Homicide investigation veers into secret world of pit bull fighting

[size=-1]Beaumont,TX -- [/size]Thomas Weigner, shot above the right knee, bled to death Aug. 1 in rural Liberty County.


His tied-up family, including three children, witnessed it while the gun-wielding robbers searched for money and firearms.

Here - in a brick ranch-style home down County Road 2252, which eventually leads to the Trinity River bottom - is where at least three masked men raided Weigner's fenced-off property.

Weigner, 27, was awakened by his barking American pit bull terriers, about 300 of them on 24 acres about 60 miles west of Beaumont.

The crime could have been a common thug's smash-and-grab job gone wrong, but investigators also suspect Weigner's dogfighting ties and money might have been factors.

Weigner's death opened a small gateway into the dogfighting subculture that local authorities rarely glimpse, according to Southeast Texas investigators. The dogfighting society stretches throughout the region as well as across the nation and overseas, they said.

Lawmen believe Weigner was at or near the top tier of the dogfighting underground, and authorities from the FBI and Texas Department of Public Safety are investigating the case.

"It's all part of a larger dogfighting operation," said John Goodwin, a deputy manager of animal-fighting issues and investigator for the Humane Society of the United States. "It didn't end with Thomas Weigner being shot. ... He's in a network at the top of the (dogfighting) list."

The dogfighting network ties together men like Weigner and his Westpenn Kennels, his elite-bloodline breeding operation, and local amateurs and "hobbyists" entering the game with dogs not genetically altered to be the true pit fighting dogs that Weigner developed, Goodwin said in a telephone conversation from his Washington, D.C., office.

Southeast Texas authorities who investigate pit bull operations said the subculture is so closed and secretive that busts are rare.

In Jefferson County, authorities had 23 dogfighting cases in the last two years, Assistant District Attorney Ann Manes said, adding that one person could be charged with a count for each dog involved. Overall in the region since 2000, at least 52 people have been arrested and 25 dogs seized in connection with suspected dogfighting.

Nationally, hundreds of dogfights are busted each year and as many 20,000 people, mostly men, are involved, Goodwin said.

Goodwin said the traditionally rural activity has become more popular in urban areas such as Beaumont and Houston. However, the city operations are largely disorganized and difficult to bust, he said.

Manes, who prosecutes local cruelty cases, said dogfighters typically are charged with owning or training a dog with the intent to use it in a fighting exhibition - a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail and a $4,000 fine. Rarely are they caught during dogfights, attended by screaming spectators throwing down bets.

"It's almost always circumstantial (evidence)," Manes said.

A difficult pursuit

Sgt. Mark Timmers, a Houston Humane Society and Harris County animal cruelty investigator, said a "blind man" could recognize a fight occurred with so much evidence spread over a crime scene. This includes evidence such as a pit, blood-smeared walls and scar-faced dogs.

Nevertheless, culpability is tough to prove, creating a frustrating and sometimes futile chase for investigators, Timmers said.

Beaumont police Detective Tina Lewallen, who investigates Beaumont's animal cruelty crimes, regularly sees fighting dogs with punctured necks, scarred snouts and torn-off ears when they are seized from owners suspected of animal cruelty.

But a significant dogfight hasn't been busted in Beaumont since November 2003, when police arrested eight people and animal control took 15 dogs.

When police arrived, spectators scattered like startled quail, Lewallen said. Money flew in the air while officers detained anyone they could grab.

Meanwhile, the dogs kept fighting, she said.

Beaumont Animal Control Supervisor Greg Parker, who arrived at the scene 20 minutes after police, remembered bloody, exhausted dogs on Idylwood Street.

Pit-bull handlers regularly train fighting dogs inside the city limits, Lewallen said, and then they take them to large fights in surrounding rural towns such as Cheek and China so the fighting dogs and rowdy bettors avoid attracting unwanted attention.

"They have secret codes to find out where the dogfights are," Lewallen said.

Sheriff's department officials in Hardin, Newton and Tyler counties believe dogfighting occurs within their jurisdictions, but there have been no busts in recent memory.

It takes surveillance, manpower and extensive intelligence to make a bust, Timmers said.

Often, it's just by accident or luck.

In 2000, for example, the Jasper County Sheriff's Department arrested 49 spectators who attended a dogfight. Attending a dogfight is a Class C misdemeanor carrying a maximum penalty of a $500 fine.

Jasper County Sheriff's Detective Aaron Tippett said officers just happened to be within 15 minutes of the fight's location just west of Kirbyville.

Like the Beaumont bust, money flew in the air, onlookers screamed and then dashed in every imaginable direction, Tippett said. Two men even ran through a barbed-wire fence, according to The Enterprise archives.

"The problem is most of the people that (attend) pit bull fights are thieves anyway," Tippett said. "Thieves stealing from thieves. It doesn't get reported that often."

Breeding operations such as Weigner's Westpenn Kennels are easier to find, but even in this case, it was not because of a complaint against dogfighting. It was Weigner's death that exposed the operation and led to the seizure of 285 dogs living in cruel conditions.

