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Attorneys/Judges
| Defense(s): | David W. Macey |
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Dozens of cats found gutted, mutilated, posed
Cutler Bay/palmetto Bay, FL (US)Incident Date: Tuesday, May 12, 2009
County: Miami-Dade
Charges: Felony CTA
Disposition: Dismissed
Case Images: 1 files available
Person of Interest: Tyler Hayes Weinman
Case Updates: 10 update(s) available
Along a quiet street in Cutler Bay, neighbors awoke last week to a startling discovery: mutilated cats left on display in the yards of family homes. Some skinned, others sliced across the stomach -- the bodies were left like talismans in some horror movie.
In all, city officials and police say, there have been about 20 cats reported found maimed and killed in Cutler Bay and Palmetto Bay. Miami-Dade police, with the assistance of the county's animal services, are investigating the mystery but have made no arrests.
''We take a very dim view of this,'' said Detective Bobby Williams, a Miami-Dade police spokesman. ``We find it very disturbing an individual would do something like this to defenseless animals.''
''We're looking into whether or not these cases are linked,'' he said.
The rash of cat deaths, first reported last week, prompted Palmetto Bay Mayor Eugene Flinn to issue this warning on Monday: ``Residents should keep their cats inside their homes until it has been determined who or what has caused these deaths and there is no longer a threat to the feline population of the village.''
On Tuesday, the Humane Society of the United States announced a $2,500 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in what they said were ``serial cat killings.''
''This is particularly gruesome and egregious,'' said Jennifer Hobgood, the organization's Florida director. 'If you speak to the investigator, the phrase he used is that the cats are being left like `little trophies.' ''
A police report from a woman who found two cats in her yard in the 19700 block of Whispering Pines Road describes two mutilated cats: ``Both were sliced open and one was posed.''
Such was the case for Chris Quarles, whose 11-year-old cat Jack was found dead last week. A Miami-Dade school counselor, Quarles said it seems as though the killings were methodical.
''He was skinned from the belly all the way down and had cut marks on his back leg,'' he said.
``The police said some cats were missing up to a week and then showed up back at their [owner's] house dismembered and killed. Somebody is thinking about what he's doing.''
His cat was found dead Thursday, within a day of about 10 cats being found in the same neighborhood.
Said Cutler Bay Mayor Paul Vrooman: 'There are human victims in this and families' hearts are broken and they are going through grief as their pets are being killed.''
The scene was similar in Palmetto Bay, where Alicia Glatzer's husband found the body of one of the family's cats, Sarah, in the yard.
Part of her face was missing, her belly had been skinned and her intestines spilled onto the grass. Though it seemed unlikely, they thought the cat had been struck by a car. Then they heard news reports about the injuries inflicted on other cats nearby.
''We have two other cats,'' Alicia Glatzer said. ``My concern is every day when I walk out whether I'll find another dead cat outside.''
Barbara Wiesinger, 68, said she found the bodies of several cats in her Cutler Bay neighborhood before finding her 15-year-old calico, named Cami, a few houses away. Gone was part of the cat's face.
''Your mind can't wrap around the why of it, or even the how,'' she said. ``How did they get them and what are they going to do now.''
Case UpdatesTyler Weinman, the youth once accused of mutilating 19 cats across South Miami-Dade, is suing the county and a prominent animal rights organization for botching the high-profile investigation that led to his arrest.
Miami-Dade prosecutors dropped felony animal-abuse charges against Weinman in November 2010, an embarrassing conclusion to a highly publicized case.
Relying on the opinions of employees of the county's animal services department, Miami-Dade detectives had built a circumstantial case that collapsed when a defense expert discovered animal bite marks, probably from a large dog, under the fur of eight preserved cat carcasses.
Named in the lawsuit: Miami-Dade County, including Detective Dominick Columbro and former Animal Services Director Sara Pizano; and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the University of Florida, which employed forensic veterinarian Melinda D. Merck.
