Branding helps nail rustling verdict
By Louis Montclair
Fort Peck Journal
For the first time in more than 100 years, Montana has a cattle-rustling conviction.
Richard D. Holen, 48, of Poplar, was found guilty on eight counts of felony theft Wednesday. District Judge David Cybulski remanded Holen to the Roosevelt County Sheriff's Department until sentencing.
Holen kept his head down as the verdict was read, and showed no emotion when police escorted him to jail.
"It feels good," said rancher Steven Peters, one of eight ranchers whose cattle were stolen by Holen. During closing arguments, Roosevelt County Attorney Ryan Rusche said Holen had 39 cows that did not belong to him.
"Honest ranchers bring them back," Rusche said, noting that it's possible for a few cattle to wander to other pastures. "Honest ranchers call the rightful owner; they don't incorporate them into their herd."
Holen was charged with felony theft last October after neighboring ranchers' cattle were found in Holen's stock, with some of the cows showing changes in the brands.
Authorities impounded cattle from the Holen ranch and took them to the Glasgow Stockyards, where they were identified by their brands.
Holen's attorney, Mary Zemyan, asked the eight-man, four-woman jury to consider if the witnesses had a bias against other witnesses or Holen.
Rusche presented witnesses and evidence, including color photos, branding irons and documents from the state brand office.
Tribal Fish and Game Director Robbie Magnan testified that on Sept. 2, 2008, he was patrolling south of Chelsea and noticed Holen riding through the brush. He received a phone call from Holen when he was leaving, who argued with him about being on his property. After that, Magnan said he received an anonymous tip that he should check out the brands on the cattle.
The next day, Magnan and others went to Holen's and impounded 64 cattle.
Montana Department of Livestock Inspector Wayne Shipp said a brand can be placed on six spots on a cow, and where that brand was placed is how to identify cattle properly.
Shipp went to the Glasgow Stockyards and photographed each animal with a questionable brand. He identified eight brands on 39 cattle. The brands belonged to different ranchers, including Cornwell Ranch Co., Ted See, Steven Peters, Richard and Tigh Fuhrman, Clay Cornwell, Hinsdale Livestock Inc., Lynn and Debby Cornwell and Michelle Hover, and Wilbur Reid. The numbers include 19 cows, 16 calves, three yearlings and one bull.
Rusche presented more than 100 photographs of different brands and cattle, some of which had a blank spot burned away where the Holen brand is located on cattle.
In October, a search of the Holen farm yielded several branding irons.
One of those irons, a heart-shaped brand, was compared against brands on the left hip of some of the cattle. The size and shape fit the iron.
Shipp, who had been a brand inspector for two years, said that this was his first case of cattle theft and that to find 39 stolen cattle in a herd is unusual. With today's branding laws and regulations, it is very hard to steal cattle, Shipp said.
"Anything of this magnitude in this day and age in Montana is unheard of," said Shipp, who said it was the first such conviction in more than 100 years.
The owners of the brands said they had not sold or given their cattle to Holen, Shipp said.
Victims testifying for the state included Peters, who owns a ranch across the river from the Holen operation, who said that he was moving his herd from one end of his range unit to the other when he noticed he was missing eight cattle, including a large bull.
He said he called Holen, who told him that he hadn't seen Peters' cattle.
Peters said he didn't see his cattle until Sept. 4, 2008, when he got a call from Shipp, who told him that they had some of his cattle at the Glasgow Stockyards.
Each charge of cattle theft carries a fine of up to $50,000 or 10 years in prison or both.
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