SUTTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- Three adults and two juveniles from Braxton County have been arrested and charged with multiple violations of West Virginia wildlife laws in what Division of Natural Resources (DNR) Law Enforcement officers are calling “thrill kill” deer poaching incidents.

According to a DNR press release, the defendants and the criminal charges they face are as follows:

Joshua Samples: Age 19
Spotlighting with an implement for taking, 3 counts
Hunting from a motor vehicle, 3 counts
Illegal taking of a deer, 3 counts
Illegal possession of wildlife, 3 counts
Conspiracy to violate game laws, 1 count

Ashley Johnson: Age 20
Spotlighting with an implement for taking, 2 counts
Hunting from a motor vehicle, 2 counts
Illegal possession of wildlife, 2 counts
Conspiracy to violate game laws, 2 counts

Jack Jenkins: Age unknown
Spotlighting with an implement for taking, 2 counts
Hunting from a motor vehicle, 2 counts
Loaded firearm in a motor vehicle, 2 counts
Shooting from a road, 2 counts
Convicted felon in possession of a firearm, 2 counts

Juvenile #1
Spotlighting with an implement for taking, 3 counts
Hunting from a motor vehicle, 3 counts
Illegal taking of a deer, 3 counts
Illegal possession of wildlife, 3 counts

Juvenile #2
Spotlighting with an implement for taking, 3 counts
Hunting from a motor vehicle, 3 counts
Conspiracy to violate game laws, 5 counts

All five people are etither from the Sutton and/or Gassaway areas of Braxton County. No hearing dates have been set.

In October 2009, conservation officers began finding numbers of dead deer adjacent to several roads in Braxton County. The locations, position of the carcasses and in some cases information supplied by the local citizens led the officers to become suspicious of what might have been written off as deer struck by vehicles. However, upon closer examination of the carcasses, the officers determined that the animals had wounds consistent with being hit by a low velocity projectile that officers later learned were slugs fired from a .410 shotgun.

Officer K.W. Bingaman and Officer D. Duffield began asking questions of nearby residents and increasing patrols in the area. They developed information that a group of poachers was driving these areas, spotlighting the deer and then shooting them with some type of firearm that left a wound inconsistent with either a centerfire rifle or a .22 caliber rimfire, the most common weapons used to poach deer. Most of the killing was occurring in the early hours of darkness.

By late October, the officers got a break in the investigation. Deputy Rob Brady of the Braxton County Sheriff’s Department overheard a remark by a juvenile who then showed the deputy a large set of deer antlers and allegedly initially remarked that the deer was “shot the other night” but later changed his story, stating that another individual killed the deer with a bow on Nicholas Run. Deputy Brady passed this information on to Officer Duffield. Additional information from residents revealed that Joshua Samples, Ashley Johnson, Jack Jenkins and a second juvenile were also allegedly involved in the killing of multiple deer.

The conservation officers began a series of interviews that resulted in conflicting stories and a complex tale of many nights of spotlighting deer, shooting at some deer and missing, wounding other deer that ran off to die and killing some deer outright. Of the deer that were killed outright, a very few are alleged to have been taken to the residence of the second juvenile and processed for consumption. Conservative estimates based on the suspects’ statements and the evidence was that 30-plus deer may have been killed by this alleged poaching ring during a two month period.

The conservation officers’ investigation placed both juveniles in the company of Jack Jenkins on the night of November 8, 2009. On that night they allegedly shot and wounded or killed at least two deer. Court records indicate that Jenkins, who was the suspected shooter, is a convicted felon allegedly prohibited by both state and federal law from possessing a firearm.