3 Charged In Killing Of Popular Donkey

In a rare news conference, King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng this morning announced he is filing felony charges against two men and one juvenile arrested last week in the killing of the popular donkey Pasado at a Bellevue children's park.

The suspects, all from Bellevue, are Douglas Michael Gans, 20, Adrian Dean Lombardi, 18, and a 16-year-old juvenile. They are being charged with a felony count of second-degree burglary and a misdemeanor charge of cruelty to animals.

Maleng said he will consider asking for an exceptional sentence beyond the standard sentencing range to reflect the seriousness of the offense.

"This was a brutal and senseless crime," Maleng said this morning. "In my 14 years as prosecutor, few crimes have incensed the public more than the killing of Pasado."

Pasado was a 21-year-old farm favorite at Kelsey Creek Park, which is owned and operated by the city of Bellevue.

For the 18- and 20-year-old suspects, the maximum sentence for burglary is 10 years in prison, although for a first offense the guidelines call for one to three months'imprisonment. The sentence for cruelty to animals is up to 90 days in jail and a maximum fine of $5,000.

The burglary charge is a result of the three entering the park corral, which was fenced and padlocked.

The juvenile could receive a sentence of five to 10 days of detention, three to six months of community supervision and 24 to 40 hours of community service with a fine of up to $25 if convicted.

The three young men all live in Bellevue with their parents and all three have records of prior convictions, police said.

Gans is the son of Bellevue police Major David Gans.

"It's a tragedy," Gans said last week after his son was arrested. "You don't know what to say. This person is an adult. Our family has been hurt by this; so has the community."

According to court papers filed by senior Deputy Prosecutor Denis O'Leary, Gans brought the rope that was later tied into a hangman's noose around the donkey's neck. After climbing the fence to enter the corral, the youths began to chase Pasado. But the donkey fled into a small barn.

When he refused to come out into the open, Gans put the noose around Pasado's neck, dragged him from the barn and tied him to a tree, O'Leary said. All three then began beating him with sticks and a metal bar, he said, and while Pasado attempted to flee he wrapped himself around the tree.

Police estimate the attack lasted for 45 minutes.

When found dead by farm staffers the next day, the donkey had several open wounds on his head and legs. At least one of the blows broke his skull. The noose had cut a a half-inch deep into his neck. A veterinary examination determined Pasado died by strangulation.

In the days after,police said the viciousness of the killing had them especially concerned about Pasado's assailants - because, they said, the act appeared to have been premeditated and was an example of sociopathic behavior.

"Why would anybody kill a defenseless, innocent beast?" said Lt. Bill Quinn, a Bellevue police detective who investigated the case. "This wasn't something the animal provoked. This was blatant torture. They brought these things. It was planned. They came in to kill the animal. Then they took it outside and beat it."

Six days later, police arrested Gans, Lombardi and the juvenile after receiving a tip.

During questioning, the three told officers that they only wanted to play with the donkey and ride it, that they hadn't planned on killing it, and things just got out of control when the donkey was stubborn. They admitted, however, that they had brought with them the rope with the noose already tied in it.

The case inspired an enormous outpouring of public concern; two rewards were established, and the prosecutor's office by the end of yesterday had been deluged with more than 500 phone calls and 100 letters from angry citizens calling for aggressive pursuit of the charges.

Dan Donohoe, a spokesman for Maleng, said the case has drawn even more public outcry than when Diane Ballasiotes was slain by a prison work-release inmate in 1988.

That Maleng himself held a news conference to announce the charges made it clear the prosecutor is listening to the outcry. Maleng, who is running for state attorney general, only rarely makes a personal announcement of this sort, and when he does, it has almost always been for high-profile crimes such as drug dealing or murder.

-- Times East bureau reporters Kay Kusumoto and Nancy Montgomery contributed to this report.