Woman charged with killing piglets

CHESAPEAKE, Va., June 8 (UPI) -- A young Virginia woman has been charged with beheading a piglet and wounding another so badly it had to be put down.

A grand jury in Chesapeake handed up an indictment Tuesday that also charged Ashley Fowler, 21, with stealing three wooden crosses and three fire extinguishers from a Baptist church, The (Norfolk) Virginian-Pilot reported. The list includes two counts of felony killing of livestock, possession of Adderall, grand larceny and destruction of property.

The piglets were killed in early February. Janie Sawyer of Chesapeake reported finding a head on her porch and the body in her barn, along with the other piglet, which had been stabbed but was still alive.

The piglets belonged to her son. A woman who works with Fowler at a Home Depot in Hickory said she talked to her about breaking up with Sawyer's son, and Fowler then promised to do something and later told her about killing the pigs.

The church near Sawyer's home was robbed around the same time.

Police said when they searched Fowler's car they found a Bowie knife, gloves and the items taken from the church.