Hunter shoots and skins ‘coyotes’ only to discover they were a family’s treasured German shepherds
A man is facing charges after he killed and skinned what he thought were two coyotes – only to find they were a family’s pet German shepherds.
Michael Konschak, 61, of Carmel, New York, told a court in Danbury, Connecticut, that he was ashamed of what he had done back in November.
He said: “Please know that it was never my intent that morning to harm the victims’ pets.”
According to an arrest warrant affidavit, police said Konschak killed the dogs with a crossbow on 18 November after they escaped from the Caviola family’s garden.
He had been hunting deer nearby and said he killed what he thought were two coyotes – something which is legal in Connecticut.
Erin Caviola said she and her family had searched for their 10-year-old pet dogs – a male named Cimo and a female named Lieben – for weeks after they went missing.
It is thought that a bear had torn down part of the six-foot fence that enclosed her property, allowing the dogs to escape.
Ms Caviola said she did not know the dogs’ fate until almost a month later when she found out photos of them had been shared with a taxidermist, who was asked to preserve them.
Lieben and Cimo were both 10-years-old. Pic: AP
Shane Caviola held photos of his family’s dogs outside the court. Pic: AP
She said the family was heartbroken, adding: “We live with the emotional pain as we think about what they felt in their final moments lying beside each other dying.”
‘An accident’
She said the dogs’ heads had been removed and are still missing.
Konschak’s lawyer Brian Romano said his client had skinned what he thought were the coyotes for their pelts and that the dogs’ deaths were an accident.
Konschak was arrested in February on charges including tampering with evidence, forgery, interfering with a law enforcement officer and hunting-related violations.
Michael Konschak. Pic: AP
Animal rights advocates call for more charges
Animal rights advocates, some of whom were in court for his hearing, have called for animal cruelty charges to be added to the list.
Danbury State’s Attorney David Applegate said more charges are possible, telling the court there were inconsistencies in Konschak’s story and asking how he could not see the animals were dogs before skinning them.
Konschak, a respiratory therapist and air force veteran, will reappear in court next month.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has been linked to a second group chat about sensitive military operations, which he reportedly shared with his wife, brother and personal lawyer.
The messages sent via the Signal messaging app are again understood to have contained details of an attack on Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis in March.
The second chat group, initially reported by The New York Times, included about a dozen people. It revealed details of the schedule of the airstrikes, according to the Reuters news agency.
Two sources with knowledge of the matter told Sky News’ US partner network NBC News there were 13 people in the second chat group, and Mr Hegseth divulged the information despite an aide warning him about using an unsecure communications system.
Mr Hegseth’s wife, Jennifer, a former Fox News producer, has attended sensitive meetings with foreign military counterparts, while his brother was hired at the Pentagon as a Department of Homeland Security liaison and senior adviser.
Military details from the first chat group were revealed by a journalist from The Atlantic magazine who was accidentally added to the Signal app by national security adviser Mike Waltz.
Mr Hegseth then shared sensitive information with cabinet officials about last month’s airstrike on targets in Yemen, which was later leaked.
Read more from Sky News:
What is Signal?
Who is Pete Hegseth?
Mike Waltz (left) and Pete Hegseth (right) have used Signal to discuss sensitive government matters. Pic: AP
‘A non-story,’ says White House
But the White House has consistently defended Mr Hegseth.
Donald Trump dismissed the original leak as “something that can happen”.
Responding to the latest chat group, White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly said: “No matter how many times the legacy media tries to resurrect the same non-story, they can’t change the fact that no classified information was shared.
“Recently-fired ‘leakers’ are continuing to misrepresent the truth to soothe their shattered egos and undermine the President’s agenda, but the administration will continue to hold them accountable.”
The “leakers” referred to in the White House statement are four senior officials who were ousted from the Pentagon last week as part of an internal leak investigation.
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Leaked war plans: ‘Fairly serious’
‘Hegseth put lives at risk’
The New York Times reported that the second chat – named “Defence | Team Huddle” – was created on Mr Hegseth’s private phone.
It detailed the same warplane launch times as the first chat.
Several former and current officials have said sharing those operational details before a strike would have certainly been classified, and their release could have put pilots in danger.
Democratic politicians have repeatedly called for Mr Hegseth to step down.
“We keep learning how Pete Hegseth put lives at risk,” Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said in a post on X.
“But [Donald] Trump is still too weak to fire him. Pete Hegseth must be fired.”
The latest claims about Mr Hegseth emerged as Yemen’s Houthi rebels reported another wave of US airstrikes on Sunday, including on the capital Sanaa.
The Houthis said at least 12 people had been killed, with 30 more injured.
The US says its bombing campaign is in response to Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping lanes.
DHL Express is suspending some shipments to the US as Donald Trump’s new tariff regime takes effect.
From 21 April, shipments worth more than $800 (£603) to US consumers from “any origin” will be temporarily suspended.
New rules that came into effect at the start of April made such shipments subject to increased customs checks.
“This change has caused a surge in formal customs clearances, which we are handling around the clock,” said the parcel delivery service.
Shipments going from business to business worth more than $800 aren’t affected by the suspension, but DHL warned they may also face delays.
Shipments under $800 to either businesses or consumers are not impacted, but one British cycle manufacturer suggested its US customers may need to split orders over $800 into “smaller shipments” to avoid the red tape.
Read more:
The art of doing a deal with Trump
Is there method to Trump’s madness?
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Trump: Tariffs are making US ‘rich’
Trump targeting ‘deceptive’ practices
From May, shipments from China and Hong Kong that are worth less than $800 “will be subject to all applicable duties”, according to the White House.
“President Trump is targeting deceptive shipping practices by Chinese-based shippers, many of whom hide illicit substances, including synthetic opioids, in low-value packages,” it said in a statement.
Until now, deliveries worth less than $800 didn’t incur any duties, which allowed low-cost companies Chinese like Shein and Temu to make inroads in the US.
Both have warned their prices will now rise because of the rule changes, starting on 25 April.
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