Meet Jim Durfey!

Meet Bernie, one Victim of Jim Durfey's Violence.

Murdered by Jim Durfey
Bernie was one of five cats that we fostered in our gallery for the month of December in 2005. He was the only guy who didn't get adopted - so of course we took him home.

We feel it is our civic duty as good neighbors to let you know that your pets could be in danger.

Please make sure your animals are wearing collars and tags with your name, address, and phone number - they will then be viewed legally as your personal property.Remember, fixed pets are more likely to stay at home.
Of course Bernie was fixed, but he made the mistake of simply crossing the street.

Bernie, clearly a cherished pet, was wearing a bright red collar with a bell and a large heart-shaped ID tag with his address and phone number.
All of our cats wear tags exactly like Toot's:

Cold blooded hypocrite and AVID BIRD KILLER Jim Durfey sent children Jim Jr. and Autumn Durfey to Catholic College, but he murdered our cat and deliberately HID Bernie's bludgeoned body at the bottom his trash can.
God Bless.

On Wednesday, June 7th, 2006, Bernie’s bloody body was found hidden at the bottom of a bag of trash in Jim and Netsy Durfey’s garbage can, at 514 North B, Livingston, Montana, 59047.   406-222-7733.

When questioned by the police, Durfey denied killing the cat, but later admitted to neighbors Parke Goodman and Terry Hessinger, and his co-workers at the Livingston Enterprise that he had shot Bernie, and others. He later filled out a police report stating that he had indeed killed Bernie.

The vet report confirms that Bernie might have been shot, but that is NOT what killed him. He was brutally beaten to death with such severe blows to the head that his eyes came out.

When told that many people were upset about this killing, Durfey said, “I doubt that!”

Over the years dozens of cats have disappeared from this neighborhood, and several have been found shot on the hill above East Gallatin.
It has not been determined if the Durfeys are responsible
for the long history of the many cat disappearances in this neighborhood.

Now that Mr. Durfey's true personality has been exposed, he is pretending to be sorry (he's VERY sorry he got caught), and says that he shot Bernie because he thought Bernie was a feral cat.

It is still illegal to shoot a feral cat, and no one can ever pretend that Bernie was feral - he was so friendly he came running to greet strangers, and was wearing a bright red collar with a bell and tags.

Liar, Liar
Incident Narrative

On 06-07-2006, I, Officer John Leonard, responded to 112 East Gallatin Street in Livingston to investigate a report of a cat that was killed by a neighbor. Upon arrival I spoke with complainants, Parke and Bonnie Goodman, who stated that their pet cat has been missing since the evening of 06-05-2006. The couple stated that this was odd because the animal in question is not normally gone more than an hour or so.
Bonnie stated that when the cat didn’t return she became suspicious of the neighbors, Jim and Netsy Durfey, (514 North B Street) as they are known around the neighborhood as “ cat killers”. Because of this, Bonnie decided to check the Durfey’s garbage. Bonnie waited until the garbage was placed onto the roadway in its trash receptacle, then retrieved two bags of garbage from the can.
After retrieving the garbage she took the bags back to her residence and went through them. At the bottom of the first bag of garbage, Bonnie discovered two plastic County Market sacks covered in what appeared to be blood. When she examined them closer she found that the sacks contained her missing feline. The cat was still wearing the red collar with its name tag and owner’s information.
Inside the same garbage sack were many articles of trash, which identified the garbage as belonging to Durfey’s, including several envelopes and other items addressed to him. With this information, I went to speak with the City Attorney, Bruce Becker.
Both Becker and I agreed that just because the animal appeared in his garbage, it did not necessarily mean that Durfey had killed the animal in question. Becker and I both thought it best for me to interview Durfey as I still needed to prove that he in fact committed the crime.
I then responded to the Livingston Enterprise where Durfey is employed. I spoke with Durfey at the Enterprise. I explained why I was there and asked Durfey if he had any information about the cat. Durfey stated that he found the cat dead under a tree in his back yard and simply placed it in the bag and threw it in the garbage.
In speaking with Durfey, I believe in my professional opinion that he was being extremely deceptive with me and in his answers. I came to this conclusion by evaluating his body language as he spoke with me, as I was trained to do in several interview and interrogation courses which I have attended. In speaking to me, Durfey was continually looking away from me and very seldom did we make eye contact as he almost was unable to look at me. Also, Durfey continually touched his face and covered his mouth as he spoke to me. Both of these actions are known to be associated with deception as I have been taught.
This being said, I’m still confident that I do not have enough evidence in this matter to formally charge Durfey, even though the circumstantial evidence is overwhelming. At this time, further action is pending further evidence regarding the case at hand.
Officer John Leonard
Livingston Police Department
As of June 9th, this case is formally closed.
When asked by the officer why he did not contact the owners when he saw the ID tag on the collar, he said it was “not his concern”.