The suit alleges that negligence by the county and Merck - chiefly, the failure to detect the dog bite marks on the cat carcasses �" led to Weinman's false arrest.
"This young man was vilified in the media. It became a national and international subject. He became a pariah," said civil attorney Ronald S. Guralnick, who filed the suit Tuesday. "My client should have never been charged in the first place."
The suit asks for damages, and notes that Weinman's father, Douglas Weinman, spent more than $144,000 in legal fees to defend his son.
"I am excited that this civil case will allow the truth to unfold," said his criminal-defense attorney, David Macey. "The negligence and corruption will be exposed for all to see. This case will be another step in restoring Tyler's good name."
The investigation began in April 2009 when the mutilated bodies of house cats, appearing as though they were posed to generate terror, began appearing in the yards of homes in Cutler Bay and Palmetto Bay.
The deaths whipped cat-loving neighbors into a panic. An animal services investigator, Fernando Casadevall, who was being filmed by an Animal Planet cable reality show crew, pronounced that the deaths were the work of a cat killer.
With growing public pressure, Miami-Dade police assembled a task force and, as a result of an anonymous tip, soon homed in on Weinman, now 21.
The evidence, while tantalizing, was circumstantial.
During a traffic stop, Weinman tossed out a "cutting tool" from his vehicle, police said. Another blade was found in a man-made hole cut in his bedroom and hidden by a picture.
Detectives also described Weinman as sporting long red scratches that appeared to have been inflicted by a struggling cat. Investigators said that during questioning, Weinman eagerly described how he dissected cats in a Palmetto Senior High School anatomy class.
Detectives also attached an electronic tracking device on Weinman's car, and they later claimed it placed him in the area of one killing. However, the lawsuit said that police misrepresented the evidence when asking a judge for an arrest warrant.
Mostly, the case hinged on the scientific evidence. Pizano, who resigned from her position in August, initially examined the carcasses and determined that 19 of 33 dead cats were killed by a human being.
Her findings were echoed by Merck, ASPCA's director of veterinary forensic sciences and the co-founder of UF's veterinary forensic science training program.
But the lawsuit pointed out that Merck agreed with Pizano without examining the cats herself.
"She merely relied upon the reports, opinions and photographs supplied to her by Pizano," the lawsuit reads.
Merck was involved in another controversial animal-abuse case filed by the Miami-Dade prosecutors.
She was the chief state expert in the case of an Aventura man accused of having sex with his Great Dane. But after six defense experts contradicted her testimony, prosecutors in January 2011 dropped the case.
Miami-Dade police and an ASPCA spokeswoman declined to comment Wednesday. | Source: miamiherald.com - Jan 26, 2012
Update posted on Jan 26, 2012 - 12:19AM |
Tyler Weinman, who had been charged with the killing and mutilating of cats in South Miami-Dade County, is now in the clear after an expert witness determined the cats were killed by predators, and not a human being.
"There was no crime. It was just a witch hunt," said Weinman as he spoke to reporters from his attorney's office. "They just went crazy. They wanted a warm body to hold up in front of everybody and it's terrible."
His attorney David Macey told CBS4's Jim DeFede that Tyler found out the charges had been dropped when pre-trial services called him to tell him he could return the ankle monitor because he had been cleared of all charges.
Weinman had been facing facing 21 counts of felony animal cruelty and improperly disposing of an animal body as well as four counts of burglary. Weinman was accused of killing 21 cats in Palmetto Bay and Cutler Bay in 2009.
"Don't be upset that they did this to me," said Weinman. "Let me take care of that. Be upset that they could have done this to you."
The State Attorney's Office noted in a close-out report on the case that it "is interesting to note that upon Tyler Weinman's arrest, the killings of the cats in Cutler Bay, Palmetto Bay, and the Kendall area immediately ceased."
"However, the State Attorney's Office did not learn that there had been two large, wild dogs seized by animal services the same day as Weinman's arrest in the neighborhood of Cutler Bay until the deposition of Investigator Fernando Casadevall which was conducted in the fall of 2010."
