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Case #1305 Rating: 3.0 out of 5
Monday, Apr 28, 2003
County: Suffolk
Disposition: Convicted
Case Images: 4 files available
Defendant/Suspect: Heidi Kristine Erickson
Case Updates: 11 update(s) available
City officials raided an apartment on Beacon Hill yesterday and found more than 60 dead cats and hundreds of syringes and medicine bottles in what appeared to be a secret laboratory. Officials from the city's Inspectional Services department found most of the dead cats stored in freezers. They also found five live cats, which along with a Great Dane were quite malnourished.
"There was something more sinister here and what that is we need to find out," Inspectional Services Commissioner Kevin Joyce said.
The Charles Street apartment was rented by Heidi Erickson, a breeder of Persian cats, who apparently was not living in the apartment but had been recently seen walking the dog, neighbors said. Authorities had not located her last night.
Erickson said on her website, whitepersians.org, that she breeds cats as a "serious hobby," not as a business. The website claims she runs a nonprofit, but no records to back up that claim were found in public records databases.
The website also says she studies "genetic relationships" of cats and claimed that she worked with several renowned scientists, including Dr. Jerome Kagan of Harvard University.
Last night, Kagan's wife said her husband had "no knowledge" of Erickson.
Erickson's landlord, Gordon Leblanc, said he rented the apartment to her in September. But Leblanc said he quickly moved to have her evicted after the apartment began smelling horribly. He later learned that she had been evicted in Cambridge under similar circumstances.
"It's been awful for seven months," said Gunnar Schmelzer, a neighbor. "It smelled like a litter box the whole time."
Cleanup crews said the woman made an effort to hide the smell, including covering the windows with plastic to keep the odor contained and using a number of fans and fragrance machines.
The apartment was condemned and Inspectional Services will hold a hearing Thursday to determine whether sanctions should be brought against the resident for violating city health codes.
Erickson has allegedly tormented previous neighbors, leaving animal parts in a yard, painting a Nazi symbol on a home, and tying up people with legal actions in state and federal courts, according to legal documents and a former neighbor.
Erickson, whom officials have not been able to locate, called a Globe reporter yesterday to say that the inspectors' findings against her are "fabricated" and "over-exploded and trumped up." She did not elaborate.
Though what she was doing with the cats is not clear, court filings in Middlesex Superior Court say she once told a customer she was ''very busy breeding the imperfections'' out of Persian cats. She also said she performed autopsies on them, the papers said.
Erickson has also been arrested and charged with assault and battery on an elderly/disabled person, someone court officials say she called an "adviser." Prosecutors later dropped the charges. She was also found not guilty of charges stemming from an alleged attack on a neighbor in 2000.
Erickson, who says she is dyslexic and therefore disabled and entitled to bring her Great Dane, Socrates, to court, has been a party to at least 18 lawsuits in state courts and a dozen more in US District Court, records show.
Case Updates
Heidi Erickson, known as the "Cat Lady," won't get a new trial on her 2003 convictions of animal cruelty in Boston. The state Appeals Court upheld those decisions Thursday, denying Erickson's request for a new trial.
Attorney Leonard Kesten, who is representing Plymouth in its case against Erickson, told the media the decision by the Appeals Court could help local efforts to remove a Great Dane still in Erickson's care.
A local woman involved in animal rescue work said Thursday she's concerned about the dog's welfare, noting Erickson usually has the dog with her when she travels around town, but the animal had not been seen in about a week.
Erickson was charged in March with nine counts of animal cruelty in Plymouth after 11 cats, all Persians, and the Great Dane were seized from her Lothrop Street apartment. Nine of those cats were found to be in poor body condition, eight of them severely malnourished. One of them has since died. Erickson has filed motions in federal court for the return of the cats and to keep the dog, but the motions have been denied, according to Kesten.
The nine Plymouth charges are all felonies and carry a five-year sentence and a $2,500 fine.
Police seized the cats and also the dog in March after discovering three dead cats in Erickson's refrigerator while in the apartment with the town health agent who was investigating foul odors coming from the residence. But the dog was released after it was determined to be healthy.
Health Director Susan Merrifield explained that one of the dead cats was in a bloody plastic bag and appeared mutilated. She said Erickson told her a veterinarian surgically removed a section of the cat so the remains could be sent to a facility in Texas for cloning.
Six years ago, when Boston police found dozens of dead cats and many others still alive but in poor health in Erickson's Boston residence, the courts ordered the frozen bodies returned when she claimed she planned to clone them.
In 2003, Boston police also seized a severely emaciated Great Dane that later died.
The pattern in Erickson's behavior, established by the similarity of the cases, could help Plymouth remove the dog, for its own protection, according to Kesten.
