$50,000 Bail Set In Ferret Killings

If the charges against Lance Seurer are true, the accused killer of 93 ferrets is also a threat to people, a Spokane County judge ruled Tuesday.

Seurer must post $50,000 bail if he wants to be released from jail while awaiting a February trial, Superior Court Judge Richard Schroeder ruled after Seurer pleaded not guilty to eight counts of animal cruelty.

“There’s very senseless violence involved here and this court has concerns about the safety to the community,” Schroeder said.

Seurer, 20, is accused of stabbing the animals with a syringe while staying with ferret breeder Jean Smith at her North Spokane home. More of the animals probably will die from their wounds, said Deputy Prosecutor Michelle Lombardi.

Seurer’s attorney, Doug Phelps, said he plans to ask the judge to move the trial to another community.

Media coverage of the slaughter would make it impossible to find an impartial jury in Spokane, said Phelps, who would say nothing further and told Seurer not to talk to reporters.

“My client’s innocent. We’ll tell our side to the jury,” he said.

The bail amount is what Lombardi requested.

Seurer gave a false name when questioned by police shortly after the crime, Lombardi said. Then he went into hiding. He had false identification when he was arrested three weeks later, on Dec. 13, she said.

“The defendant has threatened (Smith) prior to his arrest and he has made several phone calls from the jail threatening her life,” Lombardi told Schroeder.

Seurer pleaded guilty to theft in June. That time, he was released, and never again checked in with his parole officer, leading to a felony warrant for his arrest, Lombardi reminded Schroeder.

Phelps asked that Seurer be released on $5,000 bond.

“I normally see this high a bail with someone who has no family ties, no ties to the community. That’s not the case this time,” Phelps said.

In fact, Seurer’s father, Roger Seurer, was in court with him Tuesday, pleading not guilty to three counts of possessing stolen property. Lance Seurer also pleaded not guilty to those charges, in addition to the animal cruelty charges.

The father and son are accused of having a $7,000 electronic game stolen from Laser Quest; $20,000 worth of computer equipment stolen from Pride Mark Outdoor Advertising Inc.; and $2,850 in computer equipment from one of Lance Seurer’s friends.

Court documents state that Lance Seurer described himself as a self-employed computer expert when he pleaded guilty to theft earlier this year. In that case, he was accused of buying a computer from Sears, and returning it for a refund after removing internal components worth more than $1,500.

The musky smell of ferrets permeated the gallery in Schroeder’s courtroom Tuesday, as Smith’s friends watched the arraignment. Smith herself waited in the hall and was gone before the hearing ended.

Her friends said the high bond was suitable for a crime they equate to murder.

“They (the ferrets) were more human than that animal in there,” said Marnie Hamilton, motioning toward the courtroom.

, DataTimes