Two contract veterinarians from Miami-Dade Animal Services had previously found that the cats were killed by a human being and not a predator.
Defense expert, Dr. Richard K. Stroud, conducted necropsies on the cats that had been preserved and found that the cats had puncture wounds "consistent with bite marks of large predators such as dogs in excess of 50 pounds."
Dr. Sara Pizano of Miami-Dade Animal Services agreed with Dr. Stroud's findings and said she should have peeled back the fur in her necropsies, which would have revealed the puncture wounds.
The State Attorney's office said because of those facts, it is "no longer in a position to prove that all of the cats had been killed by a human being, versus a predator."
The State Attorney's office said in the conclusion of the report that the Miami-Dade Animal Services "was simply unprepared and untrained for a case of this magnitude." | Source: cbs4.com - Nov 24, 2010
Update posted on Nov 25, 2010 - 1:31PM |
A teenager accused of killing of more than a dozen cats in South Florida does not pose a danger to himself or the community and can be released from jail on bond, a judge ruled Wednesday.
Judge John Thornton ordered Tyler Hayes Weinman, 18, released after a brief hearing Wednesday morning. Weinman, who appeared in a Miami-Dade County courtroom in a red, jail-issued uniform, will wear an electronic monitoring bracelet while he awaits his trial and will be allowed to attend counseling sessions that were recommended by a doctor after a court-ordered psychiatric evaluation.
"He is competent to proceed and does not, at this time, appear to be at risk of harming himself or others," Thornton said.
Weinman has been charged with 19 counts each of animal cruelty and improperly disposing of an animal body. He also faces four counts of burglary related to the cat deaths. His bond, which was set at $249,500, was posted Tuesday.
Weinman is accused of the gruesome cat killings that terrorized residents of two south Miami-Dade County neighborhoods for about a month. Police believe he is behind the deaths of more than a dozen animals, whose mutilated bodies were discovered by their owners or other residents. Police say they investigated the deaths of about 30 cats, but they say some were likely killed by dogs. | Source: Momento24 - Oct 13, 2010
Update posted on Oct 17, 2010 - 12:51AM |
| The Miami-Dade teenager who shocked the community last year by committing horrendous crimes against his neighbor’s cats was in court on May 5, 2010. According to reports, Tyler Weinman appeared before a Miami judge who sentenced him to house arrest until his trial, which is set for calendar call October 25, 2010. | Source: Examiner.com - May 5, 2010
Update posted on Jun 2, 2010 - 4:50PM |
A Miami-Dade County judge ruled Wednesday that an accused serial cat killer can visit his mother on Mother's Day.
Tyler Weinman has been on house arrest since being arrested and charged with killing and mutilating at least 19 cats in Palmetto Bay and Cutler Bay in April and June of last year.
The cat killings stopped once Weinman was arrested.
The judge also ruled Weinman can visit his father on Father's Day and that Weinman can take Miami-Dade College courses online. The judge said he wanted to speak to the college before deciding if Weinman can attend classes in person.
Weinman's trial has been set for October. | Source: WPLG Miami - May 5, 2010
Update posted on Aug 26, 2010 - 11:46AM |
Court documents show that the South Florida teen accused of killing more than a dozen cats had offered to police a partial confession in exchange for a deal.
The documents say that 18-year-old Tyler Weinman offered to tell police about some of the cats he killed during an interview shortly before his June 14 arrest if they made criminal charges on the others "go away."
The documents reveal that the interview was stopped when Weinman asked for his attorney.
Weinman's lawyer, David Macey, said the statements were misleading or false since the real statement will never be heard "because the investigation failed to find a tape recorder."
Weinman is charged with 19 counts each of felony animal cruelty and improperly disposing of an animal body, and four counts of burglary. | Source: Miami Herald - Jul 30, 2009
Update posted on Jul 31, 2009 - 12:39AM |
The answer to mysterious cat killings that horrified pet owners and disturbed residents of two South Florida communities for months was not far away from where the animals' mutilated bodies were discovered, authorities say.