Erickson maintains the Great Dane is a service animal.
A cease and desist order filed by Merrifield's office notes that department had been responding to complaints of foul odors coming from Erickson's apartment for six months leading up to the discovery of the dead cats and the removal of the others.
"Our goal is that she does serve time," Police Chief Michael Botieri said during a press conference after the cats were rescued. "We're going to prosecute these (charges) to the nth degree."
The town hired Linda Brackett of the Nemasket Orphaned Animal Haven (NOAH) and an expert on Persians to help look after the cats.
NOAH has established a special rescue fund to help the town shelter care for the cats. Anyone who wants to assist can donate online at noah.petfinder.com, send a check to P.O. Box 233, Raynham Center, MA 02768 or donate in person at PetSmart at Shops at 5. Donations should be marked for the "Plymouth Persians." All funds collected will go directly to the cats' care.
Erickson is due back in court Tuesday on the Plymouth charges. |
Source: Wicked Plymouth - May 1, 2009
Update posted on May 1, 2009 - 6:22PM |
The state Appeals Court yesterday upheld the conviction of a woman found guilty in 2005 of six counts of animal cruelty toward five cats and a dog.
The court found "no merit" to Heidi "Cat Lady" Erickson's bid for a new trial. In April 2003, Boston police found inside Erickson's stench-permeated apartment an emaciated Great Dane lying in feces and unable to walk, "several cats barely alive" and 51 dead animals and containers stuffed with animal parts inside kitchen cabinets and the refrigerator, according to court papers.
Erickson received a suspended sentence. She currently faces nine new counts of animal cruelty. |
Source: Boston Herald - May 1, 2009
Update posted on May 1, 2009 - 6:10PM |
Beacon Hill's notorious cat lady was in the spotlight again yesterday after an angry confrontation with cops who say they found at least two dead felines in her freezer following a brief standoff at her Plymouth home.
Police removed her Great Dane and three Persian cats after an allegation of animal abuse against Heidi Erickson, who was convicted of animal cruelty in 2005 and kept dead cats in her freezer when she lived on Beacon Hill. Click here to read the rest of the story. |
Source: Pet-Abuse.Com Case #15351
Update posted on Mar 19, 2009 - 11:33AM |
The state's highest court says a woman who stored dozens of dead cats in her apartment can keep two seized by the city -- as long as she complies with city health codes.
Cat breeder Heidi Erickson was charged with animal cruelty after officials found five malnourished cats, one malnourished dog and more than 60 dead cats in her Beacon Hill apartment in 2003. Most of the dead cats were stored in freezers, but some were wrapped in plastic and left in bedrooms.
The city of Boston fought an order to return two of her dead cats after Erickson was convicted in 2005.
When a single justice of the state Supreme Judicial Court ruled she could have them back if she made arraignments for their proper disposal, Erickson appealed, arguing the order interfered with her property rights.
In a ruling Thursday, the full court said the single justice's order does not require Erickson to destroy or discard the animals, but says that whatever she does with them -- including keeping them -- must comply with health codes.
It was unclear what Erickson plans to do with the dead animals. Her attorney did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
"We would say that there is no way to keep a dead animal on your property and abide by health codes," said Jake Wark, a spokesman for District Attorney Daniel Conley, whose office prosecuted Erickson for the animal cruelty charges.
Back in 2003, Erickson said she was saving the dead cats to use their DNA in breeding. |
Source: WBZTV - Dec 7, 2007
Update posted on Dec 11, 2007 - 9:09AM |
A state Supreme Judicial Court justice has upheld a Boston Municipal Court judge's order to return four cats to a woman found guilty last month of six counts of animal cruelty, the Suffolk district attorney's office said yesterday. Justice Roderick L. Ireland turned down an appeal by Suffolk prosecutors when he ruled to return the cats to Heidi Erickson, 44.
However, Ireland also wrote in a two-page ruling that Erickson must not violate any court order, including a May 2003 order from the Boston Housing Court that prohibits her from owning animals if she lives in a residential rental unit within Boston.
Since the court order still holds, Erickson would not be able to live in a Boston apartment if she has the cats, said David Procopio, a spokesman for the district attorney's office. |
Source: Boston.com - June 12, 2005
Update posted on Jun 12, 2005 - 1:24PM |
Erickson has been convicted on six counts of animal cruelty.
Heidi Erickson was found guilty of mistreating five cats and a dog that were found malnourished and ill in her Boston apartment two years ago.
A 30-day jail sentence was suspended for three years. If Erickson violates any animal cruelty laws during that period, she'll face prison time.
During the sentencing, the Suffolk District Attorney's office requested that Erickson be barred from owning any pets.
