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West Virginia Jury Makes a Quick, Clear Statement in Sunbear Case

March 9, 2004

©The Kanahwa/Charleston Humane Association

When Sunbear was discovered he was barely alive.

A six-member jury deliberated less than five minutes to convict Hubert Wilmer of misdemeanor animal cruelty in the starvation death of the West Virginia man's 2-year-old chocolate Labrador, Sunbear.

That jurors' decision on February 26 was followed by another one in Kanawha County Magistrate Court: Magistrate Kim Aaron, who proudly displays photos of her two Chinese Crested dogs in her office, sentenced Wilmer to the maximum penalty, six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. The 41-year-old Wilmer, who defended himself in court, filed an appeal on Tuesday, March 2, claiming he never intended to starve his dog and had arranged for Sunbear to be taken to a farm while he was away.

Wilmer used the same defense during the trial, but Aaron reportedly instructed the jurors to ignore the claim because Wilmer didn't offer any evidence or present any witnesses to back it up. The jury, instead, focused on the horrific testimony and facts presented during trial:

When Wilmer's former girlfriend found Sunbear at Wilmer's Cross Lanes, West Virginia townhouse on August 11, 2002, the dog weighed only 23 pounds, or about a quarter of his normal weight. Despite the best efforts of vets, Sunbear died three days later.
Sunbear was thought to survive for six weeks without food or water. The animal was locked in a windowless laundry room. Kanawha County Humane Officer Gene Fields believed that Sunbear survived by eating his own waste.
One of Wilmer's neighbors testified that he had seen Sunbear, on different occasions, chained outside without food or water.
Shortly after he was charged in the cruelty case, Wilmer posted $5,000 bond and apparently skipped town. He was later found working at a Hooters in Indianapolis, where he was arrested and extradited back to West Virginia. He's believed to be the first person ever extradited to face animal cruelty charges. (Wilmer still faces a May trial for failing to appear in court.)
In handling his own defense, Wilmer questioned the veterinarian who had examined Sunbear, trying to prove that the animal showed no clinical signs of abuse. "Isn't it true, doctor," Wilmer asked the vet, "that my dog had no medical problems that you could find, other than the starvation?" The veterinarian responded that starvation was certainly its own kind of abuse.
Photographs of the emaciated Sunbear, after he was released from the townhouse and had rolled down a bank to a nearby creek to get a drink, were shown to the jury. At least one juror openly cried.

"The jury's swift decision should send a clear message to animal abusers in West Virginia: The state will not tolerate it," said Ann Chynoweth, counsel to The HSUS's Investigative Services. "We and the people of West Virginia are grateful to the efforts of so many people who helped make this important statement."

Among those who brought Wilmer to justice were Kanawha County Prosecutor Michael Clifford and Deputy Prosecutor Phil Morrison. Both were, in Chynoweth's estimation, remarkably committed to the case. "Morrison prepared evidence just as if it was a murder case," she said. On the morning of trial, Morrison also relied on a little superstition: He told an HSUS staffer that he petted his schnauzer for good luck.

Of course, the prosecutors could not have done their job without the assistance of Terry Moberly, the area supervisor for Hooters in Indianapolis. Moberly was the one who, suspicious of Wilmer's resume, researched the West Virginia man and discovered the charges against him in the Mountaineer State. Moberly's efforts led directly to Wilmer's extradition. For his work, Moberly will be given the reward money that The HSUS offered for an arrest and conviction in the Sunbear case.

And finally, justice would not have been served if not for Gene Fields, the Kanawha County humane officer who spent months trying to track down the elusive Wilmer. "At times, I got so disgusted," Fields told the Charleston Daily Mail, "I was ready to quit my job."

The Sunbear case affected people all over the world. County Prosecutor Clifford received more than 400 letters from around the globe asking for justice for Sunbear. Likewise, many West Virginians wanted justice. In fact, they wanted more justice than allowed under the old misdemeanor law; so last year, their representatives in the state legislature increased the punishment for animal cruelty by making the crime a felony. (Wilmer was tried under the old law.)

The case seemed to touch everyone who heard about it, save for one person: the dog's owner. Wilmer, according to witnesses at the trial, never expressed sadness nor regret for what happened to Sunbear.

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