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Former Boulder Officer Accused Of Killing Elk Had Past Incident With A Deer

BOULDER, Colo. (CBS4) - A former Boulder police officer charged with killing a trophy elk within the city limits may have tried to shoot another trapped animal back in 2008.

The motion from the prosecution says when a federal officer called for Parks and Wildlife to help a deer stuck in a fence, Boulder officer Sam Carter showed up instead. Carter, already accused of killing the trophy elk in Boulder in 2013, tried to shoot and kill the trapped deer in 2008, according to the district attorney.

Sam Carter
Former Boulder Police Officer Sam Carter poses with the elk he shot with his service gun while on duty. (credit: CBS)

A motion to enter the 2008 incident in to Carter's current criminal case for the elk killing was granted by a judge. The motion goes on to say the federal officer who asked for help to free the deer said "almost immediately, Sam Carter reached for his firearm and stated he was going to shoot the buck."

He also mentioned that "Sam Carter commented on the size of the deer's antlers."

The officer eventually convinced Carter to free the deer.

"It was so planned out, and then when you add this 2008 incident and put them together, it's clear he wanted to do it," Boulder County resident Rita Anderson said.

Anderson is raising money for a memorial in memory of the Mapleton elk and says many suspected it was not Carter's first go with illegally trying take down a trophy animal.

"It doesn't make me any angrier because what he did is heinous enough, shooting that innocent, beautiful being," Anderson said.

Carter is set to go to trial for the Mapleton elk case in late May.

Anderson says the memorial will be some kind of bench that will go in the median at 9th and Mapleton. She hopes it'll be in place before the end of the summer.

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