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- Posted: Tue, 08 Jan 2013 18:12:11 +0000
EDIT: Sorry guys, hadn't noticed the date when I read this.
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Therapy dog beheaded, head gift-wrapped
Saint Paul, MN (US)
Incident Date: Wednesday, Mar 7, 2007
County: Ramsey
Charges: Felony Non-CTA
Disposition: Convicted
Case Images: 2 files available
Defendant/Suspect: Anthony Albert Gomez
Case Updates: 9 update(s) available
Read more: Therapy dog beheaded, head gift-wrapped - Saint Paul, MN | Pet-Abuse.Com Animal Cruelty Database http://www.pet-abuse.com/cases/10922/MN/US/#ixzz2HPPW9o00
A St. Paul family is both heartbroken and terrified after their dog was killed. St. Paul Police say someone cut off the dog's head and wrapped it in a box for the family to find.
The case is especially devastating because the Australian Shepherd was a special therapy dog owned by a 17-year-old girl.
"Nobody had seen the dog," said Bobbi Brown, mother of the dog's owner.
The family hung up missing posters throughout their St. Paul neighborhood. They frantically searched for their beloved pet, Chevy.
"When she got the package, that's how we found out," said Bobbi.
Left at the steps, a package in Christmas wrapping paper, addressed to 17-year-old Crystal Brown. She opened it.
"She was just hysterical. She was screaming, she said 'Grandma, it's my dog's head.' I said no it can't be... and it was the dog's head," said Shirley Brown, Crystal's Grandmother.
"I had to ask my grandma five different times, 'Is that my dog?'" said Crystal. "I didn't believe her."
Bobbi still sobs, recalling that day two weeks ago.
"They had the box outside on the stairs and his head was in there," she said.
The family said they were disappointed with how St. Paul police responded. They said officers didn't collect evidence, but told them to throw everything away. They also accuse two officers of laughing.
"And to sit and laugh and the dog's head is right in front of you at your feet ... give me a break ... so I reported them the next day," said Shirley.
A spokesman for St. Paul Police said he can't talk about the initial officers' response because that's an internal investigation now.
Crystal has a new therapy dog, a gift from her grandmother, but only an arrest will ease the family's mind.
"That is so cruel," said Bobbi. "I miss him."
The dog's body was discovered in a park. The family believes the suspect is someone they know.
St. Paul Homicide officers are investigating the case now, not because the dog was killed but because they consider what happened a high-level threat against the family.
Read more: Therapy dog beheaded, head gift-wrapped - Saint Paul, MN | Pet-Abuse.Com Animal Cruelty Database http://www.pet-abuse.com/cases/10922/MN/US/#ixzz2HPPOMLvQ
Link to article
Therapy dog beheaded, head gift-wrapped
Saint Paul, MN (US)
Incident Date: Wednesday, Mar 7, 2007
County: Ramsey
Charges: Felony Non-CTA
Disposition: Convicted
Case Images: 2 files available
Defendant/Suspect: Anthony Albert Gomez
Case Updates: 9 update(s) available
Read more: Therapy dog beheaded, head gift-wrapped - Saint Paul, MN | Pet-Abuse.Com Animal Cruelty Database http://www.pet-abuse.com/cases/10922/MN/US/#ixzz2HPPW9o00
Quote:
A St. Paul family is both heartbroken and terrified after their dog was killed. St. Paul Police say someone cut off the dog's head and wrapped it in a box for the family to find.
The case is especially devastating because the Australian Shepherd was a special therapy dog owned by a 17-year-old girl.
"Nobody had seen the dog," said Bobbi Brown, mother of the dog's owner.
The family hung up missing posters throughout their St. Paul neighborhood. They frantically searched for their beloved pet, Chevy.
"When she got the package, that's how we found out," said Bobbi.
Left at the steps, a package in Christmas wrapping paper, addressed to 17-year-old Crystal Brown. She opened it.
"She was just hysterical. She was screaming, she said 'Grandma, it's my dog's head.' I said no it can't be... and it was the dog's head," said Shirley Brown, Crystal's Grandmother.
