Hunter gets 7 to 20 years for killing teen he mistook for a groundhog

JULY 11, 2021BYMERRITT CLIFTON4 COMMENTS

(Beth Clifton collage)

Rare stiff sentence for “hunting accident”

DOYLESTOWN, Pennsylvania––Kenneth Troy Heller, 52, of Warminster Township, Pennsylvania, was on July 7, 2021 sentenced to serve from seven to 20 years in prison for a so-called “hunting accident” that on October 24, 2020 killed 18-year-old Jason Kutt at Nockamixon State Park, Bucks County.

The unusually stiff sentence for a “hunting accident,” in a heavily pro-gun, pro-hunting state where the courts have historically favored hunters over victims, may reflect an ongoing shift away from pro-hunting cultural attitudes, following a multi-decade steep decline in hunting participation.

Jason Kutt, of Sellersville, a Philadelphia suburb, “was watching the sunset with his girlfriend,” reported Leif Greiss of the AllentownMorning Call, when Heller shot him in the back of the head from more…