Saxonburg's borough manager headed to court, accused of shooting dog

Saxonburg’s borough manager is headed to Butler County Common Pleas Court on charges accusing him of shooting his neighbor’s dog.

Charges against Steven May were held for court Tuesday after a hearing before District Judge Jack D. Ripper in which eight people testified.

May, 43, is charged with a felony count of aggravated cruelty to animals and misdemeanor counts of criminal mischief and tampering with evidence. He also faces a summary charge of causing damage to property. He did not testify at a hearing Tuesday before District Judge Jack D. Ripper, but eight other people did.

Prosecutors contend that May was hunting on his Goldscheitter Road property in Buffalo Township on Nov. 11 when he shot the dog with a crossbow. They also accuse May of trying to cover up the killing by taking the dog’s body to the Saxonburg Municipal Building and disposing of it in a dumpster there.

The dog, a red merle Australian shepherd named “Bear,” belonged to the Goldscheitter family, who live along the same road.

Hanna Goldscheitter testified that two of her family’s dogs, Dusty and Bear, went missing from their property the morning of Nov. 11. Dusty returned about an hour later, but Bear didn’t come back. Hanna’s mother, Geraldine Goldscheitter, testified that Hanna and a friend searched the area all day. Geraldine posted on Facebook that Bear was missing and the family also posted fliers.

May’s wife, Stephanie, testified that her husband went hunting early that morning but returned around 8:30 a.m. appearing distraught and saying he accidentally shot a dog. She said her husband told her he had mistaken it for a coyote.

Coyotes are present in the area, according to testimony from Stephanie May, Geraldine Goldscheitter and another neighbor, Deb Pascarella.

Pascarella testified that she often hears coyotes and they are a problem in the area. She said that, in August 2022, she called the Pennsylvania Game Commission to report “the coyotes were getting worse and more plentiful.”

May’s defense attorney, Nicole Nino, argued that, in the early-morning hours, a dog that was wet and covered in mud could be mistaken for a coyote.

On the same day, May took the dead dog to the Saxonburg Municipal Building and placed it in a dumpster there. Saxonburg police Chief Joseph Beachem testified that May’s actions were recorded by security cameras at the municipal building.

Beachem also said May told him he had shot the dog, mistaking it for a coyote.

Nino argued that May took the dog’s body to the dumpster because, under state law, domestic animal carcasses must be disposed of within two days.

But Assistant District Attorney David Beichner claimed May disposed of the dog to cover up its killing.

“The defendant got rid of the dog in this time frame, in a fashion that was tantamount and was, in fact, tampering with evidence,” Beichner said.

Nino said that, two days later, May saw the missing dog flier, which she said was the first time her client saw it, and called the number listed, which belongs to Hanna Goldscheitter.

Hanna Goldscheitter testified that May told her someone ran over the dog.

Stephanie May testified her husband told Hanna Goldscheitter that because, when he heard “a young girl” answer the phone, he didn’t have the heart to tell Hanna that he killed her dog.

Stephanie May testified that, in a subsequent phone call with William Goldscheitter, Hanna’s father, May confessed to having shot the dog.

But William and Geraldine Goldscheitter both testified that May did not confess during that phone call.

Geraldine Goldscheitter testified that she called Steven May two days later.

“I told him the story wasn’t sitting right with me — with what he told my daughter and husband,” she testified.

She said May then admitted to shooting the dog.

Both Stephanie May and Geraldine Goldscheitter testified that Steven May offered to pay for the dog.

“We’re faulting this man for taking responsibility for his actions,” Nino said. “We’re in a world where you can’t even apologize for a mistake without being charged with an intentional felony crime.

“If he wouldn’t have said anything to anyone, we wouldn’t be sitting here. There would be no evidence of what happened to the dog.”

Pennsylvania Game Commission Officer Jacob Babilon testified that he interviewed May nearly a week after the incident and that May told him he shot the dog thinking it was a coyote chasing a deer. The dog was on May’s property when it died, Babilon testified.

Babilon testified that, if the dog was a coyote, it would have been legal for May to shoot it.

Nino argued for all of the charges to be dropped, claiming prosecutors hadn’t met their burden of proof.

“They have not proved that (May) intentionally knew that this was a dog and he intentionally and knowingly killed a dog,” Nino said. “They haven’t shown any motivation. He doesn’t even know these neighbors.”

Beichner disagreed.

“(May) did not take responsibility for his action,” Beichner said. “(Nino) indicated that he self-reported to the Game Commission. He did that after the phone calls were made to the Goldscheitters.

The Goldscheitter family declined to comment after the hearing. May remains on the job in Saxonburg while the case winds its way through court.

Nino said, while she respected Ripper’s decision, she is confident she will be able to defend the case before a county judge. She said May’s story has not wavered.

“I think, through the testimony, it was pretty obvious this was an accident and a misidentification of the animal,” she said.

May’s formal arraignment in Butler County Court is scheduled for April 23.