Posted: 9/7/04
Charges pending in cow-calf shotgun killing
The Houston County Sheriffís Department is investigating the shooting of a cow and calf on Friday, August 27.
The incident took place on Corral Drive in section 34 of Jefferson Township.
Tom and Lynn Reburn, who owned the two animals, received a call on their answering machine on August 29 that there were two cows down in a pasture which the Reburns rent from the George Smerud family.
Lynn told The Argus that the call came from a co-owner of the property.
Tom went up the next morning, Monday, August 30, and found a bloated cow and calf. The cow had been shot through the head, the calf in the heart. Tom found a 12 gauge shotgun slug shell casing nearby.
Lynn Reburn said on September 2 that the Limousin cow weighed 1,300 pounds and had a value of $1,200 The 600-pound Limousin calf was valued at about $750. (Limousin is a breed of cattle.)
The calf did not belong to the cow, so the calf that was orphaned will probably come in a little lighter than normal, she added
Lynn speculated that the shooting was connected to a party on Saturday, August 28, at a nearby site known as the Corral. Houston County Sheriffís Department Chief Deputy Ken Frank said that was not the case, and that the shooting had happened a day earlier.
A 17-year-old juvenile male from New Albin has been interviewed about the shooting, and charges are pending, Frank said. A second juvenile male is also being questioned, he added. Charges might be filed in Iowa and not Minnesota, Frank said, because they are juveniles living in that state.
On August 29, a day after the Corral party, a person reported to the sheriffís department that he had been assaulted at the party. The sheriffís department investigated this, and will be sending a report to the county attorney for review, Frank said.
Caledonia Argus
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