The FBI exhumed a K-9 commander’s dog in a cold case murder. But what really killed Fuzz? | National

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Paul Kovacich, a K-9 commander serving life for his wife’s 1982 murder, has a mixed message for the California parole board ahead of his first chance of freedom: He doesn’t want an early release — and he didn’t kill his beloved German shepherd.

Far from admitting guilt, the 76-year-old argues that newly discovered FBI misconduct should reverse his 2009 conviction in a cold case that haunted the Northern California foothills. His defense team contends that long-suppressed evidence debunks decades-old claims that Kovacich stomped Fuzz, his badge-wearing K-9, to death weeks before his wife disappeared. Her body has never been found.

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