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HOLLADAY — When undercover police officers entered Marty Bone's home, they say they spotted — and recorded — several big snakes freely slithering throughout the house.
"The video shows several large snakes roaming throughout the house, including a very large snake in the hallway, another large snake coiled up under the couch in the living room, and another large snake coiled up on a shelf," according to a search warrant affidavit.
The warrant offering more details about what was found inside Bone's home was unsealed Wednesday.
Of the 20 snakes that were seized from the Holladay house on Oct. 13: Eight Burmese pythons — three of them over 10 feet long and one 11-foot snake — were found in the kitchen and living room areas; three Burmese pythons — all 10 and 11 feet long — were found in the hallway and bathroom area; three more, also 10 and 11 feet long, were found in a bedroom; and six baby Burmese pythons were found in a makeshift enclosure in the living room, according to the warrant.
Also, marijuana found in the kitchen and refrigerator, more than 200 morphine and oxycodone pills, and 20 firearms found in a walk-in closet were seized, the warrant states.
In addition to the snakes, 585 living rats and 16 dead rats were collected from Bone's backyard, as well as 47 living rabbits and five dead ones, according to the affidavit.
Marty Lynn Bone, 64, was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail for investigation of 20 counts of having an exotic animal without a license, two counts of drug possession with intent to distribute, and possession of a firearm by a restricted person. But as of Wednesday, no formal criminal charges have been filed against him.
Bone has been in an ongoing dispute with a neighbor, according to court documents. He was charged June 4 in Holladay Justice Court with lewdness, a class B misdemeanor. In that case, Bone is accused of going into his neighbor's backyard uninvited and getting into their hot tub without any clothing, according to Unified police.
In October, a judge approved a three-year stalking injunction against Bone, forbidding him from having contact with his neighbor, according to court records.
In August, while police were conducting a follow-up investigation on the neighbor dispute, the neighbor provided video of rats and rabbits that had escaped from Bone's yard and were roaming into the neighbor's yard, the warrant states. The officer noted that while standing on the neighbor's driveway next to the fence that separated the two properties, there was "a stench coming from an outbuilding located approximately 1 foot away from the fence on Marty Bone's side. The smell was so bad it was difficult for me to breathe where I was standing."
According to city ordinances in Holladay, "any constrictor snakes over 10 feet in length will be considered a dangerous animal," the affidavit states. Anyone who possesses a "dangerous animal" in the city is required to obtain a dangerous animal permit each year.
Bone has been in the news before for his Burmese pythons. But when officers checked records with Salt Lake County Animal Services they learned that the last permit Bone was issued expired in 2017, according to the warrant.
An officer with animal control told police that the 2017 permit was initially denied because two of Bone's snakes were over 10 feet, which meant they were "required to be housed in a primary cage, with a secondary cage ensuring the snakes are still contained if they escape the primary cage," the affidavit says.
It is also illegal in Holladay "for any person to sell, offer for sale, barter, give away, keep, own, harbor, or purchase any wild, dangerous, or exotic animal," according to the warrant.
In September, an undercover officer posing as a potential buyer contacted Bone about whether he was breeding his pythons. Bone replied, "I don't like breeding them, but with 18 free roaming, it's hard getting around it," the affidavit states.
In October, police say two undercover officers arranged to meet Bone at his residence to buy a baby python for $150. As the two sides exchanged messages, Bone again stated that he had free roaming snakes, and even told the undercover officers that "I'm always getting bit, comes with the game," adding that four snakes "about killed me" two years ago, according to the warrant.
"Only luck saved my life and a lady walking by that heard me yelling for help," he allegedly told the officers.
Bone then sent the officers three photographs "which show significant bites to Marty Bone's foot ... and knee areas," the warrant states.
Based on the evidence collected, Unified police noted that they were notified by Salt Lake County Animal Control that Bone will be "permanently restricted from being granted any exotic or dangerous animal permits now or in the future."
