Cattle ranchers discover grisly sight after dispute with property owner
Photo: Marc Belluomini
SANTA CLARA COUNTY— Morgan Hill cattle ranchers discovered a grisly sight during a dispute with the property owner.
SCSO investigators arrested Marc Belluomini, 54, on August 28 at his residence in Fremont. The arrest stemmed from a case of slaughtered livestock due to a cattle grazing dispute back in May of 2018. Deputies charged Belluomini for 11 Counts of Animal Cruelty. His other two charges are two Counts of Illegal Cattle-Driving and one count of Brandishing a Firearm.
Belluomini owns a large area of land in Unincorporated Santa Clara County. It is located near Canada de Los Osos Ecological Preserve off of Highway 152. Sgt. Richard Glennon with the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office said, “Early in 2018, Belluomini entered into an agreement to allow cattle to graze on 1500 acres of his South County land.”
After several months, one rancher wanted to retrieve his cattle. However the suspect suddenly confronted the rancher. In addition, Belluomini held a shotgun and demanded that the cattle rancher leave his property.
The rancher, fearing for his life, left the property and immediately called the SCSO. Certainly he reported the confrontation and his desire to retrieve his livestock from the property.
Therefore the SCSO contacted Belluomini and made the decision that the rancher could remove his cattle from the property.
During the removal of livestock, one rancher came across a makeshift grave. In it he recognized one of the cows that had been killed. Further investigation revealed that 11 cows in total were shot and killed on the property, presumably by Belluomini.
SCCS Sgt. Richard Glennon said, “Investigators were able to recover bullet fragments from some of the deceased cattle.” Law enforcement booked Belluomini into the Santa Clara County Main Jail. He posted his $200,000 bail.