In some cases, investigators said the suspect was just a few houses away.
Tyler Hayes Weinman, whose divorced parents live in the neighborhoods where many of the cats were killed, was charged Sunday with 19 counts each of animal cruelty and improperly disposing of an animal body.
"It's shocking to think that someone who lives right here and is our neighbor would do something like this," said Thomas Shad, a Cutler Bay resident whose black cat, Miss Kitty, was among the dead. The body of the small feral cat -- which Shad and his wife, Mary Lou, had fed and cared for about a year -- was found behind an abandoned house, near the hedges where she slept.
"Now we feel like we can let our cats out of the patio," said Shad, as the couple's new kitten, Miss Prissy, played near his feet. "Perhaps we have part of our life back."
Authorities said they had been watching Weinman for some time. A few weeks ago, investigators swept in to interview him on his prom night, neighbors said, picking him up in his tuxedo before the big dance. He was arrested at a party on Sunday.
"If they do get the wrong guy and it's not him, they've ruined his life as it is right now," said 19-year-old Kyle Hantzis, who lives next door.
Weinman's attorney, David W. Macey, said in an e-mail that his client was innocent of the charges.
"Tyler welcomes his day in court, so that he will be completely vindicated," Macey said.
In the past month, residents in the Palmetto Bay and Cutler Bay neighborhoods have reported finding the bodies of more than two dozen cats, although police said some were likely killed by dogs. Some were missing fur -- neighbors said some had been skinned -- and appeared to have been cut with a sharp, straight instrument, police said.
"What a horrible, horrific death for any animal," said Nancy Mayes, whose cat, Sheba, was found dead this May. "We can only hope, I can only hope, that he killed her fast and instantly so that she didn't endure the pain of the knife, the mutilation."
Louis B. Schlesinger, a professor of forensic psychology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, said cat killings are committed by "complicated individuals," and are usually solo acts. He said the teenager should be evaluated, and he expected court officials to take the matter seriously.
"When you kill cats, disembowel them and cut their heads off, that is not a good sign and you do not have to be Sigmund Freud to see that," he said.
On Sunday, no one answered knocks at Weinman's beige house in the Cutler Bay neighborhood, which Shad said was stitched with police tape early that morning. A welcome mat dotted with pictures of paw prints playfully encouraged visitors to "wipe your paws."
At another address for Weinman in nearby Palmetto Bay, a red-and-black warning told fire crews that a cat lived in the house. Lights were on inside, but no one answered the door.
Messages left at phone numbers for his parents were not returned.
Police said they investigated more than 30 cat deaths since May and were flooded with tips from concerned citizens. Miami-Dade Police Department Maj. Julie Miller said the investigation was still open, but she declined to name other suspects.
Authorities said Weinman was spending his summer doing odd jobs. He was twice arrested as a juvenile, though they said they could not provide details. | Source: Comcast News - June 15, 2009
Update posted on Jun 15, 2009 - 8:32AM |
Two more cats have been found dead in Miami Dade -- bringing the total now to more than two-dozen pets mutilated in recent months.
Local 10 spoke to Armani Perez, who said he woke Sunday morning to the sound of police knocking on his front door -- informing him that a small grey cat was found dead on his front lawn.
"Right here. Right next to the mailbox. Right here. And it was laying on its left side," Perez told Local 10.
He said the animal was "skinned from the waist down" and left dead in plain sight.
"I just think that's crazy. That's sick. Why would you do that? Who would have pleasure doing that?" he asked.
That's exactly what investigators want to know in the horrifying mystery that's been unfolding since April.
Local 10's Julie Summers also visited a neighborhood about a half mile away where another cat was found dead Saturday.
Summers spoke to concerned cat owner Jannie LeVines who lives next door to the animal that was killed.
