Megan Kline was uneasy whenever Romeo’s name was featured in news articles pertaining to the wolf’s demise at the hands of Park Myers.
Kline feared that Myers might return to the state of Pennsylvania where she still lives, where Myers pleaded guilty to charges of corruption of and furnishing liquor to a minor; that minor was Kline.
“I have followed this story from Pennsylvania and have struggled with it the entire time,” Kline said.
Juneau District Court Judge Keith Levy filed an order Tuesday expressing concern that Myers’ attorney submitted to the court a sentencing memorandum in November 2010 claiming Myers “has no criminal history” and should be sentenced as “a first offender” during Myers’ big game hunting violations trial.
Court documents in Pennsylvania reveal Myers entered into a plea agreement in 2000 when he pleaded guilty to one count each of corruption of a minor and furnishing liquor to minors. As part of the agreement, one additional charge each of corruption of a minor and furnishing liquor to a minor, along with a charge of indecent assault against Myers was dropped.
Kline was a minor at the time, but has since reached the age of majority and has agreed to allow her name to be used in this story.
Levy’s order states that the court relied heavily on the representation that he had no criminal record. Levy’s order also states that citizens have submitted documents that would appear to establish a prior criminal record that was not disclosed by either party at sentencing.
Calls to Myers’ attorney David Mallet on Tuesday were not returned. Doug Gardner, who was the district attorney in Juneau at the time Myers was found guilty, said the DA’s office should comment on the case.
“As far as what the district attorney knew at the time, I do not know,” current District Attorney Dave Brower said. “I do know that if prosecutors are aware of criminal history they will inform the court.”
Kline: ‘It was done so I wouldn’t have to testify’
The initial criminal complaint filed by police in Pennsylvania against Myers alleged he and an adult female played strip poker with Kline and another person when she was less than 16 years old, and also states that he touched her breast and pelvic area without her consent. However, the plea agreement contains no findings of guilt on those accusations.
“It was done so I wouldn’t have to testify,” Kline said of the plea bargain. “I don’t know what happened behind closed doors … I just remember saying I did not want to be anywhere near any of this.”
According to Kline these charges were never brought to the attention of Judge Keith Levy when he first sentenced Myers in game hunting violations and a probation violation.
“My parents tried to shield me from as much of it as they could,” Kline said. “It was inappropriate conduct. It never got further than that. It was a long time ago. He started to push the limits.”
The next day another client Kline babysat for knew something was different about her and Kline stayed home from school. Confronted by her parents, Kline broke down and they called the police.
Years later while bartending Kline heard his name mentioned and panicked. The person’s discussing Myers were talking about a baby sitter and a three-some Myers bragged about. According to Kline, the parties said Myers had gotten into trouble for something the ‘babysitter’ had made up.
“It affected me a lot,” Kline said. “It was years later but I guess I was not over it. I don’t think I will be.”
Myers speaks
Myers commented about the incident in a phone interview with the Empire.
“When you’re not home and even if your front door is locked,” Myers began. “And someone breaks into the house and is under the age of 21 and takes your alcohol out of the house you are responsible. As one person to another I am not this evil guy people are making me out to be.”
When asked why he did not comment to the court about the Romeo incident Myers said his lawyer advised him not to.
Myers related this account of shooting Romeo:
“When I walked up to that wolf … there were three wolves 40 miles away from the glacier, way out past Eagle Beach. If someone was going to target that wolf they would have done so at the glacier. We were just taking a walk up Yankee Basin, my buddy had a pistol in case we saw a bear, and I was carrying a .22 in case I saw some ptarmigan. We got into this opening and there was this pack of wolves. Romeo always ran by himself. There were three wolves and I took a quick shot at one of them, didn’t think anything of it, when we walked up to it I broke down in tears. I know people won’t believe it and will call bulls--- on this but I had never seen Romeo, had never seen a wolf in the wild. When I walked up on that, I broke down in tears, I had a hard time even getting out of the woods, I bawled like a little baby all the way out of the woods.”
