Socks was shot to death by apartment security guard.
Security guard was convicted of shooting popular pet boxer in Fredericksburg apartment complex.
Date published: 5/3/2008
BY KEITH EPPS
The security guard convicted of shooting a boxer at a Fredericksburg apartment complex in 2006 was released from jail yesterday--the same day he was formally sentenced for his crimes.
Mathias A. Acholi, 41, of Maryland was sentenced in Fredericksburg Circuit Court by Judge Joseph E. Spruill Jr. to 90 days in jail, the same sentence a jury recommended back in March.
Judges can't increase a sentence beyond what a jury recommends. Spruill is a retired judge from the Northern Neck area.
Because Acholi has already served 45 days, he was released shortly after being sentenced. Defendants convicted of misdemeanors in Virginia are often released after serving half their time.
According to the evidence, Acholi was working at the Wellington Woods apartment complex on Oct. 28, 2006, when he shot and killed a popular boxer named Socks.
The case received national attention from animal-rights activists, who were outraged by the shooting.
Acholi testified that the dog was charging at him and he feared for his safety.
But Commonwealth Attorney Charles Sharp's evidence showed that the dog was urinating about 25 feet from Acholi when the guard shot the dog for no apparent reason.
A trail of blood leading from a rosebush to the apartment of the dog's owner, Barbara Krech, contradicted Acholi's claim.
A witness said the dog was urinating and had made no aggressive move when it was gunned down.
The 7-year-old dog had lived at the complex since it was a puppy, and was popular with many of the residents.
Krech said the rosebush ritual was one Socks followed just about every night.
Acholi had been ordered to serve four months in jail last year after being found guilty in Fredericksburg General District Court.
But his attorney, John O. Iweanoge, appealed the convictions and took the case to a jury.
Acholi ended up with less time to serve, but the jury fined him $2,500. He didn't have the fine before filing an appeal.
Murder is murder....(posted by
MsH
, May 3, 2008 9:41 am)
It was the murder of a companion animal. It should be a felony. Felony animal cruelty, maybe.... Killing something for no reason is killing something for no reason, no matter the species.
A Good Punishment(posted by
rally2xs
, May 3, 2008 9:28 am)
Doesn't seem to be any excuse for what he did, but am glad to see that it was treated as a misdemeanor and not a felony. The movement toward declaring everything up to spitting on the sidewalk to be a felony is a bad thing, I think, and am glad to see a reasonable response by the justice system in this case.
