Murder Most Feline: Cat Killings in Florida

Barbara Wiesinger had an evening ritual with her cat, Cami. She'd go outside and call out the calico's name, and before long, Cami would saunter up, meow, and wait to be picked up. But on the night of May 12, Cami didn't appear. Wiesinger didn't think too much of it and headed back inside. When the cat was still missing the following morning, though, she began to worry. She took her dog out for a walk in Cutler Bay, south of Miami, and encountered an agitated neighbor who told her there were a number of mutilated cats around a nearby lake. Wiesinger went to investigate and found the carcass of one cat that had been mutilated. A little further along, she found another one; it had been skinned and its skull was smashed. Later that day, she finally found Cami in a neighbor's yard. "Her head was crushed, and her eyes and nose were missing," says Wiesinger. "You could see her eye sockets, and her face was gone."

According to police, Cami's killing was the ghoulish handiwork of Tyler Weinman, an 18-year-old who's been dubbed the "cat serial killer." He was arrested two weeks ago on charges of mutilating and killing 19 cats across southern Miami-Dade County over the course of a month. The killing spree terrified cat owners, bedeviled police investigators, and triggered a communitywide manhunt. Now that it may be over, the rampage leaves this Florida community, and animal lovers everywhere, struggling to understand how anyone could commit such savage behavior.

To read the full Newsweek article, please click here.

Many connections have been made between those offenders exhibiting cruelty to animals and those who later commit violence on humans. Law enforcement officers and analysts may be able to predict this type of future behavior by examining the actions of those offenders arrested or convicted for animal cruelty offenses.

Links to information on this topic are shown below:

• Jennifer Copley. Animal Cruelty Linked to Violence Against People. Suite101.com. September 19, 2008.
• Cynthia Hodges. The Link Between Animal Cruelty and Violence Towards People. December, 2007.
• Frank R. Ascione. Animal Abuse and Youth Violence. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. September, 2001.
• Exploring the Link Between Violence to People and Animals. American Humane Association. 1999.
• PETA Media Center. Animal Abuse and Human Abuse: Partners in Crime. Has good references.