Palmer shot the bear in a protected area, 40 miles from where hunting was permitted.
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U.S. Attorney John Vaudreuil said Palmer knew what he did was wrong and offered three guides on the hunt $20,000 to lie about where the bear was killed.
But the guides didn’t lie.
“He was lying to us”, Vaudreuil told ABC’s 20/20. “He was offering to pay, it turns out, about $20,000 to keep the others who were in the hunt, to have them lie, so that’s a fairly aggressive cover-up”, he said.
But the truth about what happened came out when the guards he tried to bribe told the truth about what happened. He pleaded guilty to felony charges of making false statements to the the authorities and got away with paying a fine of only $3,000.
He received one year probation.
Newly-released pictures show the dentist who killed Cecil the lion illegally hunted a black bear 10 years ago and tried to cover up the slaying.
According Parks and Wildlife Management Authority and Safari Operators Association of Zimbabwe, Cecil the Lion was a major tourist attraction.
It also announced a life ban on individuals involved in illegal hunting activities and banned bow hunting for big game unless authorized by the parks authority.
The public response to the killing was so intense that Palmer went into hiding and has not been seen since the news of Cecil’s death was released.
But he said in a statement he had hired professional guides and believed all the necessary hunting permits were in order.
Palmer ended up closing his dentistry practice as a result of the backlash and animal rights activists took it one step further, asking the Minnesota Board of Dentistry to investigate the dentist who killed a protected lion in Zimbabwe.
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The shocking images, obtained by ABC through a Freedom of Information Act request, show Dr. Walter Palmer posing alongside the carcass with a bow and arrow in Wisconsin in 2006. He then beheaded the animal and kept the head as a trophy.
