Thankskilling: Two Arrested For Thanksgiving Turkey Homicide


Miami, FL – If you were thinking of going out and killing a turkey for your Thanksgiving dinner, think again. Two young men were arrested in South Florida for doing just that.

NBC Miami reports that 19-year-old Joshua Warren Anderson and 18-year-old Jacob Hayden Provo were taken into custody on Monday for burglary, trespassing, larceny and tormenting, depriving or mutilating an animal, according to the sheriff’s report.

Here’s what happened. Florida residents Brian and Christa Caponi owned this pet turkey named Tom the Turkey, and set him loose on their Gulf Breeze property mere days before Thanksgiving. Trespassers Anderson and Provo killed Tom with an arrow and took him away for their Thanksgiving dinner, according to authorities.

The owners were distraught over the turkey homicide, and collected enough clues on their own that deputies were quickly able to arrest the two suspects, said the Santa Rose sheriff’s report.

“Christa told me that Tom was a very friendly pet who she loved,” a sheriff’s deputy wrote in the report. She also said that she was scared that someone may have entered her property. Indeed, Provo was the Caponi family’s neighbor.

Authorities caught up with Provo based on a vehicle description provided by the Caponis. When asked where he got the dead turkey in his car, Provo said that he had killed it in nearby Milton, before finally admitting to killing Tom the Turkey and removing him from his neighbor’s property.

“He knew he should not have killed it and he should not have been there,” the report said. Anderson was in the vehicle as well, and “admitted to being with Provo while the turkey was killed and stolen.”

Tom was an eastern wild turkey with an estimated value of $300. Add that price-tag to bail bonds and various legal fees, and the Thanksgiving Day turkey homicide suspects are looking at a pretty expensive Thanksgiving dinner this year.

Tomorrow, when you’re surrounded by friends and family on Thanksgiving, be sure to pour one out for Tom the Turkey.

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