Bull Owner Indicted In Fatal Crash

Vermont Standard

April 7, 2016 

By Katy Savage

Standard Staff

Killington — Almost eight months after a fatal accident on Route 4 involving an escaped Scottish Highland bull and a part-time Killington resident, a grand jury has charged the bull owner with involuntary manslaughter.

Craig Mosher, 61, of Killington was indicted in Rutland criminal court Monday. The indictment said he acted with “criminal negligence by having notice that his Scottish Highland bull was loose and failed to contain his bull or alert others to this danger, and that his failure to take action caused the death of Jon Bellis.”

Both the bull and the man, 64-year-old Bellis of Woodbridge,

Connecticut died in the July 31 accident.

A criminal charge in such situation is rare, people who are close to agriculture laws say.

“I’ve never heard of anybody filing criminal charges like manslaughter,” said Jan Dawson, a retired attorney in Texas who has written books on this issue from the equine perspective. Dawson is currently president of the American Association for Horsemanship Safety. She said it’s “not uncommon” for owners of livestock to be found liable but “sizable” civil liability suits is the harshest punishment she’s seen.

Usually the punishment in cases of animals at large stems from a fence issue, she said.

Vermont law says fences that are 4-1/2 feet tall, in good shape, sturdy enough to prevent sheep from escaping “and any natural barrier equivalent to such fence” is sufficient. Damaged fences are required to be repaired within 10 days.

Vermont law says if an animal is found at large in a roadway the owner of the animal “shall forfeit $20 for every horse or beast so found going at large, and shall be liable for the damages thereby sustained by any person.”

The type of charge in such a case usually depends how many times an animal has escaped in the past, said National Agricultural Law Center Senior Staff Attorney Rusty Rumley.

“Usually there’s a pattern,” Rumley said.

Mosher had owned his bull, named Rob, since 2008, according to Mosher’s company website. Mosher used Rob and another bull named Big as company mascots. Mosher also has two sheep and a rescued donkey on his property on Johnson Road in Killington, the website said.

Killington Police Chief Whit Montgomery said there may have been “a couple of times” in the past when animals had gotten loose from Mosher’s enclosures “but nothing to this extent.”

“In my 17 years I don’t recall being called out for any of (Mosher’s) animals being loose,” Montgomery said. “It’s tragic all the way around.”

Vermont State Police Trooper Robert Rider, who investigated the accident, could not be reached for comment. Rutland State’s Attorney Rosemary Kennedy also didn’t return a phone call by the Vermont Standard’s deadline.

“I’m just very upset about it,” said Mosher, who declined to comment further, referring questions to his lawyer.

Attorney Matthew Hart said Mosher’s bull escaped when it started eating apples from an apple tree. A tree limb got under the electric fence and lifted it up, creating an opening for the animal to escape.

He said Mosher had been told about his loose bull before the accident and “got up, got dressed and started looking” for the bull.

“Unfortunately he was looking in the wrong place,” Hart said.

State police responded around 10:30 p.m. after a 911 call about the crash.

“It’s a horrible accident,” Hart said.

Killington Police received a 911 call that the bull was wandering along Route 4 south of the Killington Skyeship gondola’s parking lot. While responding, another 911 call came through saying that a man had struck the bull.

Bellis, a psychiatrist who split time between Connecticut and his second home in Killington, died after he hit the bull, went down a grassy hill and collided with a tree, state police said. Bellis’ wife, Kathryn Barry, was transported to Rutland Regional Medical Center with a right wrist injury.

She was treated and released.

Scottish Highland cattle are considered the oldest breed. They’re known to withstand rugged conditions and can weigh 2,000 pounds — more than a male moose. The body of the dead bull was removed with a loader truck, Montgomery said.

Paul Doton, who owns a dairy farm in Barnard, keeps his heifers in the barn for the summer. Too often, they found ways to escape.

“We don’t pasture our heifers anymore partly for that reason,” he said.

Doton has never heard of a car coming close to hitting his loose livestock but, “It’s a danger with animals getting out.”

On Monday, Judge Thomas A. Zonay released Mosher on the condition that he contain his animals on his property and not make contact with Bellis.

Comment: Craig Mosher is an outstanding individual whose tireless and timely response to open up Rte 4 and rebuild the town in the wake of Irene is legend.  To quote from a Bloomberg report at the time, “Craig is definitely a local hero,” said Roger Rivera, 33, an emergency worker with the state.

Craig Mosher is not irresponsible and certainly not a criminal. He is an upstanding pillar of the community and should not be treated with such impunity as to level felony criminal charges against him.

This incident was simply an accident and nothing more. Even the charge of “involuntary manslaughter” seems a reach. While there may be some liability issues those  should be handled in civil proceeding not a criminal one.

It seems to me that the state is wasting taxpayer money and the court’s time in bringing this indictment. Craig Mosher is no more a criminal than was Mother Teresa.  To put him through the wringer like this is just plain wrong. Maybe someone should look closer at what motivated this prosecutor.

If this proceeds and Mosher is sent to jail it will destroy his business and harm the local economy in the face of desperate efforts by the town and state to increase economic activity. Has anybody weighed the consequences of this prosecution?

Vito