Man accused of illegally killing, selling mountain lion

A 20-year-old man accused of illegally killing a mountain lion in 2022 and trying to sell it in Moscow made his first court appearance Monday in Latah County Magistrate Court.

Daniel Dills faces charges of unlawfully selling wildlife and falsifying public records. Both are felonies. He also faces a misdemeanor charge of unlawfully possessing wildlife.

Dills was investigated by Idaho Fish and Game starting in December 2022 when it received information about a lion kill with evidence of hound dogs at the kill site near Emida, Idaho.

According to court documents, other hunters reported seeing and talking to Dills and his vehicle in the area. Investigators collected samples at the scene and from the lion that Dills allegedly sold at Moscow Hide and Fur.

The lion was reportedly killed in November 2022. Fish and Game received the final lab report in May 2023 that showed a match between the samples collected at the kill site and from the lion at Moscow Hide and Fur.

After talking to Dills and Moscow Hide and Fur in fall 2023, Idaho Fish and Game alleged Dills illegally killed the lion with hounds, and illegally placed a tag on a lion after the kill. He allegedly sold the animal illegally to Moscow Hide and Fur.

Dills is scheduled for a preliminary hearing in Latah County Magistrate Court on Feb. 29.