Documents / FOIA release
This part of the FBI Animal Mutilation file covers 1979 to 1980 and includes FBI memoranda, letters to Senator Harrison Schmitt and Senate staff, and press clippings. At the Justice Department's request, the Albuquerque office investigated fifteen animal mutilations on Indian lands in New Mexico, but it did not identify anyone responsible. Kenneth Rommel, a former agent who directed the District Attorney's project, sent flakes from a pickup truck in Taos to the FBI Laboratory, which identified them as white exterior house paint.
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FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION Albuquerque, New Mexico January 15, 1980 MUTILATION OF ANIMALS ON INDIAN LANDS IN NEW MEXICO CRIME ON INDIAN RESERVATION By communication from FBIHQ dated March 6, 1979, the FBI, Albuquerque Office was instructed to conduct investigation into the mutilations of animals occurring on Indian lands in New Mexico. This instruction was based on a memorandum dated March 2, 1979, from the Department of Justice to FBIHQ, which authorized such investigation. On April 20, 1979, a conference on livestock mutilations was convened in Albuquerque by Senator HARRISON SCHMITT of New Mexico, and the U. S. Attorney for New Mexico, R. E. THOMPSON. This conference was attended by law enforcement investigators from several states, FBI representatives, other interested parties, and the press. Approximately 180 persons were in attendance. Near the conclusion of the conference, it was reported by the District Attorney in Santa Fe, New Mexico, that a Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA) grant had been applied for to provide funds for a special investigative unit to investigate cattle mutilations. Subsequently, it was announced that the LEAA grant had been made, and that a special investigative unit for this purpose had been set up under the auspices of the New Mexico State District Attorney in Santa Fe. Former FBI Agent KENNETH M. ROMMEL was appointed to head up that unit. Investigation by the Albuquerque FBI Office determined that there had been reports of dead animals from both the Santa Clara Reservation and the Jicarilla Apache Reservation in New Mexico. Discussions with GERALD HILL, Bureau of Indian Affairs Criminal Investigator, Pojoaque, New Mexico, regarding the dead cattle which had been reported on the Santa Clara Reservation by members of the Santa Clara Tribe disclosed that these reports were in 1978. There was no evidence to cause it to be determined that the animals had been mutilated, and Investigator HILL did not make a complete investigation of the matter, nor collect any evidence for examination. Subsequent discussions with RALEIGH This document contains neither recommendations nor conclusions of the FBI. It is the property of the FBI and is loaned to your agency; it and its contents are not to be distributed outside your agency.
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FOIA release, from the fbi-vault collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. The text was read from the page images by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word. 33 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.