Trailing a Thief
By Carol Hutchison
After almost $100,000 worth of cattle were missing from 1 ranch over a 2-week period, Special Ranger Bart Perrier stood ready as a Tulsa news crew interviewed the victim, Watson Langford. “It’s a real shame, to be honest with you. It just sickens your stomach,” Langford said to viewers about the thefts.
In the hours that led up to that moment, Perrier and Langford had discussed, at great length, who might have stolen his cattle. Without any solid leads, Special Ranger Perrier made the decision to take it to the airwaves for the public’s help. When the crew and reporter turned to Perrier, he looked straight at her and explained how the cattle were unique because they were registered Herefords, hoping against hope that someone out there might have seen something that would lead to the missing cattle — cattle that took the Langfords many years and generations to produce.
Cattle theft is just as common in Oklahoma as it is in Texas. In this case, Bart Perrier, one of 3 Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association (TSCRA) special rangers assigned to the state, set out to track down the Langfords’ missing cattle. The investigation led to an uncommon suspect, a favorable end and a few extra gut punches along the way.
The dreaded call
In early October 2013, Watson Langford of Langford Herefords got a call from one of his hands, “Boss, we got to the pasture but the lock was cut. After the count, we came up short some cows,” the hand reported.
Langford’s heart sank. “OK, start checking ear tags and tattoos and we’ll identify which cows are missing. I’ll be there shortly,” Langford said. After calling the theft in to the Okmulgee County Sheriff, Watson Langford called Special Ranger Bart Perrier, who responded to the ranch to take the report and begin his investigation.
The Langford Herefords ranch is northeast of Okmulgee, Okla. The land has been in their family for more than 75 years and they’ve raised Herefords for just as long. “We have a ranch on the Texas/New Mexico line, but we eventually brought the Hereford operation to this location. It was part of my mother’s family’s land,” Langford explains.
One week later, the same scenario replayed when Langford answered his phone. “Another lock was cut, and this time they got some of the recip cows, yearling bulls and calves,” his hand revealed, referring to recipient cows used in an embryo transfer breeding program. Embryo transfer allows a rancher to collect fertilized eggs from top-quality registered seedstock and implant those eggs in recipient females. The result is a calf crop of top genetic matings instead of one calf at a time.
Being the victim of any theft produces a variety of emotions, and the theft of one’s livelihood can deal a crippling blow. “That’s when Watson and I both hit the panic button. It was the same MO, same process, same everything,” Perrier explained.
The subsequent theft, with a loss now totaling $99,800, was cause for alarm, and every minute that ticked by without a lead, to Perrier and Langford, seemed like an eternity. “The thing about the cattle world, if you’re not on it immediately, they’ve changed hands 3 times and they’re already gone — the cows, especially,” Perrier explains.
Perrier immediately returned to Langford Herefords to continue his investigation. Langford drove him to where the second gate lock was cut. Lying on the ground near the entrance of the pens was a price tag for a set of 14-inch compact bolt cutters. He also noticed single tire tracks that crossed over manure piles. Perrier and Langford then drove to the squeeze chutes. Perrier noted signs of heavy cattle traffic in the pens. The head gate was left open and the tire tracks revealed that someone had backed a trailer to the chute to load the cattle. This all happened, they reasoned, sometime late into the night.
Langford runs a tight operation and keeping track of cattle is crucial in his business. “We at least knew within a 48-hour window when it happened because we check pastures and count our cattle,” Langford said.
The TSCRA special rangers often advise ranchers to lock their gates. “People will argue that, ‘They’ll just cut the lock.’ I say, ‘Absolutely! But at least you have physical evidence, and you’ll know immediately that something’s wrong. If you don’t lock the gate, you’ll never know when the theft occurred,’” Perrier said.
“For about 5 days, I just about lived in Okmulgee County. I brought Special Ranger John Cummings and former Special Ranger Kent Dowell with me a few times. We stirred up as much as we could. This case was our priority because it’s what we do. We took it and ran with it,” Perrier said.
“Thank goodness Bart was here,” Langford said.
Superior genetics
Langford Herefords is a registered Hereford operation. Many of the stolen cattle had been bred to meet their specific herd standards.
