Man sentenced to 10 years in prison for stealing 5 horses and equipment
By Jim Williamson
Texarkana Gazette
TEXARKANA, Ark. (AP) — Rusty Hayes is an educated cowboy with common-sense skills who serves as the director of farm operation and rodeo coach at Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia.
Those skills were used to find horses stolen from SAU on a stormy night in a primitive, isolated clear-cut in McCurtain County, Okla.
The common-sense skills were also used to anchor and comfort the SAU rodeo students during the last two years and help them get back in the saddle.
Hayes, the students and the rodeo community watched and listened to stories unfold of the theft of five horses, tack, trailers and equipment valued at nearly $253,650 from the SAU Muleriders barn. It was “an ultimate act of betrayal by stealing the most precious asset of fellow rodeo teammates — their horses,” said Mark Matloff, district attorney for the 17th Judicial District in McCurtain County.
One horse was butchered with a chain saw after being shot to death.
A young SAU rodeo student, with the direction of her mother, her mother’s boyfriend and a teenage male, plotted to steal and transport the horses and equipment from Magnolia to isolated places in McCurtain County.
Hayes sounds frustrated, but stoic when describing the last two years in one word — “crazy.”
“To this date, people still want to talk about it. It’s crazy. You can’t believe someone would do that. Nothing made sense. They wanted to sell the horses and equipment to make money,” Hayes said.
“You wonder what in the world made them think they could get away with it. But you learn their background and history, then you realize it’s just the way they are. It’s no real surprise,” Hayes said.
“They made some errors, and if they hadn’t done that, they could have got away with what they did,” he told the Texarkana Gazette.
The location where the stolen horses were found was clear-cut land. It’s isolated and very dark at night.
Law enforcement agencies investigated the crime, but Hayes, another SAU student and the McCurtain County sheriff used the skills of a cowboy to find the starving horses.
A mare was used to communicate by nickering in the dark to find the horses.
While law enforcement agencies searched for the missing horses, Ashley Mills and Hayes took a gamble and traveled to McCurtain County to conduct a search of their own. Mills’ horse, Badger, a black gelding, was among the five stolen from SAU.
A thunderstorm, heavy rain and a muddy logging road created problems. They had planned to use Mills’ horse Cotton Candy and another horse from the SAU stable to find the missing horses. The plan involved having the horses nicker, a form of communication between horses described as a low, soft whinny.
Timing was critical, because the rodeo team was scheduled to compete in Troy, Ala., that weekend.
It was getting to be life or death for the horses. It had rained all day in Magnolia and McCurtain County.
Ashley and Hayes spoke with McCurtain County Sheriff Johnny Tadlock to get an idea of where the horses might be.
The trip was spur-of-the-moment, so neither Hayes nor Ashley packed a knife, a gun or flashlight. Hayes stopped in Foreman, Ark., at a convenience store to buy two $4 flashlights.
They had nothing as a weapon. They had two horses.
Coyotes were spotted near the logging road and started following them.
Hayes had backed the pickup and horse trailer down the logging road. He backed it down instead of taking a chance with trying to turn it around and risk getting stuck.
“I had a plan and thought it would work. I’ve backed trailers all my life, and it’s second nature,” Hayes said.
Ashley and Hayes began to walk back toward the trailer when they were met by Tadlock.
It may have been divine intervention, because the storm and the winds stopped, and the sky cleared.
The moon provided some light, and when the storm was over, it was quiet enough for the horses to hear.
So Ashley and Hayes separated Cotton Candy from the other horse and waited nearly an hour before the two animals started to nicker. Then there was a breakthrough.
As Cotton Candy nickered, the soft whinny of a third horse could be heard coming from the brush. Hayes and Tadlock walked toward the sound through briars and brush and found four of the stolen horses tied to trees.
Ashley’s horse Badger was one of the horses found and had lost about 300 pounds. The horse was dehydrated and malnourished like the other horses.
The animals could not get to grass or water because they were tied to the trees.
The fifth horse, Credit Card, had been slaughtered and the remains cut up and scattered in the area. It would be about 10 days before portions of the horse were found.
After the horses were found, rodeo participants brought horse trailers to the site to taken the animals to Broken Bow Animal Hospital for treatment.
One of the horses was taken to a Shreveport, La., veterinarian because it has an allergy “to certain types of hay.”
Hayes said he doubts restitution will be made.
“I know it’s a lost cause. Most of the kids don’t expect any. We would sure like some, but we never expect to get any,” Hayes said. “They could file a civil lawsuit, but they would spend more in lawyer fees. It would be a lost cause.”
However, 5th Division Circuit Judge Larry Chandler assessed restitution Thursday of $28,258.01. The restitution will be shared by co-defendants George Berrish, Billy Hamilton and Wendi Cox. Jaci Jackson would be responsible for a fourth of the amount.
The assessment was made Thursday during the sentencing of Jackson, the daughter of Wendi Cox. Jackson was sentenced to 10 years in prison during the sentence phase Thursday in the Magnolia court.
She was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison in McCurtain County.
Before issuing the 10-year sentence, Chandler commented to Jackson about her role.
“Obviously, the intent — it seems to me the scheme — was to steal the valuable horses, sell them, make a great profit,” Chandler said.
“It’s very dubious that by the luck of the draw they managed to pick out five of the most valuable horses in the state. I don’t know how they would have known about the value of the horses other than by information obtained by you (Jackson),” he said.
Besides Jackson, two others have been sentenced for their involvement: Cox was convicted in March 2013 on various theft of property charges and sentenced to 60 years in prison, and William Webster “Billy” Hamilton pleaded guilty to theft charges in April 2013 and was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
No charges were filed against George Berrish III in Columbia County in connection with the SAU case. He is serving a term in prison on cattle-theft charges from Little River County.
After Jackson was sentenced in McCurtain County, SAU President Dr. David Rankin issued a statement.
“The theft of five horses from SAU has been a traumatic event for everyone at the university and our community and we are extremely glad to get it behind us so we can move forward. We want to thank everyone for all the tremendous support we have received,” Rankin said.
After the traumatic crime and the court proceedings, SAU and the rodeo athletes are symbolically back in their saddles.
