A 26 year-old Minnesota man is facing a plethora of charges after a poaching case was blown wide open, revealing other nefarious activities including the killing of a neighboring pet dog.
The investigation kicked off last November in Beltrami County, Minnesota after conservation officers got wind of some possible funny business through their Turn in Poachers tip line. According to the tip, 26 year-old Brandon Mutchler had allegedly shot more than his fair share of deer in the previous year’s hunting season. Luckily for conservation officer Demo Regas, he had this information top of mind when he stopped a pair of hunters donned in blaze orange last fall.
After getting identification from the pair, he noticed the name right away. Brandon Mutchler and his father were heading out of the woods when Regas began questioning them both about the allegations stemming from the 2022 season. According to reports, DNR records showed that Mutchler had sent two sets of antlers to two different taxidermists, which wouldn’t typically raise any flags other than the fact that Beltrami County has a one-buck limit.
As the questioning progressed, Brandon started by informing the officer that he hadn’t killed any deer in the 2022 season. When officer Regas disputed the claim with the DNR records, Mutchler backtracked, admitting that he had, in fact, killed a buck, but that he failed to check it. He then went on to claim that his girlfriend had pulled the trigger on the other buck in question. When following up with her, she told Regas that the second buck was not killed by either of them, it was roadkill.
With enough evidence to produce and execute a search warrant, officers descended upon the Mutchler residence and uncovered a freezer filled with venison along with a freezer bag that contained bear claws. Helping to make the case even more of a slam dunk than it was already shaping up to be, officers soon found a journal kept by the poacher indicating that the accused has also illegally baited bears and shot a 1.5 year-old doe.
While baiting bears is not illegal in Minnesota, it is illegal to not have a registered bait station, which they did not.
Moving on to the cell phone, things began to get even more interesting. While executing the warrant on Mutchler’s phone, it was discovered that this truly was a family affair dating back as far as 2021. The phone was home to a number of pictures containing bears shot in 2021 and 2022 along with a timber wolf killed by his brother in 2023.
For the wildlife crimes, Brandon Mutchler, his father, Thomas, and his two brothers, Matthew and Nicholas, are charged with failing to register deer during the 2021-2022 hunting season. He is also charged with overkilling deer, failing to register deer and bear, and illegally transporting bears. Charges indicate he shot four deer total in 2023 (a doe and three bucks) and five deer in 2022 (a doe and four bucks).
But the action didn’t stop there. The cell phone search went on to reveal even more illegal activity. In August of last year, a Beltrami County Sheriff’s deputy received a report that a dog had been fatally shot while inside his kennel at a residence. Close by, six .22-caliber casings were found, indicating the likely method of dispatch of the german shepherd named Sysco.
And who just so happened to live next door to the lovable german shepherd? Brandon Mutchler.
In addition to the pictures of deceased wildlife, Brandon’s search history revealed some incredibly disturbing and damning searches made just prior to the mysterious killing of Sysco the dog. The search history on his phone included queries like: “How far do police look into pet murders,” “MN law on killing someones dog,” “Can police get prints off a fired .22 shell?” and “Is shooting a dog a felonie.”
While Brandon Mutchler was originally a suspect in the dog shooting, he denied shooting Sysco, and without any evidence, no charges could be filed. That is until officers served the warrant for the illegal wildlife killings that also revealed his demented search history on how to cover up a pet murder.
With the new evidence on Brandon’s phone, he has also been charged with one count each of animal torture and animal cruelty in addition to the poaching-related allegations. Under Minnesota statute, the penalty for intentionally killing a pet is a fine of up to $5,000, up to two years in prison, or both.