In an initial court appearance in the Romeo trial, however, Myers stated he would be an idiot not to know the difference between a grey and a black wolf.
Myers stated in his phone interview that he has lost everything.
“My home has been foreclosed and anything of value associated with that,” Myers said. “People call my employers until I am let go. I can’t feed my family and my wife is working two jobs. I don’t know where my wife and kids will be. All I want to do is move on with my life. I fought for my country in Desert Storm in Kuwait, I fought for these people’s rights to have their opinions.”
Myers stated that he was just at the wrong place at the wrong time and the shooting could have happened to anyone. Myers said he and his family just want to go back East and start over.
“Why would he come back here,” Kline said, alarmed. “I guess I never really thought about that part of it. I have always been concerned because I didn’t want to run into him … I just figured he would end of in jail there (Alaska). I’ve grown up a lot since then … and honestly, because of what happened my phone number is unlisted, my address is unlisted, and I live in a different county. Those incidents changed about how I felt about letting people know where I am … It’s so weird, it has been 10 years but I am shaking as I talk about this right now.”
• Contact reporter Klas Stolpe at 523-2263 or at klas.stolpe@juneauempire.com.
Comments (42)
Add commenttoss the keys
I am sorry.. I feel nothing for him or his family.. He killed a Juneau Icon that people enjoyed at the glacier.. since when is it open season in Juneau on wolves.. toss the key.. no time served off.. maybe you family will be better without you and you holding them back...
Wolf Killer
It was a wolf that was killed not a person, you people so intent on ruining a person's life over this, should look at yourself's. As for the lady in Pennsylvania. Not sure why anyone be interviewing her, apparently she was furnished liquor to when she was a minor, she acts like there is something to be frightened of? She is partly responsible for it also, she accepted it. Juneau has wasted years on this story, have nothing better to do but ruin a person's life over this. And no I do not know any person involved in the matter, just a observation.
What?
Nice to know that someone with the moniker "Alaskan Teacher" would make a statement that "I feel nothing for him or his family". Makes you wonder why this person is a teacher at all. And you've got to be kidding me ... "A Juneau Icon?" Wow ... some black wolf shows up for a few years near the glacier, eats some small dogs, and now he's an icon. Doesn't say much for our teachers does it?
I agree with Wolf Killer, not
I agree with Wolf Killer, not just because his name is cool, but because he is right. To bad people in Juneau did not care for their own children as much as they do a dead wolf. There is a good chance he will do more time than
1. All the corrupt politicians put together for selling out an entire State.
2. A dude that shoots someone in the face, twice.
3. A Senator that killed 113 fish illegally and then claimed "it was his peoples way".
4. A Oxy dealer caught with the goods.
5. A old rich dude (veco) that picks up 15 year old girls and brings them across State lines.
The five crimes listed above a real and affected a lot of people directly and indirectly. little to no time was given to these offenders regardless of evidence or convictions. It is a shame that a person who killed a wolf is thought of as worse person.
Big business in Alaska kills more animals everyday. Would anyone shed a tear for a Polar bear that was killed for oil???
O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art
O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?
roma who??
Alaskan Teacher...It is widely known it is better to be thought a FOOL than to open thy mouth and remove all doubt.
Mr. Myers only crime was shooting a wolf out of season and using a 22 caliber rifle. He has lost all his material possessions. He has more than paid his debt for his mistake. Enough!!!
It is high time the 'Wind Kissers, Bunny Huggers, Tree Kissing Greenies get a grip. Wolves are predators. They kill for a living. I know that those that lost their loved pets to this KILLER are glad he is dead.
All this drivel over a wolf. You extremists are very much out of step with the reality; placing the value of a wolf over that of human life. There are people in the Montana Creek area that live in fear of these pack hunters.
Wolf skin rugs for all I say!
I agree with "hanklive".
I agree with "hanklive".
