In the 19th century, tourists used to slaughter bison herds from passing trains, blasting the big beasts into near extinction just for fun. That ugly tradition is echoed in the recent massacre of buffalo in Colorado, which has also touched off a classic confrontation over rights between two ranchers. The Northwest connection: The Seattle P-I's John Cook points out that the man behind the recent massacre is the chairman and CEO of one of Seattle's top software companies, Jeff Hawn of Attachmate. A warrant has been issued for his arrest.
Apparently tired of a neighbor's buffalo herd coming onto his ranch, Hawn allegedly shot a bunch of the trespassers himself, then called in up to 14 other hunters to mow down his neighbor's animals in a mass killing. Together, they bagged 32 on Hawn's land, but also apparently on government (BLM) grazing land and other private property. None were taken for meat and a number were pregnant females. The hunt was not only illegal, but it violates local rules about killing another man's livestock--it just isn't done. It's fanned anti-newcomer sentiment as real cowboys and hobby ranchers collide. Hawn faces "34 counts of theft, criminal mischief and aggravated cruelty to animals." The Attachmate exec lives in Austin, Texas and is reportedly making arrangements to turn himself in.
This is not the first time a local software exec has been in trouble for illegal hunting or animal cruelty in the somewhat wild West. In 2000, then-Microsoft exec and company "problem child" Joachim Kempin was convicted of chasing down antelope with his SUV and illegally killing four in Montana. According to tech reporter Mary Jo Foley, Kempin's main claim to fame outside his cruel hunting practices was that "he did more than just about any Microsoft executive (with the possible exception of Bill Gates) to get Microsoft hauled into federal court on antitrust charges."
Everyone says to thrive in the software industry you need killer instincts — apparently including a proclivity for slaughtering the innocent.