The judge denied that motion, but stipulated that if Erickson owns pets again, she can't leave them unattended for more than 24 hours. |
Source: The Boston Channel - may 20, 2005
Update posted on May 20, 2005 - 5:44PM |
| Erickson was arraigned in Waltham District Court on 6/2/03 on 84 counts of animal cruelty and 26 counts for having hyperdermic needles found in her Watertown apartment. Erickson has a pre-trial hearing on 9/16/03 in Waltham District Court. |
| Update posted on Sep 15, 2003 - 4:50PM |
| As more information is released through the news media, we have learned that Erickson's Beacon Hill apartment had plastic on the windows so the odor's didn't get out. There were some fragrance machines running and a lot of fans. Every area of the apartment was blocked off, so everything was encapsulated in the unit in an effort to hide the stench. |
| Update posted on May 12, 2003 - 9:51AM |
Erickson's Watertown, MA apartment was raided today (5/7/03). More dead cats have been found in this apartment. Watertown police obtained a search warrant, with some reports that neighbors had complained about a smell or seeing large numbers of cats in the windows and from the advice of teh Boston authorities.
The live cats have been taken to animal shelters in Boston and Pembroke. |
| Update posted on May 7, 2003 - 10:57PM |
| Erickson appeared in a Boston housing court today for a hearing on the condeming of her Beacon Hill apartment. She acted as her own lawyer. The city says the condemnation of the apartment stands and Erickson was physically removed from the courtroom at the orders of the judge for her theatrics. She is further banned from renting any apartment in Boston. Erickson is currently living in Watertown with several cats. While she was in court, a neighbor found a cat left on Erickson's doorstep in a carrier and removed the cat before Erickson returned home. The animal cruelty charges are still pending and Erickson has stated she will appeal today's ruling. |
| Update posted on May 6, 2003 - 10:05PM |
City inspectors have been at Ericksons $1400 a month Beacon Hill apartment multiple times in the past 4 months over complaints of "foul odor". Inspectors responded to a call made to Boston police about a dog crying shortly before 8pm. They discovered more than 60 dead cats, wrapped in plastic bags and stored in freezers in the kitchen, bedroom and hallway at 103 Charles St.
5 live kittens and a 13 year old Great Dane, all severely malnourished, and having ringworm were removed.
Erickson states that 150 pounds of beef kidneys were stored in her freezer - not a bunch of dead cats. She further stated that 3 of her Persians cats, Georgy, Trumpy and M&M died in midwinter because of the cold conditions in her apartment. She wrapped their bodies first in plastic, then in paper, to perserve them for proper burial in the spring.
Erickson is a fired legal secretary, who had a similar problem with neighbors at an apartment in Cambridge. The landlord (Frank Nahigian) there finally paid her to leave. Her current neighbors had complained to landlord Gordon LeBlanc of Watertown, MA since she moved in - in September, 2002.
Erickson did not allow her clients to come to the apartment. She would go to them, Scott Fontana, a salon owner reported after he purchased a cat named Luckey from her for $600. Luckey died in April, 2003.
Darlene and June Feger sold Erickson a male and two females - all national grand champions last fall in NJ. They were shocked to hear of the carnage. They are also hoping to get those cats back from Erickson.
Erickson, who has filed so many lawsuits in area courts that she's been reprimanded by judges, filed yet another federal lawsuit against Mayor Thomas M. Menino, Police Commissioner Paul F. Evans and Attorney General Thomas Reilly. The Illinois transplant claims city and state officials violated her civil rights when they raided her aparment. She is seeking an injunction against the city to prevent whatever was seized from her freezers from being thawed. She wants the "evidence" returned.
This lawsuit is the eighth in the past 5 years. A federal judge has barred he from ever suing Harvard Univeristy again without approval from the court, according to court records.
In a March 11th ruling in one of the other lawsuits, US District Court Judge Patty Saris wrote, "Petitioner has been advised on several occasions" not to abuse the courts. Other court documents state Erickson professing to have experience with surgery on the cats.
Meanwhile ISD Commissioner Kevin Joyce is looking into whether the city of Boston can legally bar Erickson from renting other apartments in Boston.
Erickson call Boston's 24-hour hotline soon after the investigators raided her apartment. "She stated she was preserving her special breed of cats for DNA cloning in the future".
Erickson will be charged with animal cruelty. She did not attend the apartment condemnation hearing and has refused to appear in court stating she will not appear until a judge makes a ruling on her current lawsuit against the city of Boston. |
| Update posted on May 6, 2003 - 12:38PM |
References
« MA State Animal Cruelty Map
« More cases in Suffolk County, MA
