Woman Gets Community Service For Spray-Painting Dr. Palmer's Sign
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – A 41-year-old Bloomington woman was sentenced this week to 64 hours of community service after pleading guilty to spray-painting the sign of Dr. Walter Palmer's dental office.
Kimberly Ann Socha pleaded guilty to first-degree damage to property on Tuesday. Witnesses said she spray-painted the words "perv" and "scum" on the sign at River Bluff Dental in Bloomington.
She was sentenced to community service, two years of supervised probation and to pay a fine of $300.
Earlier this summer, Palmer shot and killed a popular lion named Cecil in Zimbabwe. The big cat's death sparked international outrage, and Palmer went into hiding. When he returned to his dental practice in September, Socha spray-painted his sign.
Palmer was not charged by officials in Zimbabwe for killing Cecil the lion. He's maintained his innocence, saying he hired guides and went through the proper process.
But authorities said that Cecil, a collared study lion, was lured off a reserve and shot.
Palmer's guide, Theo Bronkhorst, was charged with failing to prevent an illegal hunt and faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.