Criminal charges against a Northfield man became eligible for expungement last week, more than a year after a high-profile episode in which his pig was killed by his neighbor.
A court had previously dismissed those charges stemming from Donald Smith’s alleged behavior following the death of the pig, Rosie.
In the days after police said Rosie was shot dead by his neighbor Bernie Atwood on Oct. 4, 2022, Smith allegedly challenged Atwood to a fight, threatened to kill Atwood’s nephew, parked his motorcycle and an ATV in the middle of the road, and knowingly lied about the case to the police, according to court documents.
Smith, 39, and Atwood, 77, live in the only two houses on an isolated stretch of Union Brook Road on the outskirts of Northfield. Alone among large swathes of woodland, the two next-door neighbors had fought over fences, parking and Smith’s ducks infringing on Atwood’s yard, according to the arresting officer’s affidavit.
A few moments before her death, Rosie wandered over the berm that Atwood built between his property and Smith’s. Atwood said the pigs were digging up his lawn, and he warned Smith that the next time he saw one of them on his property, he would shoot it, which he did, police wrote.
Smith was subsequently charged with one count of public disorder, one count of knowingly lying to a law enforcement officer and two counts of aggravated public disorder for his subsequent actions, including alleged comments he made to police, Atwood and another neighbor.
In comments made to VTDigger at the time of the incident, John Helfant, then-chief of the Northfield Police Department, said Atwood was assigned to a restorative justice program for shooting the pig.
The state of Vermont dismissed the case against Smith in June 2023, court records show. On March 26, Smith paid the case fees and fines necessary to erase the offenses from his record, a court clerk said.