Stolen in the second theft were 3 Angus cross cows that were embryo recipient cows. “We implant those embryos out of some of the top donor cows and top bulls that we own to produce more of those top genetics. Because of the recip cows, those top donor cows can produce anywhere from 5 to 20 calves a year, instead of only one a year,” Langford explains. The stolen calves, ear tagged and tattooed, were about to be weaned. “Among those calves were what we considered some of our very top end bulls — the type of bulls that put pictures on the walls — with superior genetics,” Langford said.
“One calf, in particular, that was stolen was the best bull calf we raised that year. We were probably going to show that calf in Denver at the National Hereford Show,” Langford said. “He was absolutely worth $50,000, and that’s conservative.”
Finally, 2 yearling registered Hereford bulls, weighing in at around 1,000 pounds each, were also missing. They were branded, ear-tagged and tattooed.
Searching for leads
Typically, the special ranger prepares a Crime Watch report, which is sent to TSCRA headquarters. Perrier’s report went out to the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, the Livestock Marketing Association and other agencies in an attempt to gain information on the theft.
When no leads materialized, Perrier decided to call the news media. “Watson and I were in the office and I said to him that we needed to call the media. I was desperate. We were hitting an end with no place to go with it so we called a local television station in Tulsa,” Perrier said.
The news reporter and crew arrived at Langford’s ranch the same day. “They did a quick little story. They got some video of the cattle and the brand, and it aired at 5, 6 and 10 p.m. It was either the next day or the second day, I got a phone call while I was at Langford Herefords,” Perrier said. The caller told Perrier to check the Durant sale barn. He said there had been some cattle that matched the description sold there a couple of weeks prior. Perrier hung up the phone and said to Langford, “That’s it! That’s the tip we need,” as he left for Durant Stockyards in Durant, Okla.
During his 2-1/2 hour drive to Durant, Perrier called the stockyard and spoke to the owner. “The same guy who called the tip in to me had already called them, and they had already begun pulling up records and were ready to meet with me,” Perrier said.
They remembered who sold the cattle in question on Oct. 10. The names Craig Allen and Leeann Allen were given as the owners of the cattle and after the sale, checks were made out to each. One check was for $7,084.73, and the other, $2,239.12. Perrier and Langford explained that, even when you have registered cattle at a commercial sale barn, they will only bring market price.
The sale barn owners told Perrier that Allen arrived at the sale barn with her Palomino horse in the stock trailer with panels and a lot of cattle. “She told them that she had just gathered her cattle. They said she unloaded and tied her horse under a tree. They even offered to let her work in the back of the barn for the day. She stuck around for the cattle sale and talked them up to the buyers like they were her own,” Perrier said.
Although he finally had the name of a possible suspect, Perrier’s first priority was to locate the cattle and return them to the Langfords. The owners of Durant Stockyards gladly pulled the records. The cattle had been sold and hauled in 6 directions. “The barn owners were so helpful. They also told me Allen purchased cattle on the same day, but paid with a check with ‘Christen Allen’ on it,” Perrier said. By this time, the checks had already been cashed. Perrier suspected that Christen used the names “Leeann Allen” and “Craig Allen” to mislead investigators.
Locating the cattle
Perrier tracked down the first buyer, who cooperated fully. “He got the bull that he had purchased from Christen Allen at Durant Stockyards up for me and we clipped the hair back so we could see the brand more clearly. The sad news was that the bull had already been castrated,” Perrier said.
This buyer told Perrier that he knew Christen Allen and had known her since she was young. He believed her story that she’d raised the bull and that she bred him from top genetics out of Kansas. “She built it up where if you didn’t know a lot about registered cattle you’d believe her. Witnesses told us that Allen knows ranch lingo, and she’s punchy, which makes her story believable,” Perrier said.
Perrier continued to make phone calls and visits to each buyer of the Langford’s stolen cattle. The next buyer on the list had purchased 1 heifer calf and 3 Hereford bull calves.
When Perrier arrived at the second buyer’s property, he saw the Langfords’ heifer calf and 3 bull calves, only now the bull calves were steers.
“A lot of people sell calves at a sale barn that have not been worked. So the buyers have a process of their own. The buyer works them, castrates them and turns them out on grass. The buyer’s business is to make them steers,” Perrier said.
The Langfords’ best Hereford bull calf, valued at $50,000, had been castrated during that process. “You know that you just lost a lot of money, and you know you’re not going to get it back. The thief may be convicted, but really and truly getting the money back — that’s all lost,” Langford said.
