(CN) — Underage drinking. Drug use. Sex trafficking. The estate of a Nebraska horse trainer claims all this took place at what is perhaps Nebraska’s most well-known operating horse racing park, leading up to murder.
Theresa Scherer, as personal representative of the Estate of Todd Scherer, sued Fonner Park, a security company and several other entities and individuals over the 2023 death of Todd Scherer at the facility.
On March 9, 2023, Logan Hunts Horse, one of the defendants, shot Scherer. Hours later, after finding him still alive, Hunts Horse beat him with a bat, Theresa Scherer says in the complaint filed Friday in Hall County District Court in Grand Island, Nebraska, where Fonner Park is located.
The estate implies that Hunts Horse and others involved were “residing on the premises” and that Fonner Park and other defendants were “either running or turning a blind eye to the hostel situation.”
Grand Island is located in east-Central Nebraska, roughly 145 miles west of Omaha. Fonner Park sits on Grand Island’s south side adjacent to the Nebraska State Fairgrounds.
In addition to Fonner Park, named defendants include the Hall County Livestock Improvement Association, Double Locked Security, and Hunts Horse. Also listed as defendants are three companions of Hunts Horse that night, two of whom also faced criminal charges. Requests for comment from the various defendants went unanswered as of press time.
Hunts Horse, age 20 when the slaying occurred, told investigators that he followed Todd Scherer, 62, into his tack room and shot him once in the stomach with a handgun. He then went to Walmart with the three companions. They returned to the barn, where Hunts Horse grabbed a wooden baseball bat and struck Todd Scherer in the back of the head, a Grand Island police officer said in an arrest affidavit.
Hunts Horse told the investigator that one of his companions, defendant Austin Kelly, then 16, reached into one of Scherer’s pockets and grabbed his wallet, finding cash.
Other details became public during the course of the investigation, including that Todd Scherer knew those involved in his death. “This was not a random attack. The parties knew each other somehow,” Grand Island Police Capt. Dean Elliott said, according to Nebraska broadcaster NTV.
Todd Scherer’s death reverberated through the horseracing community. An article in Thoroughbred Daily News a few days after the slaying quoted Fonner Park CEO Chris Kotulak describing Todd Scherer as popular in Nebraska thoroughbred circles.
“Many of us grew up with Todd, including myself, and he was typically associated with good times at the racetrack,” Kotulak said, according to the Daily News. “He was also known as a very dedicated and knowledgeable horsemen.”
Hunts Horse began an 88- to 134-year sentence at the Nebraska State Penitentiary in Lincoln in 2024 after being convicted of second degree murder and use of a weapon to commit a felony, according to prison records. He will be eligible for parole in 2067.
Kelly is serving an 18-to 38-year sentence at the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution, and is eligible for parole in 2033 after being convicted of conspiracy to commit robbery. Kelly apologized to Scherer’s family prior to sentencing.