Scared of Alaska
"In fear of these pack hunters"?? In Montana Creek??? I live there. Anyone who is "in fear" is a bit of an idiot. If you can't deal with living in Alaska, if you are so terrified of wilderness and wild things, go away. There are plenty of places without them where you would be more comfortable and happy, although you couldn't posture and preen your macho self-image about being a real man in the last frontier. But don't scream about how terrible the Lower 48 has become and then turn around and do your absolute best to kill everything that makes Alaska what it is and turn it into New Jersey. Grow up.
Get over it
To all the people in Juneau who care more than they should for a wolf: There are plenty of things in this town, state, country, and world to be worried about other than one wolf. Grow up, help out with an issue that actually matters, and move on.
Move On
Thomas Jefferson is right. The only thing done wrong was the the wolf was taken out of season and with a .22 caliber.
Should a man loose everything because of that? No. He should serve what the law demands.
Do Juneau residents really want to be known as people who will take away everything a man has and make his family suffer because of a mistake? As a life long Juneau resident, I hope not.
The demands of the law must be met, and we must forgive.
330 days max
According to courtview (http://www.courtrecords.alaska.gov/pa/pa.urd/pamw2000.docket_lst?1029172050), Mr. Myers was sentenced to 300 days, all of it suspended. The most time the judge could impose is 330 days.
Barrios, the guy that shot that other guy in the face got 2 years. Gino got a year. Senator Kookesh was not convicted of anything, though the State appealed Judge George's ruling. Kohring was sentenced to 3.5 years but his conviction was overturned because of prosecutorial misconduct. Kott got six years but his conviction was also overturned because of prosecutorial misconduct. Both are awaiting new trials. Weyrauch pleaded guilty and got 90 days, all suspended. Bill Allen snitched and has gotten nothing to date.
So to recap, there is zero chance he will do more time than Gino or Barrios. If the convictions against Kohring and Kott were lawfully obtained, there would have been zero chance Myers would do more time than them. His sentence is greater than - though comparable to (in that it was suspended)- Weyrauch's (who received nothing and who has not violated his probation). Kookesh and Allen have not been convicted.
More lies?
“My home has been foreclosed and anything of value associated with that,” Myers said.
A quick check of the CBJ website shows that he still owns the house on Birch Lane. So is this yet another lie intended to garner sympathy? He'll get none from me. He didn't care, and still doesn't, about the people in this community. He made his choices. Now let him live with them. It's called karma.
The only thing I've learned from this debacle is that if you want to get away with growing marijuana (as he apparently was doing), you should kill a wolf to draw people's attention away.
However, Hank makes a good point when he compares other punishment to this guy's.
Agree-ish
Agree with hanklive, that the punishment is not likely to be the same as if it were not a 'recognized' animal.
However, as a hunter myself, I take exception to Myers' comment: "Myers stated that he was just at the wrong place at the wrong time and the shooting could have happened to anyone." It couldn't have happened to anyone - he still takes no responsibility for his actions. It would not have happened to my father, or any of the excellent outdoorsmen I know here in Juneau.
No one I have any respect for would just pop off and shoot an animal in the woods, simply because they happened to see it. Not a squirrel, not a deer, not a wolf. It's cowardly and wasteful. True woodsmen hunt with dignity and purpose, respect the animals and conservation of them as a resource, and enjoy watching them in the woods and noting their behavior just as much or more as the "greenies" some of you distain.
Mistakes
He did a terrible thing; he's probably not a terrible person, but I have a hard time sympathizing when he expects people to just "let it go." It has not been that long and people are still mourning the loss of something important to this community.
He made a terrible mistake and he will pay for it for a long, long time. Why did he pull that trigger? His split-second, stupid choice has altered his life. His wife and children are paying for his mistake as well. We are all affected by the choices our loved ones make in life. It should guide our own actions.
Hopefully both the young woman and the wolf poacher in this story will make better choices in the future.