"Law enforcement, we're basically unaware of what is going on," Timmers said. "It's very organized. ... I'm not talking about the backyard stuff."

In fact, many Web sites associated with the guarded society require references to gain access. Only the highly trusted are invited.

 

A growing concern

In the fighting underground, the dogmen romanticize their "sport," claiming they return the breed to its 19th century English roots when fighting's popularity grew, Diane Jessup, a Washington-based pit bull breeder, authority and author, said in a telephone conversation. The dogfighters have made the breed a status symbol for machismo. They live through the breed and attract younger men by dramatizing the sport.

Bloodlines developed largely by venerable white men now are being promoted by a hip-hop culture, Jessup said. The bloodline history and the American pit bull terrier's gameness fascinate some common citizens.

"There are a whole bunch of people out there that are attracted by dogs with game pedigrees," she said.

The breed's keenly aggressive nature makes them the elite fighting dog, better than any other breed, Jessup said. So owning a pit bull is a statement of dominance, she said, and for some, hopefully, an invitation into the dogfighting world.

Goodwin said the pit bull breeding industry grows with it. And the fighting involves new players who are more aggressive and violent.

For lawful breeders, illegitimate practices have smeared the breed, pit bull enthusiasts say. The dogs are human-friendly, they say, but the over-breeding and the haphazard sale to anyone willing to buy has put the breed in the wrong hands.

"They're scumbags," said Jessup, who trains pit bulls for police work. "There's no mystique there in the dogfighting rings. When you're close to it, you see it's really a disturbed bunch of individuals that are living through their dogs. They talk about how much they respect them. ... No, they're idiots."

Secret world revealed

During the Aug. 7 pit bull seizure at Weigner's property, training equipment, including a treadmill and water tank, was discovered, said Liberty County Sheriff Greg Arthur, whose department is handling the homicide investigation.

However, investigators found no evidence on site of dogfighting, Arthur said.

But where the investigation could lead is what compels authorities.

"This is the first time when it's been such a high-level player," Goodwin said of Weigner's homicide and its connection to dogfighting. "This time it was somebody big."

Goodwin says Weigner was a professional dogfighter on whom Goodwin and the Humane Society have kept watch since he gained prominence in the fighting world two years ago - about the time he moved to Liberty County from Pennsylvania.

Dick Wheelan, the attorney for Weigner's wife, Julie Laban, said in a telephone interview from his Houston office that Laban denied all claims of dogfighting.

Arthur said the crime's link to suspected robberies of alleged dogmen in Michigan, Georgia and South Carolina is being investigated.

Goodwin believes the crimes are linked.

"When you have these high-end dogfights, you have violent men who come in for a violent blood sport," Goodwin said. "They gamble large sums of money on it. Of course, they all bring guns, because they don't want to be robbed and lose those hundreds of thousands of dollars.

"When you mix that sort of adrenaline and testosterone with a violent blood sport and all that money, you've got yourself a combustible situation and sometimes it erupts.

"We've heard about shootouts at fights, but now it's moving to a new level where they are following people to their homes and killing them."

For Liberty County's Arthur, the homicide is a top priority that uncovered a world he knew little about.

"I didn't realize dogfighting was as big an industry as it is," Arthur said in his office. "I've learned more about dogfighting than I wanted to know."

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[font=Times, serif]Dogfighting phrases and terms[/font]

American Dog Breeders: A registry founded in 1909 exclusively for American pit bull terriers

Bleeder: In combat, a term for a ruptured vein or artery that produces substantial bleeding.

Breaking stick: A wedge-shaped stick, typically made of wood, used to break a pit bull's bite hold in a fight.

Catch weight: Unstipulated matching weights or any pit bull weighing more than 52 pounds.

Champion: A dog who has won three contract matches.

Courtesy scratch: At a match's conclusion, both dogs should still show aggression. The losing dog is released to make a short, no-contact scratch. The winner is allowed to scratch back.

Crop-eared: Ears are snipped for a tougher look, however cropped ears is an owner's personal preference and shouldn't affect a match.

Cur: A pit bull who is not deeply game or aggressive or any breed that isn't an American pit bull terrier.

Dead game: The description given to a dog who never quit trying to kill his or her opponent despite serious injuries.

Fast-mouthed: In combat, a dog that makes numerous bite holds in rapid succession

Flirtpole: An exercise device where a lure is attached to a pole.

Gambler's delight: A dog that shows bad signs, but is actually game.

Game: Dogfighting; or a dog's aggression and tenacity despite facing serious injury.

Grand champion: A dog who has won five contract matches without losing.

Handler: The person who oversees a dog during a fight.

Match dog: A dog used in a contract match.

Pick-up: A handler picks up his dog when he concedes the fight.

Pit or box: The arena where dogfights occur. Typically made using plywood walls, it measures up to 20 square feet. They are designed to be disassembled and portable.

Register of Merit (ROM): Dog list established by the "Sporting Dog Journal," a discontinued magazine. A dog is credited with one point for each champion produced and an additional point for grand champion produced.

Roll or bump: A controlled pitting of dogs as a training exercise to find dogs suitable for real matches.

