A family pet poisoned, a personal vendetta and several drugs in plain sight; it’s all part of an Naples police investigation involving a Vernal couple.

Investigating officers called to a Naples home upon report of a dead dog last month found evidence to suggest the animal was poisoned deliberately.

“There were packed balls of dog and cat food laced with rat poison thrown throughout the yard,” Naples Police Chief Mark Watkins said of the home where the dog was living.

Even more disturbing than the callous nature of the poisoning, Watkins said, was the fact that the home had young children who played in the yard.

After contacting businesses that sell rat poison, the Naples Police received a report from WalMart provided a video of two suspects buying large amounts of rat poisoning.

Their investigation led them to John Freeman, 35, and Malinda Roper, 34, of Vernal.

The couple confessed to police that they poisoned the dog as a personal vendetta, saying they planned and carried out the act in order to kill the dog.

When Naples police officers executed a search warrant at their home at 68 N. 200 West, on Sunday afternoon several drugs including: methamphetamine, mushrooms and marijuana along with two pounds of Spice and drug paraphernalia, were in plan sight, Watkins said.

Freeman and Roper were booked into jail on suspicion of cruelty to animals, reckless endangerment and drug possession.

In addition, Freeman, a convicted felon, is suspected of possession of dangerous weapon by a restricted person.

The couple bonded out of jail, and charges against them have yet to be filed in Eighth District Court.

—Mary Bernard, Vernal Express