Click here to read Part Two
1915 Moonlight Rd., Smithfield, VA - Surry County
It all started at a barber shop. In 2001, Vick and his best friend, Quanis Phillips, ran into a friend named Tony Taylor. It was known around the neighborhood that Taylor was into dog fighting - and Vick and Phillips had witnessed their fair share of it growing up (Later on, Vick admits that he was seven years old the first time he witnessed a dog fight, and by the age of 12 or 13 - he was an active participant).
At the barber shop, Taylor tells Vick that he met a guy (Benny Butts - who later helped trained Vick's dogs) with a real dog fighting ring up north. The conservation carried on until it was decided that with Taylor's contacts and Vick's money - "there were great possibilities." By the end of the conversation, a plan was set into motion. Vick, the money man. Phillips would oversee the operation. Taylor would train the dogs, and they would bring in a fourth (Taylor's cousin) named Purnell Peace, a veteran dog man.
By the end of 2001, they obtained a kennel license (to house other people's dogs and breed pit bulls) and Vick bought a 15 acre lot in Surry County for $34,000. By 2002, they had twenty six pit bulls on the property while Taylor lived in a trailer on the premises. That same year, they came up with the name Bad Newz Kennels. On the property (back in the woods), they built sheds, stalls, and kennels.
In 2004, a large white brick house was built at the front of the property. While Vick stayed over on multiple occasions, he never actually lived in the house. Instead, he allowed friends and family to live there and oversee the operation.
Don't miss the black sheds in the back ^
GO TROY AND BROWNIE!
On April 20, 2007, a Dodge Intrepid was sniffed out by a dog named Troy. Working for the police, he motioned to officers that marijuana was in the car that sat in the Royal Suite Dance Club parking lot. The owner of the vehicle was Davon Boddie, Michael Vick's cousin, who lived at Vick's house in Surry County. Upon getting arrested, Boddie listed his address as: 1915 Moonlight Rd.
Bill Brinkman, an investigator for Surry County Sheriff's office, had heard several rumors of Michael Vick's involvement with marijuana use and other drugs - but "didn't have any particular desire to bust Michael Vick." That is, until Boddie, from his possession charge, listed Michael Vick's address as his place of residence. The saved file of rumors and Boddie's arrest gave enough probable cause for a warrant and search of the property. Brinkman and others anticipated finding drugs, if that...
April 25, 2007 - The search of Michael Vick's property: Because Boddie's arrest was in the city of Hampton and Vick's residence was in Smithfield, a multi-jurisdictional force was formed: a SWAT unit, Virginia State police, Hampton Police, Surry County Sheriff's Department, and from standard protocol, an animal control officer named James Smith.
Inside the house, they found marijuana, two guns, ammo, and several stun guns. Outside, they met a gentleman named "Brownie" - who was paid to take care of the property. He was a dog lover, and more than once told Vick that "someday he would pay for what he was doing to these dogs." After meeting the force, Brownie was more than happy to show them around. He led the officers past the fence and into the woods, showing the secrets behind the property.
The officers walked through the trails: black sheds in front, kennels to the left, pins on the right. Brownie had keys to all the locked sheds and let the officers inside.
66 dogs were found, 51 of them being pit bulls. In the house, they found a black three ring binder full of contracts and paperwork pertaining to the fights and dogs' lineage. In the sheds, they found a weight pull harness, a treadmill, three slat mills and a Jenny wheel.... Syringes and medical supplies stretched along the wall. Assorted medicines and painkillers, bandages, and splints. Stacked along the wall to the ceiling were bags of dog food. The crew bought 80 bags at a time from Sam's Club - Performance Blend. Other found items: a scale, break sticks, a rape stand, partially burned carpet, and new carpet remnants rolled up and stored for future use.
Purnell Peace
Quanis Phillips
Tony Taylor
Brownie pointed out the rope from the ceiling which lowered a staircase to the second level. Upstairs they found the pit, blood stains in the wood, and canine teeth sitting on a window sill.
Two important things to note:
In 2004 and 2005, Brownie reported Bad Newz dog fighting operation to the Virginia Beach Police and Virginia State Police. "For reasons he didn't know those complaints never led to a single investigation."
"When the officers approached, the dogs rushed toward them, barking and wagging as if they wanted to be petted, but when the people got close, the dogs tucked their tails and retreated. Some of the cops who were more comfortable with animals went up and put their hands on the dogs. NONE of them snapped or growled or showed any signs of aggression, but a few, when they saw the hands coming at them ducked their heads and crouched low, as if they were expecting to be struck."
April 27, 2007 - Michael Vick appeared at an NFL event and stated: "I'm never at the house. I left the house with my family members and my cousin. They just haven't been doing the right thing. It's unfortunate I have to take the heat. If I'm not there, I don't know what's going on. It's a call for me to really tighten down on who I'm trying to take care of. When it all boils down, people will try to take advantage of you and leave you out to dry. Lesson learned for me."
