Life in Prison For the Service Dog Midnight's Killer, Robert Leroy Edwards

Midnight was a Black Labrador Retriever, A Service Dog to Richard Hunt, A Veteran. Midnight was A Beautiful Soul. On January 31, 2020, Robert Leroy Edwards, a boarder at Hunt's farm in Florida, decided to abuse and then kill Midnight. The man then stuffed Midnight's remains inside the back compartment of the Hunt family’s boat. Let's help the Hunt Family to get justice and for Edwards, to get a sentence as heavy as the crime he committed. Punishments for animal abusers are far from equating the crimes they commit. This must change NOW. Please sign our petition. Let's put this monster behind bars for a very long time. Thank you

Below, a more detailed description of what happened:


Ian Hunt called his father in the middle of the night and shrieked: “Come — now!”
The details made no sense, but the desperation was clear.

“He’s killing our dog!” Ian said.

Richard Hunt sped from Sarasota toward the rural Florida farm where his son was caring for the black Labrador retriever he had given up to live in an recreational vehicle. He stayed on the phone, hearing yelling. Soon, Ian was telling him something even grimmer.

“He killed our dog,” Ian said.

When Richard Hunt got there, investigators were starting to piece together a crime that defied understanding. A boarder at Ian Hunt’s home had become enraged by the barking of his father’s emotional support dog, Midnight. The boarder was so angry, he strung the dog up by the neck with an electrical cord early Wednesday morning, the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office said.

The story got worse. At some point, authorities say, the boarder — a 38-year-old man from Texas named Robert Leroy Edwards — went back into the house, looking for assistance in the coverup. That’s when Edwards woke his teenage son and punched him when he would not help hide the dog’s remains, Richard Hunt told The Post.

Edwards’s lawyer did not immediately respond to an inquiry Friday.

By the time Ian called, Hunt says, Edwards was back outside. His son could see the dog hanging from the chicken coop. Then, in all the chaos and predawn darkness, the dog’s body disappeared.

They found Midnight’s remains stuffed in the back compartment of the Hunt family’s boat, Richard Hunt said. It was cold out, but the 6-year-old dog’s body was still warm. Hunt said it took several minutes to remove the makeshift noose from his companion, who always knew when the disabled veteran was having a breakdown or “living a moment” in his head.