Rebecca Halbach and Brandon Leconey (inset left and right in Evesham PD images), their house (WTFX/screengrab)
The two New Jersey house of horrors suspects already facing numerous animal cruelty charges in the deaths of as many as 100 dogs and the neglect of cats, rabbits, and other dogs were arrested last week for a second time.
According to the the Evesham Township Police Department, Brandon Leconey, 32, and Rebecca Halbach, 35, both of Marlton, were rearrested and taken to the Burlington County Jail on Oct. 4 on allegations that the former helped the latter pose an animal rescue employee locally to facilitate adoptions.
“Halbach was not an employee or volunteer with the specified animal rescue, and further failed to provide proper adoption and/or care for the animals that were turned over to her (charged previously with Animal Cruelty Offenses),” cops said. “She received over $7,000 in compensation due to these crimes. ”
Authorities also announced two more developments, the first being that investigators that they anticipate future charges against the two defendants for additional “computer/electronic crimes” related to the alleged scheme to pose as an animal rescue worker.
The second update related to a separate burglary, theft, and trespassing incident that allegedly took place at the suspects’ E. Main Street home while they were behind bars. Kelli Bowen, a 54-year-old from West Berlin, New Jersey, “entered the home, without the permission of the owners and removed items owned by Halbach and Leconey,” cops alleged, noting she was released from custody on a summons.
Kelli Bowen (Evesham Township PD)
It’s unclear why anyone would have chosen that property to burglarize after it was all over the news that numerous dogs were found decaying at that home.
As Law&Crime reported in late August, a 9-year-old child and more than a dozen living dogs were saved from the residence after North Carolina-based animal rescue nonprofit Tender Mercies and a witness who visited the property tipped cops off to the house of horrors. Cops said they executed a search and “found living and deceased dogs in the residence,” where the conditions were “extremely poor due to the amount of deceased animals throughout the home.”
The home was filled with 14 living dogs, living cats and rabbits, and “in excess of 30 deceased dogs in the residence, throughout the living space of the home,” cops said.
“One dog was in such poor health, that euthanization was required,” authorities said, adding that investigators believed “as many as 100 dogs have died in this home, many of which are present in the home or are suspected to have been buried on the property.”
Evesham Township Police said at the time that they had never quite witnessed anything like the crime scene they were called to investigate.
“Some of the dogs were still alive,” Police Chief Walt Miller said during a press conference on the investigation. “There was a large number of dogs that had since been deceased and were in various portions of decay.”
Chief Miller also told reporters that cops found a “burial spot” behind the house.
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