I really think that they were buying horses who were good enough to insure for big bucks, but not good enough to win consistently. I don’t believe that the killings were done in a moment of frustration. They were done to punish someone, and for the payoff.
“Mistakes,” my narrow white a$$! A mistake is forgetting to carry the one, or missing a stride. This was deliberate criminality and unforgivable cruelty.
I don’t think so. He was at Portuguese Bend for awhile but is definitely not there. I heard that he’d moved back to the midwest. I think.
I also read at some point that he swapped out some of the horses before setting the barn on fire and that was maybe how he got caught. There were horseshoes in a stall but the occupant of that stall was unshod???
George Lindemann was never chef. George Morris was chef.
I watched the Bad Sport episode. I didn’t know that Barney Ward had planned to have Tommy Burns killed before he could testify. That’s a whole 'nother level.
Having worked around CA horse shows with some grooms who “came from nothing and would probably never have much of anything,” like Burns and Arlie, I came to feel empathy for both those guys. I can’t imagine how they could bring themselves to actually kill the horses after caring for them day in and day out. But I have seen some of the careless, systematic cruelty that the industry subjected them to. It is hard to work for people who treat you like as if you were disposable.
Compare, for example, Burns’ version of events within the Druck family with Rielle (Druck) Hunter’s version. Among other things about who did what wrong, she never acknowledges the fact that her father hired him to kill a horse. He thinks they were friends; she says he “inserted himself into her family.”
How would any of us know better than Burns if what he says about his state of mind is, in fact, correct?
I read the book Hot Blood–it’s the true crime genre, and not terribly well-written, and I do wish they’d have focused more on the horse aspect than the surrounding drama, but still a horrific read when they get into the details.
But one of the best pony books ever written–The Crumb–details a fictional version of this. If you can find a copy, highly recommended. It’s a children’s book, but certainly not just for kids.
I believe the poster was asking if, in the episode, Burns expresses regret. Not if he is actually remorseful.
I believe he is remorseful, if only because the people he “trusted” betrayed him to the point of putting a hit on him. It was “a dirty job”. I think he regrets getting dirty for rich “scum”.
Who can forget those days. As someone who grew up riding in North Salem, the cast of characters was a bit too familiar.
I’m still horrified by how many people supported – and continue to support – the people who were involved with the killings. This was not a mistake or an example of poor judgment.
The Crumb, free to read
Hot Blood, also free to read
I watched the Bad Sport episode yesterday. My take was that Tommy Burns was quite candid about what he did and his responsibility for it. He did assist the FBI extensively in their investigations.
We can argue about whatever level of remorse he feels or doesn’t feel, but he also took actions, by cooperating with the FBI, that assisted them in indicting other responsible people as criminals. That’s a positive.
I didn’t realize Dana Tripp had this type of involvement until I read the article above.
I also thought it was interesting that he’d had an affair with Gwen Druck. I wonder if he thought that was going to be a long term relationship?
I didn’t either. I knew Dana now Waters lost her DVM license. But I thought she was more on the fringe.
“Additionally, federal agents are looking into the possible involvement of veterinarian Dana Tripp, also an accomplished equestrian, in the death of Streetwise. Florida investigators say that Tripp’s red pickup truck—with DANA TRIPP, D.V.M. emblazoned on its doors—was part of Burns’s caravan as it made its way toward Canterbury Farms. It was Tripp, according to sources cited in the police report, who recommended to Donna Brown that she hire Burns to stage Streetwise’s accident. Prosecutors have phone records revealing Tripp’s numerous conversations with both Brown and Burns in the two days leading up to the death of Streetwise. Tripp has refused to respond to SI’s questions about the matter.”
Such a wonderfully written book. Hard to find copies anymore, but one of my very favorite books as a child.
Guess I wasn’t clear. I still have not watched the episode. I just read the summary of the episode on Netflix and wondered if the summary was correct: that Tommy Burns was on there saying he had regret over what he did.
Edited to add: What @Old_Mac_Donald said.
The FBI agent who was interviewed seemed to believe that Tommy Burns was a very open person who tells it like it is. Whether he regrets his actions themselves or just the consequences of those actions, who knows, but he certainly admits that he did very bad things.
Hearing about how young he was when he left home and his family situation, you can see how some of his employers could have spotted his desire to be part of a family and used that to encourage him to do their dirty work in order to ingratiate himself. It absolutely does not excuse anything that Tommy Burns did, but I found it interesting how the relationships played out.
Is this the Canterbury Farm in Grand Prix Village in Wellington? Or a different place by the same name? If it’s the former, I never knew anything along those lines had happened there.
No, this one was…Gainesville? Jacksonville? North Florida, anyway.
it was a showgrounds in Gainesville Florida
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