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Washington Man Faces Charges After Killing A Deer

Last updated on Wednesday, December 7, 2011

(BLOOMFIELD) - Mervin D. Knepp, of Washington, has been summoned to Greene Superior Court next week after he killed a deer using a rifle cartridge that is illegal in Indiana.

Knepp will appear at 8:30 a.m. on Dec. 16 to be formally charged with illegal taking of a wild animal, a class C misdemeanor.

According to police, Knepp is alleged to have shot a buck deer on Nov. 26 on property he owns in Greene County near County Road 100W using a 7 mm cartridge fired from a high-powered rifle.

Indiana Conservation Officer Greg Swanson said he was sitting in his patrol vehicle, looking for hunters spot-lighting deer, when he heard two shots. Swanson went to investigate and went to a cabin owned by Knepp.

There he found a small field-dressed deer that did not have either a temporary transportation tag or a permanent tax affixed to the deer,

Knepp told police he had shot the deer with the high-powered rifle when it came out of the woods while he was hunting for coyote.

Swanson said rifles are now legal to hunt with in the state, but a 7 mm cartridge is not legal, according to the probable cause affidavit.

The deer was seized by Swanson and taken to Myers' Processing to be skinned so the wound caused by the rifle could be more closely examined.

Swanson noted that there was a large wound in the chest cavity of the deer. Once the deer was skinned, the conservation officer was able to see the large hole was actually an exit wound. The entry wound was too small to see until the animal was skinned.

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