Second Dubois man fined in grizzly killing
4/23/02
LANDER, Wyo. (AP) - A second Dubois man has been fined and has lost his hunting and fishing privileges for his part in covering up the accidental shooting of a grizzly bear.
Samuel Titterington, 34, was sentenced to six months in jail, which was suspended, and ordered to pay $4,830 in fines, restitution and court costs for a May 1996 scheme to hide evidence of the bear, destroy its radio collar and bury the carcass.
Fremont County Circuit Judge Robert Denhardt on March 8 also placed Titterington on two years probation and revoked his hunting, trapping and fishing privileges through 2006.
In January, Stone Baker, 30, of Dubois was ordered to pay $5,500 in fines and $350 restitution. He was given a suspended nine-month jail sentence and placed on three years probation.
In addition, Baker lost his hunting and fishing privileges for the next five years.
Baker, who was legally hunting for a black bear at the time, was accompanied by Titterington and Dustin L. Butner, 30, of Denver.
He shot a grizzly that was attracted to bait he set out near Pelham Lake Road to attract a black bear, according to investigators.
Fearing the consequences, the three came up with a plan to bury the bear on Baker's father's property, so that he could keep track of it.
His father, Dubois Mayor Bob Baker, had no knowledge of the shooting or burial, prosecutors said.
Butner, who called a game warden in 1999 to report the violation, has not yet been sentenced.
