By Jason Clay Jansky

An April 2 grand jury indictment against Karnes County resident Michael Janysek named him as the sole suspect in the poisoning case that left four head of cattle dead here in the county more than two years ago.

The criminal mischief indictment alleges Janysek intentionally caused the death of the cattle by introducing poison onto property owned by Jonathan M. Schulz. The indictment also assesses the act caused monetary damage between $1,500 and $20,000.

A similar case filed in civil court against Janysek seeks $38,000 in reparation.

"It was a combined effort between the sheriff’s office, myself, (and) the federal game warden," Texas Ranger Marrie Aldridge said. "It was a lot of hours put in as far as securing documents and necessary items to put together the case."

Aldridge said she couldn’t go into detail on how the Texas Rangers determined Janysek was responsible.

Two years ago March 10, authorities found several animals including four cows dead in a field owned by Schulz along County Road 355. An investigation showed highly toxic wild hog bait laced with the poison "temik" was to blame.

The poison didn’t pass beyond the cows and a few other animals found dead in the area. County workers buried the corpses ten feet underground to ensure the poison didn’t spread further.

Temik is a highly toxic agricultural poison that requires a federal and state license to purchase and apply.