The Usual Suspects

The Victim: Jagger

Following the tragic death of Jagger the Irish setter at Crufts 2015 by poisoning, The Needle’s crime correspondent Hugh Dunnatt examines this heinous crime and looks at the key suspects.

Jagger, a resident of Belgium, was a well behaved dog by all accounts, an easy temperament and so suicide can almost certainly be ruled out.  Tests found that Jagger – pedigree name Thendara Satisfaction – had eaten cubed beef laced with a lethal cocktail of up to three different poisons.

Mrs Milligan-Bott, the dog’s owner, explained that Jagger was only left alone on a handful of occasions and then for no longer than 15 minutes. She is unsure if that was before or after he entered the show ring.

She told Dog World magazine’s website that nothing appeared untoward until Jagger returned to her home in Kilsby, Northamptonshire, after competing on the first day of the show on Thursday.

‘All the dogs were all running and playing together and Jagger seemed a bit tired, unable to keep up with the others,’ she said.

‘Three or four hours later, after getting back to Belgium, he collapsed and by the time the vet arrived he was dead.

Given the limited opportunities to commit this crime there are very few suspects.

Suspect 1 ‘Horatio’

Horatio has a record as long as your arm and is extremely anti-social. He was once kept indoors for 3 weeks for running off while being walked. He was not found for 5 hours and when he was found he was extremely muddy and needed a bath. Getting on a bit now, Horatio has been in retirement following the ‘barking incident’ of 2012 but an insider noted that Horatio was still capable of devious behaviour. “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” he explained, “And Horatio knows most of them.”

Horatio has no alibi for the time in question.

Suspect 2: The Stengel brothers. Drake, Raleigh, and Cooky

Generally, acknowledged to be one of the most effective criminal gangs in the dog underworld the Stengel brothers have specialised in theft. That said this nasty pack would have no moral qualms about committing murder if the price was right and enough bonios were offered. Their Modus Operandi is the distraction technique with Drake and Raleigh drawing everyone’s attention while Cooky slyly does the dirty. All the dogs were present but there is some confusion as to whether two or three of the Stengel gang have alibis. An unexplained box of dog treats were found in their pen. They are refusing to cooperate with investigators.

Suspect 3: ‘Babyface’ Malone

Do not be taken in by the cute appearance of ‘Babyface’ Malone, too many have and regretted it later. Malone is a ‘wooflessly’ efficient criminal canine who has been chewing furniture and stealing other dog’s toys from the moment he was born. He is suspected of being behind the ‘Pee-Gate’ scandal last year. He has no alibi for the time in question.

Suspect 4: Arthur

 Arthur is a mongrel and can give no explanation as to why he was at Crufts. Always in the vicinity when heinous crimes of this nature are committed he has never been found guilty of anything so much as a misdemeanour. His alibi is that he was attempting to hump the leg of one of the judges at the time. This alibi has not yet been verified.