{"id":16974,"date":"2018-11-21T17:31:47","date_gmt":"2018-11-21T17:31:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/butcherbaker.net\/wordpress\/?p=16974"},"modified":"2020-09-29T21:02:50","modified_gmt":"2020-09-29T21:02:50","slug":"john-lucking-black-bear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lelandhale.com\/butcherbaker\/wordpress\/2018\/11\/21\/john-lucking-black-bear\/","title":{"rendered":"John Lucking and the Black Bear"},"content":{"rendered":"

In investigating a possible homicide on the Kenai peninsula, Investigator John Lucking ran\u00a0across a black bear. Black bears are the most abundant and widely distributed of the three species of North American bears — an estimated 100,000 black bears inhabit Alaska — so it was not something entirely unexpected.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"lucking\"
\nAlaska Dept. of Fish and Game<\/strong><\/p>\n

The black bear is the smallest of the North American bears; adults stand about 29 inches at the shoulders and are about 60 inches from nose to tail. Males are larger than females, and weigh about 180-200 pounds in the spring. Black bears have adequate sense of sight and hearing, but have an outstanding sense of smell. In this case, the bear’s nose likely led it to trouble.<\/p>\n

\n

Walter J. Gilmour<\/strong>
\n“If you have ever been the object of a 200 pound black bear’s attention, especially one intent on protecting its food source, you know that these beasts can be troublesome. While some people believe black bears are less dangerous than grizzlies, that’s not true in Alaska, and even less true if they’re feeding.<\/p>\n

\"lucking\"<\/p>\n

“As Lucking and his fellow investigators stared down the possibility of becoming another link in the food chain, they determined they had better scare the bear away. Scare tactics didn’t work, though, and the bear became yet more menacing and protective of its repast. They couldn’t let the bear destroy their evidence, either, so the only logical course was to destroy the bear.<\/p>\n

“The black bear is a protected species in Alaska, so to kill one is tantamount to homicide. The wildlife in Alaska, moreover, have some pretty zealous protectors in the form of Fish & Wildlife Police, also somewhat derisively known as ‘fish cops.’ Although it was quickly evident — once the bear had been taken care of — that we had a homicide on our hands, the hue and cry that was raised focused almost exclusively on Lucking’s destruction of the hapless bear. Needless to say, that element of the case became an unwanted distraction.”<\/p>\n

Copyright 2018. All rights reserved.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Purchase Butcher, Baker<\/a><\/strong>
\nOrder my latest book, “What Happened In Craig<\/strong>,” HERE<\/strong><\/a> and HERE<\/strong><\/a>, true crime on Epicenter Press about Alaska\u2019s Worst Unsolved Mass Murder.<\/em>
\n\"Craig\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In investigating a possible homicide on the Kenai peninsula, Investigator John Lucking ran\u00a0across a black bear. Black bears are the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,9,27,28,31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16974","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alaskas-worst-unsolved-mass-murder","category-alaskana","category-butcher-baker","category-robert-hansen","category-serial-murder","category-true-crime"],"yoast_head":"\nJohn Lucking and the Black Bear - Butcher Baker<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"When a black bear confronted John Lucking in a homicide investigation, he knew he'd have to destroy the animal. 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