Murder most fowl; Bridgeport's wild turkey killed

A wild turkey stands near the reflective window of an office building in Bridgeport, Conn. July 23, 2014. For many months the lone bird was frequently seen in downtown Bridgeport, but now police are investigating a report that it was recently chased down and killed at the hands two men. less A wild turkey stands near the reflective window of an office building in Bridgeport, Conn. July 23, 2014. For many months the lone bird was frequently seen in downtown Bridgeport, but now police are ... more Photo: Ned Gerard Buy photo Photo: Ned Gerard Image 1 of / 12 Caption Close Murder most fowl; Bridgeport's wild turkey killed 1 / 12 Back to Gallery

BRIDGEPORT -- She came from the wilds and settled downtown.

Within weeks last summer, she became the mascot of the landmark RBS building -- and the feathered ambassador of Lafayette Boulevard.

"Everyone loved that turkey," said Shannon Stone, a front desk security guard at RBS Financial Center. "We named her Wilhelmina. People bought turkey pellets to feed her. We were even making provisions to get her through the winter."

She was first seen in early July at the federal courthouse at 915 Lafayette Blvd., and she apparently called the RBS Building across the street -- where the FBI and Drug Enforcement Agency build cases -- home.

She often liked to wander down to McLevy Green and the City Hall Annex where the mayor and city attorneys work, striding along on her skinny legs, her head bobbing, her wattles waving, one eye on oncoming pedestrians, the other on the sidewalk searching for tasty treats.

But despite Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's proclamations that Bridgeport's streets are safer than ever, they weren't safe enough for Wilhelmina the wild turkey.

The street-savvy gobbler -- who posed for selfies, stopped traffic and did her best to make downtown her stomping grounds -- may have met an untimely end sometime before 9 a.m. on Nov. 15.

Security guards at the RBS building said two "thugs" in their 20s stopped their car and chased the turkey down Lafayette Boulevard.

At one point Wilhelmina managed to escape their grasp, but the pair pursued her. They finally grabbed her, snapped her neck and tossed her lifeless avian body into the back of a black sedan and sped away.

"I think if she had gotten hit by a car or died a natural death, it would be easier for us to take," Stone said.

Bridgeport Police Lts. Christopher LeMaine and Steven Lougal said the department heard rumors of Wilhelmina's demise and are looking into them.

The manner in which the turkey was killed in public view could constitute a crime of animal cruelty, police said.

"It's horrible. I feel terrible about this," said Neldith Sajous, an RBS employee. "It feels like the loss of a colleague."

Sajous said the turkey was "very personable."

"She would allow people to come close to her; I never saw her exhibit an air of negativity," Sajous said.

Stone said if the killing took place to dress and bake Wilhelmina for Thanksgiving dinner, "then that's crazy ... There are so many places giving out free turkeys and dinners. If someone did it to be malicious, then that's disgusting."

Nancy Hedine, who is employed at Adelman Hirsch & Connors, was upset and said she hoped the police "catch the culprits that did this and prosecute them."

Gregg Dancho, director of Connecticut's Beardsley Zoo in Bridgeport, lauded the wild fowl's urban survival skills.

"The sad thing is, this is a creature that has adapted to a relatively foreign environment (and) eked out an existence," Dancho said. "When the animals kind of move in to where we are, we don't adapt to them."

While some residents initially urged local or state officials to relocate the bird, fearing for its safety, Dancho said that is a difficult thing.

"Sometimes you do more harm than good trying to trap and relocate something," he said. "If it was injured, then that would be a different story. They do fly very well. They move very quickly."

Brian Riley -- aka Bridgeport's "Marshmallow Man" -- who now draws the Sunday cartoon "Marshmallow Melodies" for the Connecticut Post, came across the bird on a number of occasions.

His cartoon this past Sunday caricatured the wild turkey as a rough-and-ready city dweller wearing an "I Love Bridgeport" T-shirt.

"Part of me is glad the turkey was immortalized in the Post just yesterday," he said Monday of Wilhelmina's death. "Another part of me hopes the suspects get caught and cooked in their own way. The turkey deserved better than this. It was a survivor, a renegade, a sort of pillar of Park City wildlife."

He said he would mourn the bird's death this Thanksgiving.

Riley is definitely not alone, especially if you count everyone at the RBS building, the federal courthouse, Firestone Auto Care and the many other downtown businesses where people's lives were briefly touched by the lovable all-American bird.

"People would come in and say `My sister told me about the turkey, where is it?' '' Stone said. "When they saw it, they'd want to take a picture with her and she'd stand still for them."

Some were even lucky enough to see the ungainly fowl fly up to its favorite roost in a tree near the towering RBS building.

But those days are now memories.

"My 5-year-old son, Danny, runs to that window to see if she's there," said Yarnell Fountain, another front-desk security guard at RBS, pointing through the glass to the street. "He's been asking me where she is."

"She was a bit of a celebrity," Stone said. "If I could give her a star in front of this building, I would. That's how much she meant to the people here."