After lying to the police, Jim Durfey admitted to neighbors, co-workers, and the Chief of Police in a written statement that he killed Bernie.

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Our Letter to Jim and Netsy Durfey:

You don’t even know us, but you could not have hurt us more deeply if you tried.
Bernie was the sweetest, most loving, and friendliest little boy we’ve ever known. Our constant companion while gardening, doing laundry, and cooking dinner - his cheerful disposition and constant conversation made every day fun. I could not wait to come home from work to see him. At 1 1/2 years old,he was our only young cat, the snuggle bug who slept with us every night and came running like a dog when called.
The emptiness in our home now is overwhelming.

I can’t imagine you are capable of loving a pet. Would it surprise you to know the suffering you have caused us? I can no longer sleep at night. I can’t work or make jewelry at all. Ever since I found Bernie’s body, I can’t stop smelling his blood. I live in constant dread that you heartless people are so close to us. I am scared to be in my own home. I find it truly disturbing, Mrs. Durfey, to learn that like my own mother, you are a middle school special education teacher. Any person with your lack of compassion and basic human decency should not hold such a position. It was your behavior that led me straight to your trash can when Bernie went missing. Do you remember me? Four years ago this August - the frantic woman weeping at your door with photos of our cherished Tiger Lilly? You refused to take one of the hand-outs I made for our neighbors. You said there was a cat in your yard and so you were sorry. I did not realize at the time that you were telling me you killed our cat.

Mr. Durfey, may I suggest to you that the next time you wish to remove one of your neighbor’s pets from your property, that a burst of water from a garden hose is just as effective as a rifle - and is also legal in city limits. Or better yet, a phone call to the owners to let them know that their pet is wandering.

Like all of our animals, Bernie was fixed, and we had no idea he would wander past our garden. We also never knew him to kill a bird - he brought us a mouse every week or so, but never a bird. Had we known, we would have put a CatStop bird bib on him, like our shop cats wear. We order these bibs by the dozen so we always have extras to share with friends and customers who love birds as much as we do. If only you would have called us - this whole incident could have been prevented and Bernie would look adorable in his bib right now.

Mr. Durfey - you say no one cares about your behavior. You don’t know how wrong you are. If, God forbid, you ever experience the loss of a loved one to a vicious and deliberate act of violence, you will know the terrible pain you have caused our family.

We ask you to stop terrorizing this neighborhood and stop destroying the happiness and well-being of families who are unfortunate enough to live near you.

Bonnie and Parke Goodman

This is Tiger Lilly, the first of our cats killed by the Durfeys.

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This is the letter we received 2 days later:

This letter was typed and had no return address. The reason it looks so smeared is that the police checked it for fingerprints because letters like this are considered harassment, and are illegal. The sender apparently wore gloves, as the only prints found on the letter were Parke's.

A vacationing FBI agent who often worked with profilers found this letter very disturbing. When he saw this letter in our studio he said it had all the red flags you see from a serial killer. He wondered if there were any missing people in our community.

