The incident that killed Pinyan occurred at a 40-acre (16 ha) farm located in an unincorporated area in King County, Washington,[15][16] 5 miles (8.0 km) northwest of the city of Enumclaw.[15] Sgt. John Urquhart of the Sheriff's Office said that "typically", men were having sex with a horse whose name was not publicly disclosed on the property of James Michael Tait, a truck driver who lived in a trailer next to the farm, "but on this particular night it is my understanding that horse wasn't particularly receptive".[17] Pinyan, Tait, and a third unidentified man snuck into the barn of the Southeast 444th Street farm that night. Either Pinyan or the unidentified man recorded Tait being anally penetrated by a stallion the men had referred to as "Big Dick". After finishing, Tait then filmed Pinyan being anally penetrated by the same horse. During this incident, Pinyan sustained internal injuries including a perforated colon.[2][17]
On July 2, 2005, Douglas Spink dropped Pinyan off at the Enumclaw Community Hospital.[15][18] Medical staff wheeled Pinyan into an examination room before realizing he was dead.[15] According to the Medical Examiner's Office, Pinyan, 45, "died of acute peritonitis due to perforation of the colon",[15] and the death was ruled accidental.[19]