Bill Brinkman - Sheriffs Office
Following the search, Bill Brinkman caught a lot of slack for the Michael Vick bust. An officer on the phone stated: "You've got a lot of people around here pissed off." Brinkman's sheriff told him that the commonwealth attorney was "unhappy with him" and in a conversation later on, Poindexter (the attorney) "made it clear that he didn't like the idea of a young African American who had escaped from an underprivileged background and become something of an icon being dragged down, and he certainly didn't want any part of it."
Jim Knorr - USDA
Due to all the above, Brinkman had to work with Jim Knorr from the USDA and seek out the US Attorney's office (Mike Gill, assistant United States attorney, Eastern District of Virginia) to receive additional warrants, arrests, and indictments. Later on, (very much deserved in my opinion) Poindexter received a lot of backlash for not pursuing the case more aggressively. He denied any prolonging due to being a fan of Vick, and more so, "wanted to ensure that everything was aligned so nothing could get tossed out in court."
Poindexter - Commonwealth's attorney
Additional evidence started to come forward. Brownie stated that two days before the initial raid, Vick, Peace, Phillips, and Oscar Allen (another member of the crew), were having dogs participate in rolls (testing). Nine dogs failed to show any signs of aggression, so Vick and the others tortured and killed the dogs. Some were hanged "by placing a nylon cord over a 2 x 4 that was nailed to two
trees;" others were were drowned "by putting the dogs' heads in a 5
gallon bucket of water... Another died from the crew slamming the dog to the ground several times, breaking her back or neck (for a visual, imagine Vick grabbing the dogs ankles and another grabbing her wrists, then swinging her in circles like a jump rope slamming her to the ground. Repeatedly. Until she died).
Afterwards, Vick offered Brownie $100 to dig two holes and bury the dogs. Brownie dug the holes, but refused to bury them. Phillips and Peace buried the dogs instead.
A handful of inmates were coming forward stating that they participated in dog fighting events at Vick's house. One inmate stated: When the Bad Newz Dog lost the fight, Vick told Peace to kill the dog, and he shot her with a .22 caliber handgun. Another inmate said: Vick and another killed a dog after losing by wetting him down and electrocuting him.
A handful of inmates were coming forward stating that they participated in dog fighting events at Vick's house. One inmate stated: When the Bad Newz Dog lost the fight, Vick told Peace to kill the dog, and he shot her with a .22 caliber handgun. Another inmate said: Vick and another killed a dog after losing by wetting him down and electrocuting him.
According to another witness, Vick and the men fought their trained pit bulls with pet dogs, and they “thought it was funny to watch the pit bull dogs belonging to Bad Newz Kennels injure or kill the others.”
After hearing the witnesses statements, Brinkman, Knorr, and the US Attorney's Office chose to do another search of Vick's property - now abandoned and sold - to find the bodies of the recently murdered dogs.
June 7, 2007: The first search: After two hours of digging, Brownie (who was previously placed in protective custody in another county) had to get transported back to the property to show investigators where to dig. The team worried that the crew came back and removed all evidence, but after much digging in the dark -- they found eight out of the nine bodies. They also found blood stained overalls (that the men wore while "discarding" the dogs) and additional skeletal remains.
July 6, 2007: The second federal search at Vick's previous property: This time with FBI and USDA agents, along with Melinda Merck - the country's leading veterinary forensic scientist.
Along with blood splatter, they found bullet casings, bone fragments, and a canine skull with what appeared to be a bullet hole through it. After additional searching, they found the ninth victim's body.
From the nine bodies found in the two searches, Melinda found that every dog "had puncture marks or scoring on the bones, especially on their legs and faces, that indicated they has been bitten by other dogs... A few of the dogs has broken necks, which suggested hanging...
Most of the dogs, 7 out of 9, had skull fractures, at least one of which appeared to be the result of a blow from a hammer. Brownie reported that he'd once seen a Bad Newz member kill a dog by beating it with a shovel."
June 7, 2007: The first search: After two hours of digging, Brownie (who was previously placed in protective custody in another county) had to get transported back to the property to show investigators where to dig. The team worried that the crew came back and removed all evidence, but after much digging in the dark -- they found eight out of the nine bodies. They also found blood stained overalls (that the men wore while "discarding" the dogs) and additional skeletal remains.
July 6, 2007: The second federal search at Vick's previous property: This time with FBI and USDA agents, along with Melinda Merck - the country's leading veterinary forensic scientist.
Along with blood splatter, they found bullet casings, bone fragments, and a canine skull with what appeared to be a bullet hole through it. After additional searching, they found the ninth victim's body.
From the nine bodies found in the two searches, Melinda found that every dog "had puncture marks or scoring on the bones, especially on their legs and faces, that indicated they has been bitten by other dogs... A few of the dogs has broken necks, which suggested hanging...
Most of the dogs, 7 out of 9, had skull fractures, at least one of which appeared to be the result of a blow from a hammer. Brownie reported that he'd once seen a Bad Newz member kill a dog by beating it with a shovel."
"You think dogs will not be in Heaven?? I tell you, they will be there long before any of us."
Robert Louis Stevenson
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