In a damning about-face on Tuesday, CJ Alexander pleaded responsible in Clinton County Courtroom to 14 felony fees for poaching one of many greatest whitetail bucks in Ohio historical past and fabricating an elaborate story to cowl it up. A clerk of courts confirmed the responsible plea with Outside Life however was unable to share the small print of Alexander’s plea earlier than the courts closed Tuesday.
Alexander was indicted on 23 criminal charges in June for allegedly poaching the buck, which was additionally within the operating for the third-largest all-time typical whitetail within the Boone and Crockett file guide earlier than it was confiscated by the Ohio Division of Pure Sources in December 2023. Alexander had maintained his innocence after the ODNR launched an investigation into the buck, and he doubled down on his innocence after his felony indictment was handed down by Clinton County prosecutors in June.
Alexander had shared his story behind the hunt for the “Alexander Buck” with Outside Life in December, a little bit over two weeks earlier than the antlers have been confiscated by the ODNR. He informed OL that he killed the 200-plus-inch Ohio behemoth utilizing a borrowed crossbow whereas searching his sister’s 9-acre property in Clinton County. It’s the identical story Alexander has maintained in public for almost a yr, and one which appears to have been unraveled by investigators, who gathered a pile of proof within the type of cellphone information and metadata, according to court documents obtained by Outdoor Life.
These paperwork, and significantly the cellphone information contained inside, give form to an elaborate scheme through which Alexander killed the 200-plus-inch buck often known as the “Alexander Buck” on Nov. 9, 2023 on personal land the place he knowingly didn’t have permission to hunt. They present how after Alexander killed the trophy buck with a crossbow, he recovered the illegally harvested buck with accomplices after which staged its taking up his sister’s property so he may revenue off the deer, mislead investigators, and change into the hero of his personal searching story. These cellphone information have been obtained by means of a search warrant and supplied to Alexander and his protection lawyer as a part of their request for discovery, courtroom information present.
“I’m gonna get supplied silly cash for this deer head babe … Like shopping for home kind cash … This deer is gonna make us cash,” Alexander texted his fiancé Carissa Weisenberger on Oct. 17, a little bit over three weeks earlier than he killed the notorious “Alexander Buck.” Different texts despatched within the following weeks, together with the accompanying GPS metadata, proved that Alexander was searching the buck laborious and anticipating to kill it on the 49-acre parcel the place he knowingly didn’t have permission to hunt.
“I’m in all camo and im fairly sneaky,” Alexander mentioned in one other textual content message to Weisenberger, on Oct. 26, after she texted saying she was frightened about him getting caught.
Extra textual content messages, photographs, movies, GPS information, and Snapchats obtained from Alexander’s cellphone present how he and accomplices tried to cowl up the poaching by staging the taking of the buck on his sister’s property the day after it was killed, and by tampering with proof and falsifying information. These information present that Alexander continued to lie, each to investigators and others, as information of the buck unfold.
Learn Subsequent: CJ Alexander Pleads Not Guilty to 23 Criminal Charges as Poaching Trial Begins in Ohio
“It’s all over the place babe lol … No going again now,” Weisenberger mentioned in a textual content she despatched him on Nov. 13.
Mobile phone information obtained by investigators additionally present how Alexander profited off the poached buck by promoting its antlers to an antler purchaser; by promoting unique rights to his story to a searching journal and purchasing the story round to others; and by signing a promotional take care of a searching firm. He allegedly did all this whereas feeding these individuals the identical false story about how and the place the buck was killed.
Alexander couldn’t instantly be reached for remark. He’s scheduled to be sentenced in Clinton County courtroom on Dec. 11, in line with the clerk of courts.
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