Three people indicted for illegal killings of mountain lions, bobcats

Three people are charged with the alleged illegal killings of four mountain lions and eight bobcats in Kootenai, Shoshone and Benewah counties.

In August, a Kootenai County grand jury indicted St. Maries residents Eddy A. Dills, Daniel J. Dills and Angela Y. Dills on charges of conspiracy to commit unlawful killing of wildlife, conspiracy to sell unlawfully killed wildlife and conspiracy to conceal evidence, all felonies. The three are expected to appear in court next week for arraignment. 

The crimes are alleged to have occurred between May 2024 and February 2025, according to court records. 

The hunting licenses of Eddy and Daniel Dills were revoked during that period, when prosecutors said they used hunting dogs to tree a mountain lion near Cemetery Ridge, south of Wallace, and to hunt another mountain lion near Leiberg Creek. The pair also allegedly used hunting dogs to hunt near bobcat traps and near the Coeur d’Alene River. 

Prosecutors said Angela Dills accompanied the men while hound hunting on several occasions and completed mortality and harvest reports for bobcats and mountain lions. 

Eddy and Daniel Dills allegedly dumped a mountain lion down an embankment after it had been unlawfully shot and killed, according to court records, in an effort to conceal an illegal kill. 

Angela Dills is accused of selling the carcasses and hides of mountain lions and bobcats that Eddy and Daniel Dills had illegally killed to Moscow Hide and Fur in Moscow. The carcasses and hides sold for a total of $1,725, according to court records. 

Court records indicate that, in 2024, Daniel Dills pleaded guilty to knowingly selling, purchasing or exchanging unlawfully killed wildlife, a felony, in Latah County. At that time, his hunting license was suspended for three years.

In 2019, the Columbian reported that Eddy Dills received a 60-day jail sentence after pleading guilty in accordance with Alford to hunting a cougar with a dog. The practice of using hunting dogs to tree prey is illegal in Washington.