MIFFLINBURG — A Pennsylvania farmer who shot a 400-pound black bear blamed for killing livestock was cleared Tuesday of the bear's death following testimony that incriminated another man.

District Judge Jeffrey Mensch dismissed a citation against John Nolt.

The Buffalo Township, Union County, man shot the bear on his property Oct. 5, but testimony at his hearing challenging his Pennsylvania Game Commission citation revealed that Nolt's neighbor fired the fatal shot, according to defense attorney Kendra Mohr.

"The game warden himself is the one who testified that my guy shot and wounded the bear," Mohr said.

Wildlife Conservation Officer Dirk Remensnyder told the court that Nolt's shot would have killed the bear even if the neighbor, Roger Rishel, had not shot the bear as well. The judge said it appeared that Rishel's gunshot caused the fatal wound.

Remensnyder told The Daily Item of Sunbury he respected Mensch's ruling and has no immediate plans to cite Rishel.

"I did my job according to the law," Remensnyder said.

The defense attorney said Nolt was cited for not giving the Pennsylvania Game Commission adequate time to deal with the animal, but added that the game code specifies that an animal must be killed.

She said the bear had been killing calves, goats and chickens for at least six months near Mifflinburg, about 45 miles north of Harrisburg. The bear resumed killing even after game commission officers trapped and released it in May, she said.

She said the bear killed at least 13 animals, though none of them belonged to Nolt.

Fifteen witnesses were prepared to testify on Nolt's behalf, but Mohr said she did not need to put on a case after Remensnyder, Rishel and Rishel's wife testified that Rishel fired the fatal shot.

Mohr said that until Tuesday, she was under the impression her client had killed the bear.

Nolt shot the bear while he and his neighbor were looking for the carcass of his neighbor's goat that had been killed that morning.