Neighbors say they feared dogs who fatally attacked KC man: ‘We ran inside’
For months, a south Kansas City neighborhood was terrorized by the same dogs that allegedly killed a man in November.
John Thibeaux I and John Thibeaux II were charged Friday for allegedly causing the death of Chris Culbertson and serious physical injury “by owning or harboring dogs, known by the defendants to be aggressive, and failing to adequately control said dogs,” according to charging documents.
The men, known as John Thibeaux Sr. and Jr., owned the dogs that attacked Culbertson as he was bicycling through the Marlborough East neighborhood Nov. 2, 2024, according to court documents. Over 23 minutes, the pack of dogs bit Culbertson 300 times.
In March, Marlborough East residents told The Star about regularly seeing aggressive dogs running around the neighborhood.
They said they kept kids and pets under close supervision, and some mentioned the dogs were unassuming as puppies but became aggressive when they grew.
Dead chickens
Natalie Martinez feared for her safety and that of her kids, she told The Star last month. She often kept a club of some kind handy to beat the dogs off, if necessary.
“One day, we were outside, and they came, so we raced inside.” Martinez said.
Later, the dogs came and killed some of her chickens, she said.
It was shortly after that incident, she said that the fatal attack on Culbertson occurred.
“They got out and got my chickens, and then that happened,” she said.
Dogs becoming aggressive
Down the street from Martinez, Carlos lives in a house surrounded with greenery. He did not give his last name for fear of backlash from others.
Carlos stopped walking in his own neighborhood because of Thibeaux’s dogs, which he identified as pit bulls. He said when they were puppies, the dogs didn’t bark when he passed.
“Now the dogs have grown and become more angry,” Carlos said in Spanish.
Armed against dogs
Holly Lane lived close to Thibeaux Jr. and said she and her husband had been threatened by dogs from Thibeaux’s property before, according to legal filings. She had previously used a golf club and mace to defend herself. As dogs mauled Chris Culbertson, Lane attempted to intervene and was severely injured.
One unnamed resident told detectives she carried a bat or stick outside to protect herself, according to charging documents. She only allowed her children to play on the porch, so she could get them inside if she saw Thibeaux’s dogs coming.
A property full of dogs
In March, a dog was tied up on Thibeaux Jr.’s property, even when the house was uninhabitable.
The gray and white dog was tied to a car, one of the 10 vehicles plus an RV sitting on the land in March.
In November, Thibeaux Jr. had many dogs on the land. An animal control officer found six aggressive dogs on the property the night of the attack, according to a KC Pet Project report obtained through an open records request. The next day, an animal control officer also found nine puppies in a bedroom the day after the arrest, according to charging documents.
The house on the property burned down in late December and is set to be demolished by the city, Michael Hopkins, a spokesperson for the Kansas City Fire Department, said in January.
The Star’s Noelle Alviz-Gransee and Mike Hendricks contributed to this report.
This story was originally published April 20, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
