Two Clinton County men are facing felony charges in the shooting deaths of two dogs found dead in Boone County in March.
CLINTON COUNTY, Indiana — Two Clinton County men are facing felony charges in the shooting deaths of two dogs found dead in Boone County earlier this year.
The dogs, both chocolate Labrador retrievers, were found dead March 27, 2025, nine days after the Humane Society of Clinton County reached out to the Boone County Sheriff’s Office, believing the dogs were on a property in Boone County. Investigators later determined the dogs had been shot and killed at the location after collecting evidence at the scene on March 21.
The dogs were later identified as Ruby and Nellie, the two dogs reported missing by the humane society. In April, the Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory at Purdue University confirmed that both dogs had died from injuries consistent with gunshot wounds.
The Boone County Prosecutor’s Office filed charges May 13 against 49-year-old Paul Ed Bowman and 21-year-old Brayden Bowman, both of Kirklin, Indiana. Both men were charged with killing a domestic animal and obstruction of justice. Paul Bowman was also charged with conspiracy to commit killing a domestic animal.
According to court documents, Paul said that the dogs were barking all night. Documents say Paul initially told police that he was getting ready for work when he saw a dog, who he believed was a rottweiler, running from the area of his chicken coop. Paul allegedly told police that he had a chicken come up missing, noticed the chicken feed knocked over and found dog feces in the chicken coop.
Court document say Paul believed the dog was a stray because of its “aggressive actions” toward him. Therefore, he allegedly shot the dog once. Documents say Paul told police the dog ran into his chicken coop, where it later died.
Court documents say Paul called his son, Brayden, to take care of the dead dog since he had to work. Paul allegedly told police he got a later call from Brayden saying that another dog of the same breed was on his property, so Paul told Brayden to take care of that dog, too.
Documents say Paul told police Brayden shot the other dog in the hay field.
When police asked Paul where the dog’s bodies were, he allegedly told them the dogs were dead and were not on his property and that they were somewhere he “didn’t have access to.”
Court documents say Paul told police he found out the owners were looking for the dogs and thought he would make it worse by going to the owners’ home and telling them that the dogs were shot.
According to court documents, Paul talked to authorities days later and said that he had been hiding from police for a week because there had been search parties and a drone flying in the area looking for the two dogs. Paul allegedly changed his story and said that his dogs were barking all night and, when he looked out the window at 5 a.m., he saw a dog barking so he shot it. The dog then allegedly ran into the barn and that is where it died.
Court documents say Paul didn’t report this to animal control because he told police these are the “types of people” that would file a lawsuit. Paul then allegedly admitted to shooting the second dog as well. Documents say Paul was leaving for work and said he didn’t have time to deal with it, so he put the dogs behind their barn and called Brayden to come and take care of it.
Court documents say Paul said that Brayden knew that it was all over social media, and knew about the reward, and asked if they would still get the reward if the dogs were dead.
Police later discovered that Paul did called the dog’s owners on March 19, just after 10:30 p.m., and left a voicemail with some of the things he said being:
- “At this point, I realize I shot your dogs. I’m not saying I’m proud of that, but they were on my property, and I had all rights.”
- “My son who had nothing to do with this is now receiving threats. People are attacking him, attacking his business and coming after him personally since he is on social media and I am not. I would appreciate if you guys could help me get out in front of this and shut this down. Um, this is an issue between me and you and nobody else and the rest of the world.”
- “I don’t even know who you folks are and I do apologize for shooting your dogs but they were in with my cattle and my chickens, and uh I thought that that was the way that I needed to protect my property and my family.”
Court documents say the final necropsy for Nellie showed one “through and through” wound to the neck. Police said they checked her stomach and found no evidence she had eaten a chicken.
Court documents say the final necropsy for Ruby showed multiple wounds to the face, head, neck and chest area, many of which appeared to be “through and through.” Police said there was no evidence Ruby had eaten a chicken either.
“It is a violation of Indiana Code 35-46-3-12 to knowingly kill a domestic animal without the consent of the owner of a domestic animal,” court documents say. “Mr. Bowman acted without the consent of the dogs’ owners. The two chocolate labs were domestic animals who were lost from their homes. The owners gave no consent for anyone to kill them.”
A warrant has been issued for Brayden’s arrest.
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