Mr. Durfey is not only in charge of advertising at the Livingston Enterprise, he also writes recipes for the monthly publication Montana Best Times. He jokes about serial killers in his June 2006 column:

This article was on the front page of the Livingston Enterprise, June 13th, 2006.
Cats in Peril
Neighborhood wonders about missing felines
By Rose Boyer, Enterprise Staff Writer

Cats — They are known for their independence, wandering off and coming back when they please.
But the residents of one Livingston neighborhood are struggling to get to the bottom of why so many of their cats are wandering off, and not coming back at all.

Bonnie and Parke Goodman, of the 100 block of East Gallatin Street, distraught by the disappearance of one of their favorite pet cats, Bernie, went looking for him last week in neighborhood garbage cans, and found him dead, his body mangled.
The Goodmans brought the cat’s body to veterinarian Duane Colmey, who inspected it and informed them that the cat died from a blow to head.
Suspecting foul play, the Goodmans notified the police.
Although this is the first time the Goodmans have found one of their cats dead, it is not the first time one of their cats have gone missing. A few years ago another cat mysteriously disappeared.
And the Goodmans aren’t the only family in the neighborhood to have their cat disappear.
Sherry Pikul, who lives around the corner from the Goodmans, thought it was strange when her cat, Olivia, disappeared three months after they brought her home from the Humane Society. “She just kind of fell off the face of the planet,” Pikul said. “We looked and we looked and we looked. We never saw signs of her.”
Pikul is disturbed by the Goodman’s recent loss. “It’s upsetting to think that things that happened to Bonnie are going on in this neighborhood,” she said. “It’s just plain old ‘not very nice’ to kill somebody’s cat.”
Pikul worries about the safety of her own two cats, she said. When Pikul moved into the neighborhood five years ago, she started hearing rumors about it not being a cat-friendly place to live.
“The word is there are people in this neighborhood who do bad things to cats,” she said.

Bonnie Goodman, who has lived in the neighborhood for nine years, was also warned by her surrounding neighbors when she first moved in that she should keep a close eye on her cats.
“This kind of stuff has been going on in our neighborhood for years,” she said.
But having been warned ahead of time did not ease the Goodman’s pain when they discovered the body of one their favorite pets.
“Parke and I don’t have kids, and we really cherish our pets,” Bonnie Goodman said. “Bernie was our baby.”
The Goodman’s adopted Bernie from the Stafford Animal Shelter after fostering him in their Livingston Gallery, Mordam Art, last winter.
Every Christmas the Goodmans display about six of the shelter’s cats in their shop until they are all adopted.
When nobody adopted Bernie, the Goodmans happily brought him home.
Bernie, a big black cat which wore a collar and tag with the Goodman’s address and phone number, was special because he acted more like a dog than a cat, Bonnie Goodman said. He was friendly with everyone, and he would always come when you call.
Since the Goodmans began investigating Bernie’s death, the neighbor who owned the trash can where the cat’s body was found has admitted to being involved in the animal’s death.
It has not been determined if the person is responsible for the long history of cat disappearances in the neighborhood.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is an article in the July 2006 issue of the Montana Pioneer:
Livingston Man Charged in Cat Killing
Owners Say They Knew Where to Look for Dead Cat
by Pat Hill
Charges were filed against a Livingston man in City Court on June 26 regarding the killing of a pet cat in a neighborhood where felines have reportedly gone missing for several years.

City Attorney Bruce Becker said that Livingston resident Jim Durfey has been charged with one count of cruelty to animals and one count of illegally discharging a firearm within city limits.

The charges came about after Bonnie and Parke Goodman, who live on East Gallatin Street, began to wonder where their big black cat Bernie had gone; suspecting the worst, they began a search of the neighborhood garbage cans, according to a June 13 story in the Livingston Enterprise, after which the couple "found him dead, his body mangled."

"The truth is, I only checked one garbage can, because I knew which one to check," Bonnie told The Pioneer. "Bernie's body was hidden in a bag of trash at the bottom of the can."

The Goodmans then called both the Livingston police and Animal Control, and took their dead pet to a Livingston veterinarian, who told them that Bernie had died from a crushed skull after first being shot. That information only compounded the pain the Goodmans felt from the loss of their pet.

