Killing of hiker sparks reaction

His friends doubt he'd attack shooter; were dogs vicious?

Peter Corbett
The Arizona Republic
Jul. 4, 2004 12:00 AM

Death can come quickly, even in the solitude of Arizona's rim
country when the paths of two strangers cross on a forest
trail, one man camping with three dogs and the other hiking
with a gun.

It took only seconds for Grant Kuenzli to die in a hail of
bullets fired by Harold Fish seven weeks ago in the woods north
of Payson.

The tragic shooting has left Coconino County investigators to
sort out what happened when barking dogs, angry shouts and
gunfire shattered the near-dusk silence of Pine Canyon.

Did an enraged Kuenzli take three shots in the chest trying to
protect those dogs, thinking one had been hit by Fish's warning
round? Or was he running toward Fish trying to rein in his
dogs?

Fish said that he feared for his life when the 43-year-old
Kuenzli ran down the trail at him, fists flailing, screaming,
"I'm going to kill you, you son of a (expletive)."

Fish, 57, a retired Valley teacher, told a Coconino County
sheriff's detective hours after the May 11 shooting that he
repeatedly warned Kuenzli to stop or he would shoot.

"(Kuenzli) looked crazed," Fish told investigators. " He's
coming right at me and it's 'bam, bam, bam!' "

Kuenzli lay mortally wounded at Fish's feet. He was dead when
paramedics arrived about 7:30 p.m., according to reports from
the Coconino County Sheriff's Department.

Fish said the shooting occurred about 45 minutes earlier just
as it was getting dark.

The violent confrontation sparked strong emotions across
Arizona from dog lovers, hikers and friends of Kuenzli. They
reacted to statements by Detective Scott Feagan, who said that
the evidence would show Fish acted in self-defense.

Many who knew Kuenzli, a former northern Arizona firefighter
living in the woods near Payson, said Kuenzli was a gentle man
and would not have attacked Fish.

The question remains whether Fish, who was not injured by the
dogs or Kuenzli, acted in self-defense.

Reasonable force

Under Arizona law, a person is justified in using force if a
reasonable person would feel it necessary to use force to
protect himself.

County Attorney Terry Hance does not agree with Fish's self-
defense claim. He filed a second-degree murder charge against
Fish on June 4.

Investigator Bruce Cornish has since replaced Feagan as the
lead detective. Both Hance and Cornish declined to discuss the
case.

Fish's initial court hearing, postponed June 25, is set for
July 16 in Flagstaff.

Meantime, a Coconino County grand jury could consider the
evidence and Fish's testimony for an indictment on murder or a
lesser charge.

The case is complicated by limited forensic evidence and only
Fish's account of what happened.

Investigators located Kuenzli's boot prints, which they say
show he did run down the trail toward Fish.

Recounting the confrontation, Fish told detectives that he was
completing a daylong hike on the Arizona Trail, coming out of
Pine Canyon when he saw a car and then Kuenzli on the hill
above him.

Fish said he waved.

"Next thing I know, here come the dogs," Fish said, according
to the sheriff's report.

Dropped hiking stick

Fish had a black aluminum hiking stick but reached for his
Kimber 10-millimeter semiautomatic pistol holstered on his
daypack. He said he fired a shot into the ground in front of
the lead dog. The animals halted and scattered off the trail.

"I wasn't thinking about the stick and if I had thought about
it, I probably could have beat (the dogs) with the stick," Fish
told investigators.

Choosing the gun over the stick was an unfortunate decision,
said John McCauley, a Payson retiree who befriended Kuenzli in
January. After the shooting, he collected more than 300
signatures in support of Kuenzli.

McCauley does not buy Fish's account.

"Without any doubt in my mind, Grant was running to get the
dogs," not at Fish, McCauley said.

It is well known among gun enthusiasts that the best defense in
a deadly shooting is to say that the person you shot threatened
to kill you, McCauley said.

If the case goes to trial, the viciousness of Kuenzli's three
medium-sized dogs will be debated.

Three dogs still held

Kuenzli's dog, a yellow lab named Maggie, and two dogs borrowed
from the Payson Humane Society - Hank, a chow mix, and Sheba, a
shepherd mix - are being held as evidence in a Flagstaff animal
shelter.