And Summers watched as LeVines scooped up her beloved male cat to bring him inside for the night where it's safe.
"He's going to go in my garage very shortly," she told Summers.
She then asked, "You don't let him out at night any more?"
"No, no. Because his friend got killed over here," LeVines replied.
That "friend," the neighbor's cat who was killed this weekend, is part of a disturbing pattern investigators worry will escalate.
"I just think that's messed up because I love animals and you shouldn't kill animals," said Perez. "They're a gift from God. So you shouldn't do that. That's really messed up."
The reward leading to an arrest of whoever is responsible is now more than $ 12,000.00. It's a collaborative effort from CrimeStoppers, local humane societies and individual people who are disgusted and outraged by what's happening. And they hope money will help bring this sickening series to an end. | Source: WPLG - Jun 7, 2009
Update posted on Jun 7, 2009 - 7:52PM |
At a Palmetto Bay council meeting Wednesday, village officials assured residents that they aim to catch the killer or killers who has slaughtered more than two dozen cats in the village and nearby Cutler Bay since April.
Three more cats were found murdered over the Memorial Day holiday weekend in Palmetto Bay alone: one at Southwest 173rd Street and 88th Avenue and the other at 165th Street and 92nd Avenue.
The third cat, found by its Palmetto Bay owner in the area of Southwest 174th Street and 92nd Avenue, had its belly sliced from front to rear. Its skinned corpse was left on the owner's yard.
''Officer Gregory Truitt reassured [village leaders] that police were doing everything in their power and are providing full resources to this investigation,'' Palmetto Bay spokesman Bill Kress said. ``Officer Truitt said in his 22 months he'd never seen such an outlay of resources.''
Still, residents voiced frustration that no one has been caught. They urged the village to offer its own reward system.
Palmetto Bay is relying on Crime Stoppers to manage the reward money because ''they takes tips and reward money 24/7 and are better [able] to manage a reward system,'' Kress said Thursday.
Donations have flowed into Crime Stoppers. The reward on Friday was $5,000 -- and growing. An additional $3,000 has come in but the checks have to clear before the total updates.
Carolyn Bandklayder, who lives in The Falls, said she and her husband sent Crime Stoppers a check for $1,000. Two of their friends, one in Pinecrest and the other in Key Biscayne, chipped in another $700 last week, she added.
''We have five cats and do fundraising every December for abused, neglected and abandoned animals and we are very anxious to have this person arrested,'' Bandklayder said.
In addition, Bandklayder has made up fliers and has been posting them around her neighborhood to bring attention to the case. She urges people to bring their cats indoors.
''Some people don't have a clue,'' she said. 'As I was handing out fliers a man said, `I thought this was happening in Hollywood.' I know it's not happening in this neighborhood [in the Falls] but who's to say it won't. Somebody has to stand up for these little guys.''
Kress said that ''more than 60,000 eyes between the two villages'' are engaged in the lookout for the suspect or suspects responsible for the cat mutilations.
Cutler Bay Mayor Paul Vrooman also said his community and officers are pursuing ``an aggressive investigation.''
In an e-mail to The Miami Herald, Laura Maloney, Senior Vice President, Anti-Cruelty for the New York-based American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, expressed ''grave concern'' over ``the horrific mutilation and killing of cats in Southwest Miami-Dade.''
Maloney cited research that establishes a link between violence toward animals and humans and noted the case of Washington, D.C.-area sniper Lee Boyd Malvo in 2002. A defense psychiatrist argued that Malvo's teen history of cat-killing meant that he was ''unable to distinguish between right and wrong and was unable to resist the impulse'' to commit the sniper killings. Malvo is serving multiple life sentences with no chance for parole.
Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, who killed 17 males before he was caught and later beaten to death in prison by another inmate in 1994, reportedly abused animals as he entered his teen years.