"Parke and I don't have kids, and we really cherish our pets," Bonnie told the Enterprise. "Bernie was our baby." She said that the big black cat was very friendly and approachable, which may have been his downfall; when she first moved into the East Gallatin Street neighborhood where she and her husband live, she was alerted by other neighbors that pet cats often turned up missing there,and to keep close track of her own cats.

"Dozens and dozens of cats have disappeared around here," Bonnie said, adding that neighbors had also told her that some of those pets had turned up dead on her property, or shot yet still alive, before she moved there."No one would ever report it.....I don't know why," she said.

She and Parke also don't understand why, in their view, the Livingston police aren't taking the killing of their pet cat more seriously."There was a bigger investigation over broken tomato plants in our neighborhood than there was about Bernie," said Parke. He said that his cousin's husband, a sergeant in the Los Angeles Police Department, was also mystified by the lack of attention paid to Bernie's killing by both law enforcement and the media: the big-city policeman was in the small town of Livingston visiting the Goodmans during the ordeal."Without a doubt this guy would be in jail in LA awaiting trial had this incident happened there," said Parke. "We would have been the lead story on all the networks...they take this stuff seriously there....it's been a real eye-opener."

"I'm just afraid the killing of pet cats won't stop...they'll just be stuffed in a different trash can next time," said Bonnie, adding that in the wake of Bernie's death and its alleged cause, her neighborhood just seems scarier to her now.When contacted by phone on June 26, Durfey declined to comment on the charges filed against him.

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After writing a police report in which he admitted to murdering our cat, Durfey wanted us to drop this case. In exchange, Durfey would have to pay the $118 it cost us to have Bernie cremated, and promise not to kill any more cats for 6 months. We said no. Then, his lawyer suggested he volunteer to do community service at the local animal shelter. The Stafford Animal Shelter said NO WAY is Jim Durfey allowed to volunteer there. His response: "You don't know the whole story!"

Now Durfey has decided to lie again, and changed his plea to not guilty. A trial date will be set at the end of August.
August 28th: A woman came into our store to complain that we were making the Durfey's look bad. She said this thing has been really hard on them. Gosh, it's been really hard on us too. I smelled Bernie's blood for 3 weeks. I could not work at all for 6 weeks.
Parke no longer is present during Art Walks because we do not feel our home is safe. I no longer drive to work, and keep radios and lights on so it always looks like someone is home. I dread going to work and I dread coming home.
We can no longer sleep at night, and I've had to start taking antidepressants.
This is the difference between suspecting there are monsters in your neighborhood, and KNOWING FOR A FACT that there are monsters in your neighborhood.
People might think we are taking it too hard, but in June, the same week that Bernie was murdered, 2 cats 422 North Main (2 doors down from us) were poisoned with antifreeze that was placed in a can of Nine Lives cat food and set in their driveway.
In July, the 10 year old St. Bernard next door to us at 426 North Main, was killed when someone walked into her yard and poured antifreeze into her water dish.
August 29th: The trial date has been set for December 27, 2006, at 9:00 AM.
Durfey has requested a jury trial. We are being represented by the City Attorney, Bruce Becker, who several people have told us is friends with Durfey.
Today I got a call from a City Commissioner, who told me "Jim Durfey has two lawyers. His and yours."
December 14th - We just learned that the trial has been postponed by the Defense, because they claim Bernie's body was found illegally. This is completely untrue. Once a trash can is set in the street, the garbage is considered public property. The police verified this, and took photos of the location of the Durfey's trash can.

Vet Report
"6-8-06
Cat was found dead by owners in a garbage can this AM - missing 2-3 days, obvious head trauma - bleeding from left ear - right eye evacuated and ruptured, neck likely broken - necropsy shows no other internal trauma present in abdomen or chest" (proves he was not hit by a car as animal control originally thought)- "cat died of blunt trauma injury to head and neck area. Cremation / ashes back."

When we picked up Bernie's ashes, the vet tech present during this necropsy said ,"Poor thing might have been shot but that's sure not what killed him - he was beaten to death."

Click here to see the October 2006 Tributary Article
This issue of the Tributary was not available in Livingston. It disappeared. There is a reward for information leading to the arrest of the persons responsible for stealing the Livingston copies.