Jean Myers, an Animal Defense League of Arizona coordinator in
Flagstaff, said the group is trying to get the dogs tested by
an animal-behavior specialist so that they can be released.

There is evidence that Hank and Maggie had acted aggressively
in the past.

But the animals were passive when an animal control officer
retrieved them from the shooting scene and walked them past
Fish.

A deputy in his report said that Fish "appeared to be afraid"
of one of the dogs, but also that Fish said something "to the
effect that the dog was probably friendly."

Victim's history

Kuenzli's past is likely to be under a microscope as well. A
toxicology report showed that Kuenzli had traces of an
antidepressant medication in his bloodstream, but there were
was no presence of alcohol or illegal drugs.

After his death, family and friends defended Kuenzli over what
they perceived as attacks on his character. One woman
remembered Kuenzli as a hero.

Denise Gaines of Paradise Valley said eight years ago Kuenzli,
a reserve Flagstaff firefighter at the time, saved her father's
life when he found the injured man near death in the woods.

Gaines said she was "so happy to find out that (Fish) was
charged with second-degree murder" for shooting Kuenzli.

Despite the charge, Fish has remained free while prosecutors
prepare their case.

Fish, a high school Spanish teacher who retired a year ago, is
married and has seven children.

He is being defended by former U.S. Attorney for Arizona Mel
McDonald.

Reach the reporter at or
(602) 444-6862.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articl...hooting04.html


--

Yours truly,

The Lone Weasel

The Lone Weasel wrote:

Killing of hiker sparks reaction

His friends doubt he'd attack shooter; were dogs vicious?

Still trying to convict Mr. Fish for defending himself with a
gun, I see.

Will you ever develop a sense of morality?

Nope.

The Lone Weasel wrote in message . 4...


The tragic shooting has left Coconino County investigators to
sort out what happened when barking dogs, angry shouts and
gunfire shattered the near-dusk silence of Pine Canyon.

Did an enraged Kuenzli take three shots in the chest trying to
protect those dogs, thinking one had been hit by Fish's warning
round? Or was he running toward Fish trying to rein in his
dogs?

Fish said that he feared for his life when the 43-year-old
Kuenzli ran down the trail at him, fists flailing, screaming,
"I'm going to kill you, you son of a (expletive)."


This Fish guy is just like all gun owners. They're out there looking
for an excuse to kill someone. Guns can do a lot of good but there
are just too many crazies that have them. That's why we have to ban
guns for everyone.

Laura Bush murdered her boy friend wrote:

This Fish guy is just like all gun owners.

What makes you say that? The gun owners I know are a diverse
cross-section of Americans.


They're out there looking for an excuse to kill someone.

How do you know this? None of the gun owners I know seem to be
particularly bloodthirsty. Maybe there is something about you that
makes people especially wary. Perhaps when around you, people become
concerned for their physical safety.


Guns can do a lot of good but there are just too many crazies that have them.

Guns *can* do a lot of good when used to protect people from injury and
death. I'd agree that too many crazies have guns illegally. This would
seem to be backed up by anecdotes I see on the news each day. I
typically choose not to associate with crazy people - or people who have
been convicted of violent felonies, so I can't say I know any crazy
people - or crazy people with guns.

Also, if you are aware of people who are insane and posess firearms, why
don't you file a police report on the matter. I'm sure they would act
if your charges turn out to be true.


That's why we have to ban guns for everyone.

Do you want to ban guns for the police and military? I'd ceartainly
consider them "everyone". What about criminals? How do you propose to
take their guns away - and cince it is already illegal for criminals to
posess guns, why haven't we already implemented this process if it would
work so well?

I'm a little worried by your assertions because they seem to imply that
everyone (or at least a large portion of the population) is crazy but
you (which as I understand it is a symptom of insanity in and of itself).

On top of that, you claim that these people are "looking for an excuse
to kill someone" which would seem like an obvious case of "projection"
where you project your own repressed desires on others. Then you go on
with the projection to say that because we can't trust *them* then
nobody can be trusted. Once again, it seems that you're attempting to
construct an environment for yourself that protects you from acting upon
your deep dark impulses.