Exams on the bodies of three dogs found buried at a north Phoenix home belonging to rapper DMX showed that two had serious wounds, the Maricopa County sheriff said Saturday.

One of the dogs had serious bite wounds and another had trauma to its abdomen, but exact causes of death were not determined, Sheriff Joe Arpaio said. A third dog carcass had been burned so badly an exam was inconclusive.

The remains were dug up on Aug. 24, when sheriff's investigators probing allegations of animal neglect raided the rapper's home. 

Authorities also seized 12 live pit bulls, seized numerous weapons, and found about a quarter-once of marijuana in a bedroom, Arpaio said. The sheriff initially said a half-pound of suspected narcotics was found, but tests showed the substance was not illegal drugs.

No charges have been filed against the rapper, whose real name is Earl Simmons. His lawyer, Murray Richman, has said DMX was not at the home during the raid, hadn't been there for months and was paying caretakers and veterinarians to care for his animals.

Arpaio said investigators are now trying to piece together a timeline in an effort to find out when the animals died and if Simmons was in Phoenix at the time. He also said investigators are checking the firearms, which included s everal assault-style rifles, to see if they were legal and if any gun laws have been broken.

For now, no one has been charged with any crime, but Arpaio said that may change.

"Someone's going to have to pay for this," the sheriff said. "We have 12 dogs who were abused and three dogs buried in the yard - someone's going to have to pay."

Richman said Saturday that "circumstances appear to be unchanged" and questioned how the sheriff could connect his client to any alleged animal abuse.

"How do you attribute activities to a person who has not been there, when they have knowledge that other persons have been," Richman said. "Is it because of the celebrity nature?"

Arpaio said there's no evidence of organized dogfighting. The 12 seized dogs are being cared for at a sheriff's facility converted from a jail into an animal shelter and are doing well.

Sheriff's investigators were tipped to possible animal neglect in early August, and questioned a man at the home who said he was being paid to care for the digs, but planned to go on vacation and didn't know who would replace him. No one was home when police raided the home days later.

The 36-year-old rapper has had previous run-ins with the law. In June 2006, Scottsdale police cited him for carrying a concealed handgun outside a nightclub.

He also served 70 days in jail in 2005 for violating his parole following a 2004 incident in which he posed as an undercover federal agent and crashed his sport utility vehicle through a security gate at Kennedy International Airport.

Simmons was also fined and ordered to make public service announcements for the Humane Society after police found pipes for smoking crack cocaine, a pistol and 13 pit bulls at his home in Teaneck, N.J. in 1999. He pleaded guilty to animal cruelty, disorderly conduct and possession of drug paraphernalia in that case.

Source: Associated Press