I have no idea how Bernie ended up in this article-- but they sure got the story wrong. Durfey is a passionate BIRD KILLING HUNTER (not lover!). Bernie's killing was front page news, but the confession certainly wasn't - Durfey's name and the fact that he is employed at the Livingston Enterprise were never mentioned.
WESTERN TRAVEL
When Big Sky Country turns luminescent
Summer brings out the best in Montana, especially in Livingston, a quirky Old West railroad town.
By Charles Perry, Times Staff Writer
August 13, 2006"SUMMER in Montana," said Tim Cahill, "is like the best piece of pie you ever had. Only when you ask for another slice, they tell you, 'Sorry, you have to wait 12 months.' "
Cahill is a freelance writer, and I had noticed that he wangles gigs in the tropics during Montana's howling winters, but he always spends his summers at home. Maybe there was something to what he said. So 12 years ago, I drove up to check it out.
He was right. There's a gentle quality to the light in south-central Montana, so summer really does have a luminous beauty here, as if nature were somehow holding its breath. I've been back to Livingston every year since.
It's a town of 7,000 and hundreds of antique buildings, surrounded by rich grassland that stretches to the mountains on three sides and down to the Great Plains to the east. The Yellowstone River runs through it, luring anglers from all over the country. A constant breeze runs through it as well, because of Pacific air currents funneled down by the Absaroka and Gallatin mountain ranges.
It's not just the glories of Montana's summers that draw me now though. It's this odd little town itself, where I've become a kind of honorary resident, entitled to all the latest gossip.
I hadn't been in town more than an hour in June before I heard that the Owl Lounge had been sold and that the new owner had decided to make the funky old dive "brighter" and "more attractive." This offended all the writers and bikers who drank there, and they were boycotting the place.
People were also talking about local figure Bob Perkins, an ex-Marine who lives in nearby Manhattan, Mont. (population 1,396). For many years he has tethered a goat or a sheep — always named "Buddy" — in his front yard to keep the lawn trimmed. This year, a neighbor complained to the City Council that Buddy was bringing down the town's image, because the goat was the first thing impressionable folk might see when driving in from neighboring Belgrade (population 5,728).
Majority opinion supported Perkins, and he was fighting back. To an Associated Press reporter, he charged that the complaining neighbor was just jealous of his Buddies. "They were a real babe magnet," he said. "It's the way I met half of my ex-wives."
The biggest news in Livingston itself was a plague of cat killings. The cat killer turned out to be a passionate bird-watcher employed by the Livingston Enterprise newspaper, which, to its credit, made his confession a front-page story. People in Livingston seem more into dogs than cats, but out here you just don't mess with other people's animals. I heard people half-seriously mutter, "String him up."

This article is from the January 2007 Montana Pioneer:
Livingston Man Sentenced
Durfey Case Generates National Interest

Charged on June 26 with cruelty to animals and discharging a firearm inside city limits, Jim Durfey of Livingston was sentenced on Dec. 27 for having bludgeoned and shot to death a neighbors cat last summer. Durfey was ordered to pay a $500 fine and $90 court costs by Judge Kara Bailey, and was given a deferred sentence of one year in jail on the condition that he commit no other violations over that period of time. The charge of discharging a firearm in the city limits was dropped in exchange for Durfey's guilty plea, City Attorney Bruce Pecker told the Pioneer.

The case generated outrage among city residents because cats had gone missing in Durfey's neighborhood for years, and due to Durfey's reported lack of remorse regarding his crime.

The charges against Durfey came about after Bernie, a cat belonging to Bonnie and Parke Goodman, went missing last June. Suspecting Durfey was responsible for the deaths of other local cats, the Goodmans searched Jim and Netsy's garbage and found Bernie's mangled body hidden in a bag of trash at the bottom of the can. "I only checked on garbage can, because I knew which one to check", Bonnie told the Pioneer.

The Goodmans called the Livingston police and animal control. A Livingston veterinarian told them Bernie died from a crushed skull after first being shot.

