FRANKLIN COUNTY, Va. (WSET) — A Virginia man found guilty of killing two dogs after first claiming they’d been abducted was sentenced in court Thursday.
A judge sentenced Terry Michel to 15 months in prison, with credit for time served.
Authorities arrested Michel back in February. Deputies said the dogs Colby and Caleb were shot to death and found on the side of the road a week after Michel had reported them stolen.
In October, a jury found Michel guilty of two counts of felony animal cruelty.
During that trial, prosecutors showed the jury a portion of the interrogation video where Michel confessed to killing the two dogs.
When the jury watched the interrogation interview, they watched Michel tell investigators “I did it to save my marriage.” He told investigators that he drove the dogs out to a field off of Prillaman Switch Road in Franklin County and shot them.
He also said during the interrogation that later he put them in trashcans and took them to Carolina Springs Road. That’s where officials eventually found the bodies of the dogs.