Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association (TSCRA) Special Ranger John Bradshaw led the investigation. TSCRA Special Ranger Wayne Goodman and Texas Game Warden Chris Dowdy assisted during the investigation.

Bradshaw received a phone call from Dowdy on July 2, 2014 in regard to suspicious activity by the suspect, Jerry Dean Kulow, 56, of North Richland Hills, Texas. Kulow worked as a ranch foreman for one of the victims who is a rancher in Boyd, Texas.

Kulow’s boss had requested that Kulow sell some cattle at the livestock auction on numerous occasions. It was revealed that Kulow had made many trips to the Cleburne Livestock Auction. Records revealed he had sold about 95 head of cattle, but he never gave the proceeds to the owner.

The second victim was having issues with his cattle getting onto the property that Kulow was managing. The property is divided by the Trinity River and was only holding a small volume of water at the time, so the cattle could easily cross the barrier. Kulow’s boss had given him $3,000 for materials to construct a new fence between his and the other victim’s property but Kulow never built the fence and the location of the money is unknown.

The investigation revealed that some of the cattle Kulow sold actually belonged to the neighboring rancher. Bradshaw recovered thirty-five cows and seven calves on some property and they were returned to the victim. One bull, five cows, and one calf were later found on a different piece of property, located north of Boyd, and these cattle were also recovered and returned.

Kulow stole a total of 144 head of cattle worth about $98,000 from his boss and the neighboring rancher. Kulow was questioned by Bradshaw and he confessed to the crime and never provided information on where the money went. Bradshaw, with the assistance of Goodman, received banking records showing that Kulow had only deposited two checks from the sale of cattle. One check was from Decatur Livestock and the other was from Cleburne Livestock.

Kulow was arrested on two $10,000 bonds. He was charged with third degree felony theft of livestock and second degree felony theft of livestock from the elderly by the Wise County District Attorney’s Office.

TSCRA would like to thank Dowdy and the Wise County District Attorney’s Office for their assistance with this investigation. 

TSCRA has 30 special rangers stationed strategically throughout Texas and Oklahoma who have in-depth knowledge of the cattle industry and are trained in all facets of law enforcement. All are commissioned as Special Rangers by the Texas Department of Public Safety and/or the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. 

TSCRA is a 138-year-old trade association and is the largest and oldest livestock organization based in Texas. TSCRA has more than 16,500 beef cattle operations, ranching families and businesses as members. These members represent approximately 50,000 individuals directly involved in ranching and beef production who manage 4 million head of cattle on 76 million acres of range and pasture land primarily in Texas and Oklahoma, but throughout the Southwest.