According to the Lake County Sheriff's Department, Bessigano rode a bicycle to Buckley Homestead on Nov. 13, entered a building where guinea fowl were being housed and sexually assaulted one of the birds, killing it in the process.
Police said Bessigano tried to hide the dead bird in a nearby trash barrel. Employees at Buckley Homestead reported the killing, police said.
Not long after the assault, Lake County police served a search warrant at Bessigano's home at that time in Lowell and recovered feathers from the guinea fowl, police said. The date of that search was not available Friday night.
DNA testing showed the feathers at Bessigano's home matched the bird found dead in the Buckley Homestead trash barrel, according to police.
Police said Bessigano was wearing blue jeans covered in blood when they searched his home. An analysis by the Indiana State Police Laboratory found the blood on the jeans belonged to an undetermined species of animal.
Police also found bestiality pornography, a large rubber wolf mask and an altar surrounded by candles.