Lejeune Marine charged in fatal dog beating

[unhappycamper]

Lejeune Marine charged in fatal dog beating
By Trista Talton - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Nov 10, 2009 18:10:48 EST

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. — A Camp Lejeune Marine has been charged with animal cruelty after allegedly beating a dog to death last month and then and burning its corpse outside his home.

Lance Cpl. Michael Bradley Gibson, 23, and a civilian acquaintance, Jessica Spillane Magdalenski, 22, were arrested Nov. 6, according to the Onslow County Sheriff’s office. They allegedly told authorities that the dog, a Great Dane mix, tried to attack Magdalenski and her young child, and that it had shown aggressive behavior toward other animals in their house, according to a news release from the Onslow County Sheriff’s Office.

Like Gibson, Magdalenski faces a charge of animal cruelty and conspiracy to commit a felony.

When county animal control officers arrived at their home in Mayesville, a small community north of Camp Lejeune, they found the dog’s burned body on a pile of trash and blood splattered on the home’s exterior, officials said. Gibson, a machine gunner with 2nd Marines, allegedly told investigators that the dog was beaten with a baseball bat because “no one had a gun,” officials said.

Gibson joined the Corps in June 2004 and has served three tours in Iraq, according to a spokesman for the 2nd Marine Division spokesman. He and Magdalenski were released from Onslow County jail on $500,000 secured bonds, though it was not immediately clear when they are scheduled appear in court.


Article at: http://marinecorpstimes.com/news/2009/11/marine_dogbeating_111009w/