Four OSU fraternity members arrested after allegedly leaving dead longhorn on rival fraternity's front lawn

Four fraternity members at Oklahoma State University have been arrested in connection with a longhorn carcass that was placed in front of another fraternity house last month. The discovery was made after Oklahoma State and the University of Texas were set to do battle for the Big 12 Championship.

Fox News Digital reported that Bennett Fady, Brody Shelby, Luke Ackerley, and Andrew King were taken into custody on Wednesday and subsequently charged with misdemeanor unlawful removal/disposal of a carcass.

The four fraternity members allegedly placed the dead longhorn on the front lawn of Oklahoma State's FarmHouse fraternity on December 1 — just one day before the Big 12 Championship game. The Longhorns went on to win the football game by a score of 49 to 21.

The longhorn had also been branded with "F*** FH." The authorities discovered that the dead longhorn also had a tie-down strap latched onto its horns, and it was secured to a large concrete pillar on the fraternity's porch. The boys allegedly cut open the longhorn's abdomen, which revealed its internal organs, per the report.

Though the story seemed to fade away following the Big 12 Championship game, the Stillwater Police Department continued to investigate the cause of the incident. Following a necropsy, it was determined that the animal had died of disease just 36 hours before it was found, meaning it was dead before the fraternity members got ahold of it.

But the branding and cut on the abdomen happened after the animal was already dead, according to WFAA.

Court documents indicate the authorities said the longhorn came from the property of a family of a separate fraternity member. Investigators suggested that the four boys had borrowed another fraternity member's truck to haul the longhorn, and the owner of the truck said he did not know what it was going to be used for, per the report.

Stillwater police served a search warrant at the fraternity house to obtain video from the time of the incident. However, much of the surveillance footage from around that time was missing.

The authorities interviewed other members of the fraternity to find out who may have been involved in the incident. Following the interviews, investigators landed on Fady, Ackerley, King, and Shelby as the suspects.

The four boys were arrested and booked into Payne County Jail. But they were released on their own recognizance and have pleaded not guilty in the incident, according to Fox News Digital.

It is uncertain what penalties the students could face if they are found guilty of the charges.

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