On Thursday, October 3rd, 2024, the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office received information
indicating that four, five-month-old German Shepherd puppies had been found deceased from apparent gunshot wounds. The puppies were found discarded along the roadside in the area of Old Oregon Trail and Enterprise Dump Road. Shasta County Animal Regulation Officers began investigating the incident, as they had recent similar contacts with individuals residing off Airport Road in Shasta County.
Further investigation determined that the puppies had belonged to residents at an address in the 8000 block of Airport Road. The property owners, identified as James Wolf, age 55, of Redding, and Teresa Crandell, age 50, of Redding, reported that the puppies had belonged to a tenant who had recently been incarcerated. Wolf and Crandell admitted to enlisting a neighbor, Kenneth Beaulieu, age 24, of Redding, to shoot and kill the puppies because they did not wish to care for the. Beaulieu was contacted at a neighboring residence and admitted to shooting and killing the puppies. Beaulieu further claimed Wolf and Beaulieu had dumped the puppies along the roadside where they were later found.
On Friday, October 25, 2024, Deputies from the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office served felony arrest warrants for Wolf, Crandell, and Beaulieu. All three individuals were taken into custody without further incident. Beaulieu was booked into the Shasta County Jail for Animal Cruelty in violation of 597(a) PC, Disposal of a Dead Animal Carcass Near a Roadway in violation of 374d PC, and Conspiracy in violation of 182(a) PC. Crandell and Wolf were both booked into the Shasta County jail for Conspiracy in violation of 182(a) PC.