings of more than two dozen mustangs. They maintain they are innocent.

Churchill County Sheriff Bill Lawry said Thursday that it is highly unlikely that there is a connection between the shootings of the cows Sept. 16 and slaying of the wild horses.

Nevertheless, a high-powered rifle seized from one of the airmen will be tested to see if it fired bullets found in the horses, Lawry said.

Joshua Osinski, 23, of Scottsdale, Ariz., and Alan Peters, 21, of Coos Bay, Ore., were arraigned in Churchill County District Court on Thursday on seven felony counts of grand larceny. The cows are valued between $800 and $1,000. Osinski and Peters were being held in the county jail.

The two airmen are based at Lemoore, Calif. They have been training at Fallon Naval Air Station and were arrested at the base earlier this week. The cows were shot southwest of Fallon near Sheckler Reservoir, about 60 miles from Reno.

The guns seized from the airmen included a .22-caliber rifle and a 30-06 high-powered rifle - two of the kinds used to shoot the horses.

There were no 30-06 rifles among the several guns confiscated from the men accused of shooting the horses. Those suspects are Anthony Merlino, 20, Scott Brindle, 22, and Darien Brock, 21.

Defense lawyers Scott Freeman and John Ohlson, who are representing the men accused of shooting the horses, said Thursday they want to know more.

"It certainly is not Mr. Merlino's job to find the real shooters. That is the police's job. But it certainly is an amazing coincidence. I hope they pursue all investigative leads," said Freeman, Merlino's defense attorney.

Like the wild horses, the cows found Sunday were shot multiple times. One cow was shot as many as 12 times. Over 100 shell casings were found, Lawry said.

"We asked them why they shot the cows and their answer was 'Because.' We asked 'Because why?' And they really couldn't answer."

Lawry said other military personnel led sheriff's deputies to Osinski.

All seven cows were pregnant and one was shot as she gave birth.

"It's totally inhumane," said Roger Mills, an area rancher who owned one of the cows. "I just can't understand the sporting instinct when a cow just stands there and looks at you."

It didn't appear the suspects had anything against the ranchers who owned the cows, the sheriff said.

"They didn't even know them. It's just high-priced vandalism. I don't think they realize people make a living off these animals."

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