Ducks' Clayton Stoner Charged For Killing And Beheading Cheeky The Bear

NHL player Clayton Stoner, then with the Minnesota Wild, traveled to British Columbia in May of 2013, killed a grizzly bear, cut off his head, and posed for a photo. That September, we declared him an enemy of Deadspin. Today, Stoner’s facing five charges related to the death of Cheeky the bear.

Stoner, who now plays for the Anaheim Ducks, was hit with five charges under the Wildlife Act: one count of hunting wildlife out of season, one count of hunting without a license, two counts of making a false statement to obtain a license, and one count of unlawful possession of dead wildlife. The NHLer will have to show up at Vancouver’s provincial court on Oct. 9, according to the Vancouver Sun.

The main reason Stoner’s facing charges is because he didn’t live in British Columbia for the majority of the year:

Detective-Sergeant Cynthia Mann of the Conservation Officer Service’s major investigation unit said in an interview Wednesday that the Wildlife Act defines resident hunters as Canadian citizens or permanent residents whose primary residences are in B.C. and who are physically present in B.C. the “greater portion of each of six calendar months out of the 12 calendar months” preceding both their application for the hunt and the date of the actual hunt.

The legal argument is that Stoner did not meet those conditions due to living out of the province as a professional hockey player. At the time of the hunt, Stoner played for the Minnesota Wild but joined Anaheim as a free agent in 2014. “All five charges are directly related to the residency requirement,” Mann said.

Anyone who cannot meet that criteria must pay to hunt with a licensed B.C. guide-outfitter — typically, about $25,000 US for a coastal grizzly. The charges carry potential maximum fines of $50,000 to $250,000.

Stoner had no comment when reached by the Sun.

Top photo: AP

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