DES MOINES, Iowa – An Iowa man has been charged with torturing and killing a bald eagle.
A federal grand jury in Des Moines returned an indictment Wednesday against Jason John Thomas.
An affidavit filed by a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service investigator says the killing occurred when Thomas was boating on the South Skunk River in Mahaska County in 2011.
The affidavit says Thomas used the boat to pursue the eagle, and eventually took a stick and pinned it under a log and hit the bird with the stick. It says Thomas stomped the eagle to death in the boat, cut the head and talons off to keep and threw the remaining carcass into the river.
Thomas' birthdate and address weren’t available, but court records show he was arrested Monday in New Sharon.
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