Owners heartbroken after arson kills 2 horses at Maunawili Farm
By Vicki Viotti
Advertiser Staff Writer
They can't imagine how anyone could have done it, but someone did.
Photo courtesy of HPD
Someone set fire to a horse barn in Maunawili late Nov. 27, killing Mulligan and Gentleman Joe, two thoroughbred horses trapped in their stalls.
Dr. Becky Rhoades' prized thoroughbred horse, Mulligan, was killed when someone set fire to a barn in Maunawili on November 27. Another thoroughbred, Gentleman Joe, owned by the Sheri Schnack and her family, also died in the barn fire.
Now the police hope the public can help them find the arsonist. And as painful as it is to talk about it, Dr. Becky Rhoades and Sheri Schnack will do anything they can to support the investigation.
Schnack and her husband, Mike, bought Gentleman Joe three years ago as a gift for their daughter, Nicole. Now 17, Nicole had spent hours every day caring for her horse, hours more entering him in dressage and riding shows. She had planned to take him with her to enter the equestrian program at college.
The barn had been built as a family project, but it's the death of a family member that they truly mourn.
"It's like I lost a kid," Sheri Schnack said. "There was a bond there ... I really feel violated and lost."
Rhoades, now executive director of the Kaua'i Humane Society, was a longtime veterinarian and shelter operations director at the Hawaiian Humane Society. When Mulligan was born, she and her colleagues celebrated with a big party, she said.
The dark brown thoroughbred Mulligan, Rhoades said, was a gentle giant: He stood almost 6 feet tall, from his hooves to the base of his neck. Rhoades, who had been a horse veterinarian for seven years, named him after the golfing term that refers to a "free shot," because he was conceived in a single attempt at breeding.
The crime occurred at about 11 p.m. at Maunawili Farm, 1015 Auloa Road. The fire had started to spread to an adjacent stable structure, but the horse in that facility was freed.
The loss of the animals, as well as the destruction of the buildings, was estimated at $100,000. Investigators found traces of flammable fluid, indicating the fire was maliciously set.
"To burn these animals alive . . . it's the worst act of premeditated cruelty I've ever seen," Rhoades said.
CrimeStoppers offers rewards of up to $1,000 for information that helps solve crimes. In this case, tips are sought by police Detective Robert Cravalho, at 529-3873; or, anonymous tips can be phoned in to CrimeStoppers at 955-8300 (or *CRIME on a cellular phone).