It wasn’t only the money that was lost, but hope for the future of that bull and the genetics he would have passed on for years to come. Langford points to a photograph on the wall, “That is a bull called Vision, and he sold for $100,000 for half interest. His genetics are scattered throughout the entire Hereford breed today. Everybody and their dog, throughout the U.S., has used that bull. The bull calf that was stolen was that kind of bull. Vision was our best bull in the year prior, so it isn’t just wishful thinking. It’s proven,” Langford said.
Some major damage had already been done, but Perrier was able to recover most of the cattle. “Durant Stockyards stepped up and said, ‘Have the buyers bring all the cattle back here to the sale barn and we’ll let the Langfords come down to get them.’ The buyers got their money back,” Perrier said.
Perrier also located 2 of the first group of stolen cows, but they were sold privately, sold a second time and wound up being shipped to the processing plant long before Perrier caught up with them. “They were already hamburger,” Perrier said.
The suspect
After the cattle were located and returned to Langford, Perrier focused on finding the thief. Special Rangers Perrier and John Cummings traveled to Christen Allen’s residence to visit with her about where she got the Langfords’ cattle. The gate was locked, so Perrier searched until he found a phone number, called it and left a message. Several hours later, he received a call back from Christen Allen. She agreed to meet with Perrier and Cummings at the Haskell, Okla., Police Department. During that meeting, Christen Allen elected not to speak to the investigators about the sale of the cattle. “It appeared to us that she just wanted to know what we knew. That’s typical,” Perrier said.
After many hours of investigation and poring through cell phone and bank records, the evidence just wasn’t there to prove that Allen physically stole the cattle.
“She lived down the road, so although we pinged her phone and she was in the area during the timeframe of the thefts, we could not prove the theft. We did prove, however, that she knowingly concealed stolen property, and that’s the charge we went with. She sold cattle that were stolen and she knew they were stolen. That’s why she told everyone she raised them,” Perrier said.
The trial
The jury trial, which took place in late 2014, lasted 3 days. “It was pretty hard to sit in the same room with her, I’ll tell you that,” Langford said. All witnesses from the sale barn to the buyers, to the special rangers, testified.
“Besides the Langfords, Allen also took advantage of the buyers and the sale barn, but in the grand scheme of things, ranchers stick together. Suddenly, it turns into, ‘We’ve got your back. We’re going to help and we’ll come testify against her,’” Perrier said.
“I felt bad for all those guys. They took time out of their own personal lives to testify, but we greatly appreciate what they did,” Langford said.
Strangely enough, Allen had recorded her meeting with Special Rangers Perrier and Cummings. She and her lawyers apparently used the recording in some way by playing it during the trial, but instead, it turned out to be a testament to the professionalism of Perrier and Cummings. “We heard the tape in court. From our initial meeting, her recording continued as she got into her vehicle to leave. She immediately called her attorney’s office and can be heard saying, ‘I’ve got to speak to someone. These guys are a cut above the rest. These aren’t the normal cops,’” Perrier said.
Allen’s entire defense was that her ex-husband gave her the stolen cattle in lieu of back child support. “We had to subpoena the child support attorney to testify that he wasn’t behind on child support. She was trying to muddy the water,” Perrier said.
Allen was found guilty of knowingly concealing stolen property and was sentenced to 2 years in the state penitentiary, ordered to pay $59,000 in restitution, a $500 fine and $250 in court costs.
Tips to help prevent thefts
Cattle theft can’t always be prevented, but much can be done to deter it.
“Both thefts were from pasture pens. The locks were cut on the gates to those pens. Thieves always use your facilities. If it’s easier for you, it’s easier for thieves. The pens were all right on the roadway. We advise that if you’re building new pens, don’t put them on the roadway,” Perrier said.
Immediately after the thefts, Langford Herefords removed all but 1 set of pens on the ranch. “We took out 9 sets of very nice steel pens. I mean, it takes you a lifetime to put that many good sets of pens on a ranch. It’s so wrong that we have to do those types of things in this country,” Langford said. “They went to the extreme to fix the problem,” Perrier added.
Special Ranger Perrier worked closely with the Langfords to end the case. “Guys like Bart are few and far between. He’s smart, dedicated to law and order, and determined to find answers. Our cattle industry is safer because of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers special rangers,” Langford said.
“The Langfords do everything right and do everything we preach. I feel that’s half the reason why it was a successful ending — a partially successful ending,” Perrier said. ❚
“Trailing a Thief” is excerpted from the June 2017 issue of The Cattleman magazine.