Wow, there are a lot of weird
Wow, there are a lot of weird assumptions being made today.
Ireadwhat, you state that all he did was provide alcohol to a minor. Thats why they were talking about inappropriate touching, her behaving differently, her parents trying to shelter her from the whole thing and her being afraid to this day. Yup sounds like all he did was give her a beer.
Yes "all he did" was soot a wolf out of season and with a 22, then brag about shooting Romeao and getting Nick Jans to sign a book for him. He was also poaching bears out the road with an illegal bait station. His actions and his comments prior to being caught indicate that he has no regard for life in any manner, and his comments after getting caught indicate he is pathological. "I cried when I shot the wolf,then I went and bragged to my buddies about what a stud I am then got the tree hugger author/photographer to sign a book about Romeo with a tongue in cheek dig." The guy is scum. He fondles little girls when he thinks they are too drunk to notice, shoots anything that moves, brags about it making him a man, and ridicules anyone who doesnt feel the same way. The guy is scum.
Oh, and I'm a hunter who would happily shoot a wolf or a bear, but during the season and following the laws. Thats why it bothers me. Most hunters have a deep seated love and respect for nature, and abhor when an idiot trashes the name of hunters.
Read it All
Wolf Killer.... Did you miss the apart about the sexual abuse? That's why she is scared and that's why she was interviewed.
I personally don't really care that he shot a wolf, he is clearly scum for his actions with a minor female. Killing Romeo is just Parr for the course for someone with such a messed up moral compass.
Social Penalties
Legally the guy should get fined, jail time, etc. just as if he shot any other wolf out of season with a......22. I think the communal loathing of this individual is a good thing though. Maybe now he will go back where he came from and not give firearms a bad name in this town!
Service Record
With all his lies,what else has he lied about? what about serving in the military? Seems he'd have been too young to serve in Desert Storm. Maybe he could support his family by writing a book. guy seems to have a good imagination.
Empire it's time to stop
Empire it's time to stop stirring the pot. Most of us agree this guy is a douche but he's not the Antichrist.
There are far worse crimes that go on in the Capitol building everyday.
MikeyToo is slow ...
Get a clue. The CBJ website isn't updated the second a change is made. Foreclosures take time. Don't jump to conclusions.
onmymind ... do the math
The caption with the picture reads this guy is 40. Desert Storm was in 1990/1991, making him 19 or 20 at the time. He would certainly be of age to serve in the military. You people need to think before writing.
like, like, like:
..."agree-ish", "mistakes", & "wow"!
to auroravista...you're right & wrong
Did some checking; he could have served but this guy didn't even join until after desert storm ended. just another lie of his. pathological liar he is.
A symbol
This was more than just a killing of an "icon." There used to be wolves here, but then when people started to migrate, they killed the wolves off because of the misguided belief that wolves are a threat to people (except for the Tlingits, of course, who knew that was stupid). The killing of Romeo was representative of the extermination of wolves from this area for no real reason other than whim. It typifies the ignorance, disrespect, and rapaciousness of Western culture, and many of the responses I see on here makes me wonder if we'll ever learn better.
I hope all of you who say, "this was just a stupid wolf!" are proud of yourselves for essentially refusing to care about anything other than your own petty little desires. This man's life is ruined? Hardly, but even if it were, he still HAS a life. Show a little respect before your arrogance gets the best of you.
If he had killed the wolf in self-defense, that would be one thing (and a highly unlikely thing), but this was just some sociopathic, "look at how big a man I am!" attempt to "dominate" nature once again.
The sad part is that Romeo
The sad part is that Romeo became somewhat domesticated and lost fear of man. I'd only lived here a few months when I saw stories of Romeo and knew some knucklehead would shoot the thing. I just assumed it would be some young kid, not a man my age. I was approached by a wolf leaving the glacier in my car one day. The wolf saw me approach, I stopped to avoid hitting the thing, and it immediately came to my driver's side door licking its chops, waiting to be fed. Stop feeding the wildlife and they'll have fear of guys like Park Myers.
