Horse shooter convicted

Russell Daniel Willeford was convicted last week of animal abuse and criminal mischief in the shooting of a horse from Camp Tamarack.

The 27-year-old man faces up to five years in prison. He will be sentenced June 9.

A jury acquitted Willeford on another abuse charge, a charge of neglect and a charge of first degree theft.

Willeford was found guilty of shooting the horse in the head and leaving it to die in the Cache Mountain area west of Sisters last October. Staff at Camp Tamarack, where he had worked as a wrangler, had allegedly asked him to find the horse a new home.

Rescuers walked the horse out to a trailer and he was taken to Bend Equine Medical Center for extensive treatment, including the removal of an injured eye.

The horse, renamed "Hero," is now a resident at Crystal Peaks Youth Ranch.