The Howard man who killed and discarded a mother bear and her two cubs and then allegedly removed their heads and sawed off their paws pleaded guilty to one count of willful destruction of wildlife and one wildlife offense – failure to properly dress wildlife – Monday in Fremont County District Court.
Paul Stromberg, 53, was arrested Sept. 30 and later released on a $10,000 bond. He was charged with willful destruction of wildlife X3 (a Class 5 felony), aggravated cruelty to animals X3 (a Class 6 felony), prohibited taking of black bears X3 (a Class 2 misdemeanor) and a wildlife offense (a Class 2 misdemeanor).
On Monday, his defense attorney, Ryan Drengler, said that according to the plea agreement, the destruction of wildlife count would be a deferred judgment and the misdemeanor wildlife offense would be an outright plea.
The stipulated agreement calls for a two-year probationary period, with the first count being a deferred probation sentence, and the second count will be a straight conviction with the same two-year deferred sentence.
Instead of a $1,000 fine, the agreement calls for a $1,000 donation to Operation Game Thief. District Court Judge Kaitlin Turner said a fine is required by statute and she does not have authority to direct the funds to any specific organization.
She asked Deputy District Attorney Taylor Smith if she wanted to make a record of how she felt the plea was appropriate.
“The facts of this case are obviously very disturbing and aggravated,” Smith said. “It’s mitigated that Mr. Stromberg has a lack of criminal history, he was fairly cooperative with law enforcement during the investigation period, and his volunteer work in the community of Howard – that is the general outline of how we reached this agreement.”
Turner said it’s clear that there probably is overwhelming evidence for all counts in the case, to which Smith said she is not incorrect.
“I think the facts in this case are pretty aggravated, we don’t often see a case like this and I know there is public interest in this case,” Turner said. “When we consider wildlife cases in particular, they are – in my view and in the legislature’s view – different even than a case that would involve cruelty to a pet. That’s because these animals that were the subject of Mr. Stromberg’s acts in this case belong to the people of the State of Colorado. They are not privately owned animals, they are a collective responsibility of the State of Colorado.”
Drengler said several mitigating circumstances were discussed with the DDA, as well as “reasons for the crime.”
“I will note that Mr. Stromberg had significant defense claims regarding possible defense of others, defense of self and defense of property,” Drengler said. “There are significant facts outside of at least what’s been provided to the court through the affidavit or other things provided.”
Those facts will be provided at sentencing, he said.
Turner ordered a presentence investigation report and set sentencing for March 25. She said her acceptance of the agreement is dependent on the PSI.
Responding to reports on social media and anonymous tips of an alleged poaching incident, Colorado Parks and Wildlife officers Sept. 29 discovered three bears – a sow and two cubs – had been killed and dumped on state trust land southeast of Salida.
According to an arrest affidavit, Colorado Wildlife Officer Jacob Reimer arrived at Sand Gulch, near Howard, and found the carcasses of what appeared to be a sow and a cub black bear lying close to the mother.
While collecting photographic evidence of the tire tracks and footprints, Reimer located a third bear carcass approximately 21 yards west of the two carcasses he found upon arrival at the scene.
Colorado Wildlife Officer Bob Carochi arrived at the scene to assist Reimer with the investigation. Carochi and Reimer approached the bear carcasses to perform a necropsy and look for evidence.
According to the affidavit, the male cub’s head and paws were cut off the carcass. The carcass was starting to decompose and stunk indicating it had been there awhile. They identified a bullet wound in the front left shoulder of the carcass.
The other cub was found lying on an old gray tarp with a white zipper. The head and paws also were missing from this carcass and the front left shoulder of the bear was missing. Carochi and Reimer found a bullet entrance wound low in the chest behind the right front shoulder.
Officers found a bullet wound in the left front shoulder of the second cub. The two front paws were removed from the carcass at the joint and the rear paws were sawed off. The head was missing from the carcass, as well.
Evidence showed that the bears were shot somewhere else and intentionally disposed of in the Sand Gulch location, the affidavit states.
The claws, skull and teeth of a black bear are desirable trophy parts. Each of the three bears the Wildlife Officers found and investigated had these trophy parts removed and the carcasses abandoned.
Colorado Law makes it illegal to hunt or take wildlife and detach or remove, hide, claws, teeth, etc. with the intent to abandon the carcass or body. Violation of this statute is a Class 5 Felony.
The trophy parts of the animals were removed the carcasses were abandoned and the meat was left to rot.
Later in the day, an anonymous individual told the officers that Stromberg was the person who shot the bears and showed officers a picture of a male who was later identified as Stromberg posing with three dead bears. There was a larger brown-colored bear, a brown-colored cub-sized bear, and a black-colored cub-sized bear in the picture. These bears matched the description of those that were found dead by Wildlife Officers in Sand Gulch.
The anonymous individual told officers that Stromberg talked about the bears falling out of a tree when he shot them and said it was “epic” when they did so. He told officers that Stromberg said that the bears killed chickens at his house and in return, he “took out her whole (expletive) family” and made a reference to the claws from the bears being removed.