''Cruelty aimed at cats is a particular cause for concern because it has been specifically associated with future tendencies of violence against humans,'' Maloney wrote in her e-mail. ``I strongly encourage the Miami-Dade community to remain vigilant and report and suspected animal abuse to the appropriate authorities.''
Anyone with information is asked to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477 (TIPS). To make a donation, checks should be made out to Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers and Donation-Cats should be printed in the subject line. Mail checks to 1030 NW 111 Ave., Miami, FL 33172. | Source: Miami Herald - May 31, 2009
Update posted on May 31, 2009 - 10:46PM |
The mutilated bodies of three cats were found in Southwest Miami-Dade this week, adding to the dozens that were already maimed and killed this month by an apparent serial cat killer.
The bizarre crime spree has left residents of Cutler Bay and Palmetto Bay reeling as cats have been found skinned and gutted, left dead on their owners' lawns.
And the killer -- or killers -- continue to elude investigators.
''This man is getting bolder and bolder. The cat that was found this morning was skinned from the waist down, and that takes longer and longer. It is very frustrating and it is heart wrenching,'' says Dee Chess, founder of Friends Forever Animal Rescue in Palmetto Bay.
The latest incidents happened on Memorial Day when two cats were found mutilated, one at Southwest 173rd Street and 88th Avenue and the other at 165th Street and 92nd Avenue.
A third cat was found Tuesday morning by its Palmetto Bay owner, John Wellons, in the area of Southwest 174th Street and 92nd Avenue.
According to police, the cat's belly had been sliced from front to rear. Its skinned corpse was found on the southwest portion of Wellons' side yard.
He last saw his cat alive Monday at 7 p.m., police said. By daybreak Tuesday, it was lying dead in his yard. The Wellons family could not immediately be reached by telephone.
According to residents, the cats' butchered bodies have been left like mangled trophies on their owners' yards since early May. Research in psychology and criminology has shown that individuals who commit such acts of cruelty to animals often graduate to harming humans.
''Doing this to an animal is as serious as doing it to a person. Everyone is at risk -- animals and their families alike,'' said Cindy Hewitt, former executive director of Cat Network and current free-roaming cat coordinator with the Humane Society.
Authorities are warning residents to keep their cats indoors at night when these killings seem to be taking place.
To help in the effort, the Cat Network (305-255-3482) has offered to lend residents cat traps to help care for stray cats. Residents are also urged to keep outside lights on or connected to a motion detector.
Last week, the Humane Society of the United States announced a $2,500 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in what it called ``serial cat killings.''
The reward was increased to $3,500 via Crime Stoppers. Tax-deductible donations are also being accepted to increase the reward amount.
Miami-Dade police are investigating, with the assistance of the county's animal services division.
Detective Bobby Williams, a Miami-Dade police spokesman, said investigators are looking for people to come forward with information about the killings. ''However small the information might be, it might be something we can use in the investigation,'' he said.
One problem that has hampered the investigation is that victims have removed the evidence -- the bodies -- before calling the police.
''I can appreciate the emotion behind that, but police need to examine the crime scene,'' Hewitt says.
``It's just as important with an animal murder as with a human. If you find an animal that may be a victim, don't touch it.''
Instead, experts ask that residents call 305-4POLICE immediately and cover the animal with a plastic bag, rather than cloth, which can taint evidence. Do not move the body or place it inside a bag.
Residents are also mobilizing by distributing fliers at local veterinary clinics, pet stores and other high-traffic businesses in the two communities.
''I'm still surprised by how many people don't know about this,'' Hewitt says.
Anyone with information is asked to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS. Or they can call Miami-Dade Detective Dominick Columbro at 305-234-4237 or Miami-Dade Animal Services Investigator Fernando J. Casadevall Jr. at 305-884-1102, ext. 240. To make a donation, checks should be made out to Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers and Donation-Cats should be printed in the subject line. Mail checks to 1030 NW 111 Ave., Miami, Fl., 33172. | Source: Miami Herald - May 28, 2009
Update posted on May 28, 2009 - 10:46AM |
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