"Parke and I really cherish our pets", Bonnie told the Livingston Enterprise. Bonnie said that her big black cat was friendly and approachable, and that when she first moved to her East Gallatin Street neighborhood, she was told by neighbors that cats often turned up missing there.

"Dozens of cats have disappeared around here," Bonnie said, adding that neighbors also told her that some of those pets had turned up dead on her property, or shot but still alive, before she moved there. "Those cats were taken to the vet, but no one ever reported it to the police."

The case generated media interest, includeing a reference in a Los Angleles Times article dealing with Livingston. According to Bonnie Goodman, both the Billings Gazette and KTVM, NBC TV's Bozeman affiliate would have covered the sentencing, but they were mis-informed that it had been cancelled. Entering the courtroom, Durfey reportedly remarked, "So where's my paparazzi?"

The case also had the attention of the Humane Society of the United States, which advocated a harsher sentence that that sought by Becker after the plea agreement.

When asked by Judge Bailey if he had learned anything from the ordeal, Durfey waited, then responded that he had learned traps were available from the city. His demeanor as the sentence was given was descrived as "cold," by a city official.

When asked about Durfey's sentence, Bonnie Goodman said, "I don't think it was harsh enough. They expel a kid for bringing a BB Gun to school, but Durfey admits he shot a gun in city limits, within a block of a public trail, and the charges get dropped.

Our response to the Sentencing
We are glad that Jim Durfey was justly convicted of committing animal cruelty on December 27th, 2006. Last June, Durfey viciously killed our cat Bernie, who was clearly a cherished pet, wearing a bright red collar with a bell and a large heart-shaped ID tag listing his address and phone number.

Durfey admitted to shooting our young cat , but according to the autopsy, the cause of Bernie's death was a blow to the head (so severe that his eyes came out) and a broken his neck.

In an attempt to justify his actions, Durfey claimed that Bernie was hunting "his wild birds", though Bernie never hunted birds at our house, and the thorough search of the Durfeys garbage revealed no feathers, no birds. Just Bernie's body hidden at the bottom of the pile. For this crime, Durfey was fined $500.

Bernie was a good cat who made an honest mistake. Durfey did not give him a chance. He never once called animal control, the Stafford Shelter, or attempted to contact his neighbors. Jim Durfey could just as easily removed Bernie from his property with a squirt from the garden hose, but he chose a deliberate act of violence instead.

We are disappointed that Durfey was not charged and convicted of depriving us of our personal property. Since Bernie was wearing a collar and an ID tag, he was legally considered our personal property.
Durfey can pretend he didn't hear the bell or see the red collar and tags when he murdered Bernie, but when Durfey hid Bernie's body in a plastic bag, under a weeks worth of his garbage - he was breaking another law. However, the city attorney chose to ignore the advice of Dave Pauli, director of The Humane Society of the United States's Northern Rockies Regional Office, and refused to charge Durfey with this crime.

There is a lack of consistency in this matter in Park County. Currently, the investigation of a missing dog in Paradise Valley is being considered theft of personal property, valued at $1000.

We find it puzzling that the plea bargain allowed Durfey to not be convicted of firing a gun in city limits. Last month, 2 students were expelled from Park High for bringing a BB gun to school. In this situation, a grown man admitted to the police that he shot a gun in city limits (within a block of a public trail) and the charge was dropped. These extremes make no sense.

We find it horrifying that Durfey now plans to deliberately attract neighborhood cats to his yard by setting bated traps. Given his cruel nature, there are serious doubts that any cat he traps will be treated humanely or brought to the animal shelter.

We do hope that Durfey will stop terrorizing our neighborhood and stop destroying the happiness and well-being of families who are unfortunate enough to live near him.

Bonnie and Parke Goodman

Here is a great product that is an alternative to killing your neighbor's pets:
Scarecrow sprinkler - this sprinkler with a motion detector keeps unwanted animals out of your garden.

If you love birds and cats as much as we do, we highly recommend the cat stop bib:
Cat Stop Bib attaches to your cat's collar - and prevents them from catching birds!

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