Man who killed pet pig gets 9-day jail sentence

LIHUE, Kauai (AP) — A Kauai County man found guilty of criminal trespass for stabbing someone’s pet pig to death in 2013 has been sentenced to nine days in prison.

LIHUE, Kauai (AP) — A Kauai County man found guilty of criminal trespass for stabbing someone’s pet pig to death in 2013 has been sentenced to nine days in prison.

Prosecutors dropped charges of cruelty to animals and criminal damage against Noah Jeriamiah Elija Smazik of Hanalei, The Garden Island reported (http://bit.ly/1Tow8FC).

Prosecutors said Smazik, 33, had help from an accomplice when he illegally entered a fenced property and fatally stabbed the 400-pound domesticated pig.

Co-defendant Bronson Howard served 24 days in jail after being found guilty of second-degree criminal trespass. He was acquitted of animal cruelty and criminal property damage charges.

“The apologies are not for killing the pig itself but for the trauma that the victim went through in coming down and seeing Mr. Smazik and Mr. Howard over her pet pig that she had raised from a ‘squiglet’ or piglet, and seeing Mr. Smazik multiple times stab the pet pig,” said Deputy Prosecutor George White.

Stephanie Char, Smazik’s attorney, had argued for probation and community service, saying Smazik had stayed out of trouble since the 2013 incident and that he had two children to look after.

“Serving time in jail would be a hardship for himself and his family,” Char said.

Fifth Circuit Court Chief Judge Randal Valenciano denied requests from both White and Char to have Smazik do community service. He handed down the nine-day jail sentence instead.

Smazik apologized for “killing the pig” in court Tuesday and said the court process has been hard on him.

He has a long criminal history, which includes prior convictions for terror threat in the second degree in 2008, criminal contempt of court in 2004 and resisting arrest in 2003.