BLM man faces charges in horse case

A former Bureau of Land Management worker arrested last week in connection with the shooting deaths of three horses at a holding facility in Rock Springs in June is facing seven felony and misdemeanor counts, according to authorities. Jason Edward Hein, 39, was arrested in Billings on Sept. 24 by deputy sheriffs of the Yellowstone County (Mont.) Sheriff's Office and BLM law enforcement officers. Sweetwater County authorities said Wednesday that the results of a joint county and federal investigation were turned over the county attorney's office, which filed charges against Hein in Circuit Court in Rock Springs. Two BLM personnel arriving for work on June 12 discovered that three horses had been shot and killed sometime during the night of June 11 at the BLM's Rock Springs corrals. The horse carcasses had been dumped in the holding facility's upper storage yard. Two of the horses killed were privately owned, and a third was a wild mustang that was being held at the corrals. The wild horse had been gathered as part of BLM roundup operations and was being held at the Rock Springs facility while up for adoption. Hein was employed as a maintenance worker at the Rock Springs holding facility at the time of the shootings. BLM officials said Hein was on administrative leave from the BLM's Rock Springs Field Office when he was arrested in Billings...read more