bored teenagers perhaps? yikes.....

20 cat deaths leave Fla. communities worried

By SARAH LARIMER, Associated Press Writer
1 hr 50 mins ago

MIAMI – The black cat's body was found in the grass, just feet from the hedges where she slept each day.

Miss Kitty was still warm to the touch when the South Florida couple who cared for her found her in the yard next door. Her head was smashed and her back legs skinned, like pieces of chicken in a grocer's freezer. And she was not the only one to suffer such a fate.

Horrified owners have been finding their cats killed and mutilated for the past month in two south Miami-Dade County communities. Many of the cats were missing fur and appeared to have been cut with a sharp, straight instrument, police said. In all, investigators are looking into about two dozen deaths, with enough evidence to try to prosecute at least 15 of the cases.

"Every time I hear about someone else, I'm in their shoes and I see my cat again," said Mary Lou Shad, who fed and cared for Miss Kitty with her husband for the past year. Although the cat was feral, they considered her their pet.
"I feel terrorized to the point where everywhere I go, I'm looking for dead cats on the side of the road," Shad said.

Investigators don't yet know who or what is behind the gruesome cat deaths in Cutler Bay and Palmetto Bay, but owners are keeping their pets inside, raising reward money and warily eyeing strangers.

Police spokeswoman Rebeca Perez said the manner of death indicates a person killed the animals, and that the deaths could be linked. So far, there's no indication the killer or killers plan to attack people.

Whoever's responsible "hasn't given any indication that this is some sort of a threat where this person's going to commit these crimes against a human being," Perez said.

The Shads' canary-colored home sits in a calm suburban neighborhood of small one-story houses, neat lawns and caring neighbors. There is a school nearby and a park with swings and playground equipment. An ice cream truck rumbles through, its tune echoing down the streets.

But the apparent tranquility belies residents' anger and fear.
"Be aware that there is a psychopathic coward, killing cats," reads one poster taped to a neighborhood street sign.

The sign is not far from the home of 68-year-old Barbara Wiesinger, whose cat, Cami, was found in a neighbor's yard this month. Wiesinger said she saw the calico's fur poking up in a patch of grass. She immediately knew her pet was dead.

"This is not an accident. This is somebody sick," she said.
Allison Smith, who watched her 4-year-old son and her 6-year-old nephew play barefoot in the local park on a muggy afternoon this week, said she recently called the police to her Palmetto Bay home after she found bowls in her front yard. She worried someone might be trying to lure out her two cats, Marvin and Molly, but the bowls simply belonged to a neighbor. Still, she is keeping the cats inside.

"They were inside-outside," Smith said. "But not anymore."
Louis B. Schlesinger, a professor of forensic psychology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, said residents should be cautious, even if initial signs don't indicate humans are in danger. He said the man believed to the "Boston Strangler" also shot cats with arrows.

"This should be taken as seriously as could possibly be," he said.
Local authorities are urging pet owners to keep their animals indoors. A tip line has also been established, and local organizations have contributed thousands in reward money for information would helps lead to the arrest of the culprit.

A month ago, 42-year-old Alicia Glatzer's husband found their cat, Sarah, outside their Palmetto Bay home. The cat had been skinned and half of her face was missing. The family initially thought that the cat had been hit by a car, but a week later learned of the other killings.

These days, Glatzer looks at people's hands and arms for scratch marks. She hopes for a stronger police presence in their neighborhood after what happened to Sarah, a pretty white cat with a black and tan tail that adopted the family about three years ago.

"I'm afraid that we are going to be prey," Glatzer said. "Our cats have fallen to prey. Who's to say that we are not next?
[Edited 6/10/09 5:52am]

ok I read the first sentence...but I can't take anymore more devastation tonight...

I don't know much about FL laws, but I hope these crimes are felonies punishable with a long prison term for whoever is responsible.

sounds like a fledging serial killer, possibly a teenager. I am sorry for the kitties, but I'd be terrified because this person is practicing.

very sad. i hope the kitties stay safe away from this asshole

One time there was someone preying on dogs in my neighbourhood by throwing meat laced with poison.

Another time someone was going around killing cats.

Sick people out there.

Nuts! Cats are Great and should never be HARMED. Witches always have Cats as their Familiars. Dogs are NEVER EVER USED in MAGIC. Maybe this was some SANTERIA RITUAL. The SPANISH use Cats.

my uncles when they were young boys used to bury stray cats up to their necks and take a golf club to their heads

this is some bored teenager type stuff or some future Jeffrey Dahmer stuff

not to rush to judgement but.. he fits the profile.
I had a feeling it was a teenager.

MIAMI — A teenager accused of killing and mutilating cats in two South Florida communities must undergo a psychiatric evaluation before he is released from jail, a judge ruled Monday.

Tyler Hayes Weinman, 18, appeared at an afternoon bond hearing in a Miami-Dade County courtroom via videoconference, a day after he was charged with 19 counts each of animal cruelty and improperly disposing of an animal body and four counts of burglary related to the deaths.

Weinman wore a sleeveless, blue vest reserved for prisoners on suicide watch and occasionally shifted back and forth, at times appearing disinterested in the courtroom proceedings. Judge Mindy Glazer ruled Weinman must also wear an electronic monitoring device if he is released on bond, which was set at $249,500.

"I'm concerned about his safety and the safety of the community," Glazer said after ordering the evaluation.

Weinman is accused of the cat killings that terrorized residents of two south Miami-Dade County neighborhoods for about a month. The teenager, whose divorced parents live in both communities, was arrested over the weekend at a party. Police believe he is behind the deaths of more than a dozen cats, whose mutilated bodies were discovered by their horrified owners or other residents.

"It's trial by ambush," Weinman's attorney, David Macey, said. "It's anything goes so that they can have a body, a warm body, to solve these cat killings. My heart and my sympathy goes out to the owners of these pets, but unfortunately, it won't provide them any relief that Tyler's in custody. Tyler is innocent."

If convicted, Weinman, a recent high school graduate, could face a maximum sentence of 158 years in prison, State Attorney's Office spokeswoman Terry Chavez said.

Macey said his client had been kept awake for 24 hours and interrogated for eight hours, saying his client's case was being run with a "lynch mob mentality." Police have kept most of the details of the investigation under wraps.