Indiana Conservation Officers have completed an investigation into a March 30 claim that three men beat a mute swan to death on Sechrist Lake. On Monday, the DNR released the full report finding only grounds to warn the holder of a permit that allows for the taking of the swans.

Chuck Brinkman, 64, of Zionsville, currently holds an active permit from the DNR’s Fish & Wildlife division which grants him and an associate, named as George Hiatt, 70, of Fort Wayne, the right to take, or kill, mute swans anywhere on the Barbee Chain of Lakes.

Through the investigation, Brinkman was found not to have been present when the killing of 6 swans took place on March 30. The permit (pictured at right) states Brinkman must be on-site and directly supervising the assistant(s) listed. Hiatt is the only assistant named, but the ICOs investigating found that Hiatt was accompanied on March 30 by James Racine, 48, of Fort Wayne, and David Gilbert, 63, also of Fort Wayne. None of those three men were issued warnings or fines and it was noted Brinkman will request Racine and Gilbert be added as assistants on the permit.

It was on March 30 when Jack and Rhonda Doyle said they watched as Hiatt, Racine and Gilbert were involved in the killing of two mute swans on Sechrist Lake. The couple insisted they saw one of the men beat a still living swan with a boat oar and called to report the incident right away. But it was not until April 2 when ICOs met with Hiatt at his residence in Fort Wayne. At that time, they were presented with a statement Hiatt composed after the incident.

The DNR report noted Hiatt was the boat operator and Racine and Gilbert were “the shooters … George Hiatt said that the birds were shot with a high powered pellet gun that was very effective in killing the swans. (He) advised that the swans were shot in the head and dead before they were approached. After the swans were dead he paddled up to them with a kayak to retrieve them out of the shallow water. He had to use the oar to get one of the swans out of the muck.”

On April 3, the conservation officers met with Racine and Gilbert at their residences. All three men insisted the mute swans had been killed with a pellet gun and that the boat oar was only used to reach the dead swan and pull it to the boat. The swan carcasses had been put inside black garbage bags and thrown in a dumpster behind Hiatt’s Irish Lake home. The dumpsters were emptied before conservation officers could inspect the birds.

On April 9, conservation officers obtained a map of the Sechrist Lake area where the incident occurred and noted the distance from the Doyles property to the island where the three men had killed the mute swans was a distance of 1,065 feet. The officers reported the Doyles were not able to actually see the boat oar make contact with the swan so could not say for certain that any bird was beaten to death.

In his statement, however, Jack Doyle “… asked George Hiatt why he used a paddle to kill the swan in which George Hiatt replied because it wasn’t dead.”

The investigation is complete and will go to the prosecutor’s office for final review.

The DNR has confirmed that Brinkman’s permit to kill mute swans on the Barbee chain is still valid.

Mute swans are considered invasive species in Indiana and have been known to be aggressive toward humans as well as other animals. The DNR Fish and Wildlife Division issues permits to lake associations and landowners to kill nuisance mute swans.

For more information about the mute swans, the DNR has provided information on the swans to help the public better understand them and the problems they can cause lakes and ecosystems.

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DNR Swan Killing Investigation Still Incomplete
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DNR: ‘No Violations’ In Swan Killings
DNR: Swan Killings Investigation Continues