It might read like a truly bizarre old timey whodunit headline or a twisted game of Clue, but it’s brought to you from the weird world of cannabis news nonetheless.: “Pet Peacock Brutally Murdered.” Bizarre, yes. True? Also yes. According to a local Indiana newspaper, Bill Levin, the founder of The First Church of Cannabis, told reporters that he believes his beloved pet peacock was murdered by his neighbor earlier this month.

Cannabis Church Founder’s Pet Peacock Brutally Murdered

“I was in straight-up shock,” the church leader told the press on Friday as he described finding the body of Bert, his13-year-old pet peacock. “I didn’t start crying until about eight hours later…I was just in stone-cold shock.”

“Since then I’ve been waking up in cold sweats and bad dreams,” Levin continued. “Anxiety, stress.”

The untimely and mysterious death of Bert the peacock occurred on August 23, but as Levin stated to the press, it wasn’t the first time animals on his property had been placed in imminent danger.

Levin noted that one of his pet goats—yes, pet goats—had met a similar fate approximately four months before Bert’s passing.

Levin, who owns four goats, four cats, one cockatoo, more than a dozen chickens, and a couple of ducks, is known around his Indianapolis neighborhood as a maverick—a character, of sorts—who in the past has been a point of contention with surrounding residents.

After founding the First Church of Cannabis in 2015, a handful of Levin’s neighbors were openly hostile towards the easy-going Levin. The reason for the sea change? Levin’s focus on cannabis, not Christ.

“All of a sudden some of the people in the neighborhood decided they didn’t like me because I didn’t have a church of Jesus,” Levin candidly explained.

The church, which local legislators found in accordance with Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act, was founded by Levin in an effort to test the parameters of the then-newly instated law.

Despite the animus behind the founding of Levin’s church—i.e., equal opportunity—many remained displeased.

“A couple of the neighbors stopped talking to me,” Levin added.

A Most Disturbing Murder

Levin was quick to emphasize the needless brutality of his beloved pet peacock’s murder.

“The way I found his body, it looks like somebody stood on his rib cage and pulled his feathers out. They then took Bert, swung him by the tail, hit his head on the pavement. There was a gravel beating on one side of his face.”

His pet peacock brutally murdered, Levin is looking for answers. While no suspects have been named in the case, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department stated that they had opened an animal cruelty investigation, which as of now is ongoing.