NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — A Navy sailor from Norfolk was indicted Wednesday morning on a felony charge of torturing a dog resulting in death.
25-year-old Richard Schunke faces the charge after his wife claims he beat her dog, Layla, to death back in December.
Schunke’s wife, Laura Jahn, who’s since filed for divorce, says her 8-year-old beagle was killed on December 10 of last year.
READ: Richard Schunke Indictment
She says around 3 p.m that day Schunke texted her complaining that Layla was lying in the grass and not following her potty commands.
After that, Jahn says he sent her a picture of a puncture wound on his hand saying the dog had bit him.
Then he tells her, Layla was unresponsive.
Jahn says at that point she knew he had done something terrible to her.
She says she called animal control and ended up meeting him at a vet in Virginia Beach.
“I saw his car pull in, I ran out of the vet like a woman out of hell, I just grabbed her, and her body was so heavy like I’ve never felt that kind of weight on her body before. I knew immediately she was gone,” explained Jahn.
Vet records show Layla died of excessive trauma and had multiple bruises on her body.
An arrest warrant confirms he was arrested a few days after the incident.
“It was just so traumatizing coming to an empty house that day,” said Jahn.
10 On Your Side tried to contact Schunke but was not successful.
Jahn says in her fight for justice, one of the things she wants out of this is for him to stripped of his rank.
The trial has been set for August 29.