Research?
I didn't see any comments about why the DA's office didn't do their homework to verify that the guy didn't have a criminal past?
You would think with all of the computer links in the legal system these days that would have been an automatic process?
If it was supposed to be done, probably no repercussions for the employee(s) charged with that responsibilty, if there is actually a part of job to find out if a defendent has a criminal history?
Whats up with that? Maybe nobody cares? I would think with all the publicity on this case, someone would have tapped a few computer keys and done the background check?
Kevin your wrong on many
Kevin your wrong on many levels of this one. Don't pull the native Alaskan card because while they might have not been killing wolfs, (which is a lie) they were killing and enslaving other natives. So crappy point.
Maybe those people calling the wolf stupid are frustrated with how many people have blown this out of proportion. And before you say they haven't see how much controversy this pulls up. Now how many people are writting letters to the editor about people in this town not being able to feed they're families? Even domestic violence gets hardly any attention compared to this.
Killing wolfs is a macho man thing? My family traps wolfs in southeast and we take 5-10 a year from the same area. Since we've been doing this there are still wolfs and the deer population has noticeably risen.
That's where I get fed up with this crap, this guy was an idiot and served or is dealing with his crimes. The other aspect, the wolf, I want to say get over it and care about something that REALLY matters. Our school system is a mess, the population is dropping and w e seriously might lose the Capitol in a decade or two. There are PEOPLE that won't eat dinner tonight. There is a child being beat in your neighborhood. But I won't, you can care about what you want, but stop trying to make others care about your issues or making others feel guilty for not.
Umm, no, it's not a crappy
Umm, no, it's not a crappy point about the natives. How they treated the land and how they treated each other are two entirely different things. If I dump toxic waste in a river, is that the right thing to do because I also volunteer every week at the Glory Hole and donate 15% of my income to charity? What you're trying to do is make an argument that because X did Y, and Y is bad, if X does Z, then Z is also bad. This does not follow.
And yes, killing wolves is a "macho" thing, ESPECIALLY in the manner this idiot did it (because he felt like it). Wolves only occasionally attack deer (they actually eat a lot of rodents), and I love how we kill them off to protect "our" stocks. Predator control, like wildfire control, and most other forms of control over the natural world, has an unfortunate history of mistakes, unintended consequences, and general incompetence. In fact, our fisheries are one of the few success stories in the world, and notice how we don't "control" salmon predation.
I'm going to continue to see
I'm going to continue to see the wolves as I do in the woods. I've heard it's rare to see yet I've seen a few deer killings by wolfs over the years. Where did you read that they don't regularly kill deer?
Were you there when he shoot that wolf? How do you know how it happened? Like most of your points seem to be based on, assumptions really don't make a good base for statements.
I'll agree about the native aspect of my reply. That really doesn't apply. BUT I will ask, if natives had a 'village' of 1500-25000, do you think they would have been as good stewards of the land? It's pretty easy to say you didn't effect the land bad when you didn't have the technology we have now. When I go camping I don't brag about how I didn't destroy the woods. I don't think it would have been possible for the natives to harm the woods they lived in. But bring technology into the mix and they're no different then the 'non-natives' that clearcut the lands.
Natives all across the U.S.
Natives all across the U.S. have/had a very intense respect for the land. Some anthropologists think all the myths surrounding the idea of animals on which they depend leaving (like the buffalo) stem from way back when they hunted the mammoths to extinction--once they were gone, times would have been harder. The reason you never saw settlements of 25,000 people in North America before the Europeans arrived is because they knew the land couldn't support that many people. If they had had more advanced technology, then maybe they would have lived like that, but it wouldn't have changed the cultural aspect of their respect for the natural world.
I will say that this man did not state he shot the wolf in self-defense, so I'm not making an assumption about this. There is no other circumstance in which this would have been excusable or morally correct.