Rough-mouthed dog: a dog who shakes his or her opponent when biting.

Untouched: a dog that hasn't been fought.

Source: Humane Society of the United States

http://www.southeasttexaslive.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17087403&BRD=2287&PAG=461&dept_id=512588&rfi=6

 

Wow. Diane Jessup at it again. I wonder if the police know she just loves to own APBTs from fighting generations herself. What a f-ing hypocrite. And she herself claims that the pit bulls is inherently aggressive. Thanks for nothing bitch.

As for this article, I send even more condolences to Mrs. Weigner & her children. She shouldn't have to go through this being treated as a lowlife criminal while the true lowlife criminals (the police included) get away with murder--literally.

 

Took the words right outta my mouth!!

J

 

Great post!! Why does that fat, crippled hypocrit bitch have to inject her two worhtless cents into everything pit bull? As many dogs as SHE has had die in her yard over the past few years due to dog fights & she wants to judge someone? Notice now how she touts herself a "breeder", last year she claimed to be a rescuer. Is there a puke emoticon on here?

 

Wow. that stuff is crazy. So ADBA is a fight term. Interesting. It just gets more retarded by the day. Soon it will be if the tongue of the collar points left it is a fight term. If you dog has two testicals it is a fight dog. What a load.

 

you know these ppl never cease to amaze me with they're Bull----, they took a family's tragdey and turned it into a freakin nightmare,,, Like they ain't got enough to worry about

 

X2!! What else to say?

 

A man was murdered, why don't they stop making news and start making progress on the case

 

because they have to get someone since they can't do they're job and get the ones that done the shootin,,,, incompitint pricks

 

They are trying to make it look like this man put himself into a stiuation that caused his own death. They are trying to make it look like a man who was driving recklessly and totalled out his vehicle. Jerks.

Yea, I looked on a web site that gave people signs that dog fighting was going on. One sign was that we use heavy chains, another was the wide collars, another was WALKING THE DOG!!! By hand. So lets see... you cant have a tread mill or your fighting them. You cant hand walk them or your fighting them. So they want the dogs not exercised, made unfertile, unchained(which will lead either to them getting loose and creating another newspaper incident to backup their "fact" that pitbulls are a menace, or having them unchained would get them into a yard accident, which would leave the dogs either dead or with scars and wounds which would be evidence that you have been fighting the dogs), I wonder if these folks had a great big rotti or something and were trying to bully some little kid and sicking their dog on their little cocker spaniel, and the little kid went and got a little bulldog and when the bullies tried to sick that 180 pound rotti on the little bulldog, the bulldog ripped them a new one!!

Either way, there is no doubt that these people are bullies. By that term I define it as this: when a person tries to intimidate and push around and control someone smaller than themselves, but would not dare get into a fight with someone who is an even match for them.

J

 

Purplepig that is a good sumation. Works for me. They have small cockx desease and no testicular fortitude.

 

That was my thought on it.... You wold think the murder would be first priority !!!

 

a man got killed and all there worried about is dog fighting what about the %$^^& ing killers.peace

 

UNF***ING BELIEVABLE....... Officers, sheriffs or what have you.... DO YOUR FREAKING JOB & FIND THE SHOOTER(S)....ie: the criminals.... get a freaking clue. My condolences to the Weigner family...

 

I Remember When That Happend They Say His Dogs Were Worth Over Half A Mill. Talkin Bout Champions On Top Of Champions

 

I bet you the FBI and other law enforcement has spent 3x the man power and resources investigating the dog fighting allegations than looking for info on the thieves turned murders.

In fact, i dare say that Federal and State law enforcement agencies spend more money and time in searching/investigating dog fighters than suspected/potential terrorists living within our borders.

Let us hope that the new President brings forth a time of sensible and correct justice for all.:cool:

 

Diane Jsseup oowns treadmills ,flirt poles ect,etc she is one of the largest hypocrites known all she really is a glorified dog catcher who is good friend with Joanie ( sorrel) Winchester ,what is their conection Joanniw used to be married to BuckShot(Bert )Sorrels and was herselfan active dogwomen in the illegal side of these dogs past yet Diane Jessup and Jaonie are tight as bugs in a rug! HMMMM And if they want to spend so much time on animal cruelity what about the Murder,as Rocky had stated if they spent 1/2 as much time looking in to suspects of the murder,resources,man hours etc. that goe on for tses bogus dogfighting charges Hell we could have found Biladdedn ,Jimmy Hoffa and solved the Kennedy assination!!1

 

that article really breaks my heart. those stupid pigs are so lazy that they'd rather blame that poor man's murder on dogfighting than do their damn job. and to deepen the wound they are harassing his widow and family. what the hell is wrong with the world? since when is it ok to blame victims of violent crimes? this man wasn't killed doing something like stealing crack. he was killed in his own home with his family right there. and the only thing those stupid lazy pigs and those worthless piece of sh*t humaniacs can do is say they think he was fighting dogs so it's his fault. they make me so sick. i want my taxes back. if those fat b*stards can't do their job, my tax dollars shouldn't be paying them.

 

i need some help ,looking for some info on the mavrick blood