Defense attorney Colin Stephens told jurors that Howald had peacefully co-existed with the gay and lesbian community in Basin for decades. Howald testified that he is gay. “At his core, Howald is not a crusading bigot, who is hell bent for leather on wiping lesbians from the Earth,” Stephens said in his sentencing memo.
You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. Self-hatred being projected onto innocent people who just want to live their lives.
In 2006, Howald was sentenced to two years in prison for felony aggravated animal cruelty, after pleading guilty to shooting a chocolate Labrador at a southwestern Montana campground and decapitating the dog with a chain saw.
Harming animals is absolutely a sign of someone being deranged. Many eventually escalate to harming humans.
