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No Charges After Autopsy Says 2 Horses Shot, Killed With Handgun

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The Washington County man accused of killing two horses was released from jail Friday morning.

Authorities said they are still reviewing the case against William St. Sauver, Jr., adding that they are not able to charge him at this time.

The Scandia man was arrested Sunday on his family's farm after he accused deer hunters of shooting and killing two mares. The next day deputies found St. Sauver on his tractor, trying to bury the dead horses in a nearby cornfield.

The mares are owned by Gloria Fritz of St. Paul.

Fritz said on Friday that an autopsy conducted by vets at the University of Minnesota shows the horses were shot in the head with a hand gun, not a hunting rifle. The autopsy also showed significant post-mortem rib fractures, indicating they had been run over by a tractor.

The horses' owner said she'd asked St. Sauver's parents to board her horses for a few months. She'd only recently met their son.

Back in August, William St. Sauver was charged with possession of an exotic animal after his pet alligators ended up in Goose Lake.

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