Real estate agent accused of cutting down trees

Real estate agent accused of cutting down trees

A Clinton man is accused of intentional infidelity.

A Whidbey real estate agent is facing charges for allegedly cutting down trees on private property to improve the view of a home he was trying to sell, according to court documents.

Prosecutors charged Bert W. Bennehoff, of Clinton, with first- and second-degree malicious breach of trust Sept. 26 in Island County Superior Court.

Bennehoff did not want to comment on the allegations on Thursday.

Two different reports from the Island County Sheriff's Office detail a long and complicated story involving many different people.

On August 19, 2022, a deputy was contacted by a property owner on Susana Drive who said she noticed rings had been cut into several alder trees on her property. Also called “girdling,” cutting rings into the bark around trees kills them. She sent photos to the deputy but did not respond when asked for more information.

Nearly a year later, she contacted law enforcement again on July 11, 2023, saying she had additional information, according to a separate report from a sheriff's office lieutenant. She stated that 34 old alder trees were double ringed in August 2022 and four old maple trees were felled in September 2022.

She claimed the damage to the trees had caused instability on a hillside, loss of wildlife habitat and deterioration of an already fragile road. The property owner added that there is a slipping problem on the road and the road is considered unstable terrain by the county, the report said.

“I purchased the property as a wildlife and nature reserve,” she wrote. “Quiet with lots of trees. Every tree but one was damaged or felled. The property has now lost its charm.”

According to the report, several neighbors of the subject property made statements in the report that pointed to Bennehoff of Whidbey Buyers Realty. When questioned, workers on site said they were hired by Bennehoff because he wanted to restore the view to a property on Shippin Lane that he was selling for a client.

The Whidbey Island Land and Shore Trust also had affected property. The lieutenant wrote in his report that he visited the two properties to determine the value of the trees that were cut or girded. For the trust's property, the value for 10 trees was assessed at $2,919. For the other property owner with more extensive damage, the total was $8,565 for 28 trees.

Bennehoff told the lieutenant that he had pulled the property deeds prior to any activity on the land and had not seen any of the properties owned by the alleged victim. He said the township has conservation agreements in place that allow the removal of vegetation that blocks property owners' westward views.

“Nowhere in the agreements presented to me was any authority given to anyone other than the property owners to maintain the height of the trees on their respective properties,” the lieutenant wrote.