"I had to ask my grandma five different times, 'Is that my dog?'" said Crystal. "I didn't believe her."
Bobbi still sobs, recalling that day two weeks ago.
"They had the box outside on the stairs and his head was in there," she said.
The family said they were disappointed with how St. Paul police responded. They said officers didn't collect evidence, but told them to throw everything away. They also accuse two officers of laughing.
"And to sit and laugh and the dog's head is right in front of you at your feet ... give me a break ... so I reported them the next day," said Shirley.
A spokesman for St. Paul Police said he can't talk about the initial officers' response because that's an internal investigation now.
Crystal has a new therapy dog, a gift from her grandmother, but only an arrest will ease the family's mind.
"That is so cruel," said Bobbi. "I miss him."
The dog's body was discovered in a park. The family believes the suspect is someone they know.
St. Paul Homicide officers are investigating the case now, not because the dog was killed but because they consider what happened a high-level threat against the family.
Read more: Therapy dog beheaded, head gift-wrapped - Saint Paul, MN | Pet-Abuse.Com Animal Cruelty Database http://www.pet-abuse.com/cases/10922/MN/US/#ixzz2HPPOMLvQ
Quote:
A man who urged an acquaintance to cut off the head of his ex-girlfriend's dead dog, which was later sent to her in a gift-wrapped box, has been sentenced to one year and nine months in prison.
In Ramsey County District Court this morning, Anthony Albert Gomez, 25, apologized for his involvement, but said he wasn't the one who killed the dog.
"I loved her, I loved her very much," Gomez said of her ex-girlfriend, Crystal Brown, who was 17 at the time her dog was killed. "I wouldn't hurt her, I wouldn't physically hurt her."
But in pleading guilty in September to terroristic threats, Gomez admitted he knew Crystal would see the head of her dead dog, "Chevy," and be terrorized by it.
Judge Elena Ostby sentenced Gomez, of St. Paul, to one year and nine months in prison, an upward departure from the sentencing guidelines. Gomez has been held in the Ramsey County jail since his arrest in March and has 252 days jail credit.
Crystal wasn't present during the sentencing, but her grandmother, Shirley Brown, was there and a prosecutor read a letter she had written to Gomez.
"What have we done to you to make you do such a horrible thing?" the letter said. "How could you do that? We trusted you, Chevy trusted you."
Shirley Brown wrote about Gomez eating and watching movies at her family's home, borrowing her car, taking him to work, and making him and his father an apple pie.
"I really don't think you understand what you have done to me and my family, the hurt you have caused," Brown wrote. "I can't even go to my daughter's house and visit because you killed Chevy right across the street. ... It hurts me so much to think about Chevy, he never hurt anyone. He gave us his love and protected our home. We felt safe with Chevy in the yard. You ripped the heart out of my family."
Gomez, who goes by the nickname "Bubba," admitted in court that he and an acquaintance took the dog into the basement of Gomez's home in February.
Gomez said that the other man shot and killed the 4-year-old Australian shepherd, and then Gomez encouraged him to cut off its head while he videotaped it.
Three or more people were involved in the crime, but prosecutors haven't charged anyone other than Gomez, assistant Ramsey County attorney Mark Hammer said in court today.
According to the criminal complaint, police responded Feb. 28 to a North End home where a Christmas-wrapped box had been left on the front steps.
It was addressed to Brown. The girl's grandmother, who cares for her, put the box in her bedroom. When Crystal opened it, she found the dog's head, along with a twin pack of AA batteries and two small boxes of Valentine's candy.
Chevy had been missing since Feb. 7. A St. Paul parks worker found the rest of the dog's body Feb. 21 in Lilydale Regional Park.
Another man called police in March to say Gomez killed the dog because Gomez wanted to get back at Brown, who had "jilted him," according to a search warrant application.
At the time, the girl's grandmother said Crystal was devastated. She had had a tumultuous life, and she often talked out her problems with the dog, the grandmother said.
Gomez told police that "missing drugs" was the motivation for the killing.
He said Crystal had been present when the drug-related matter transpired; she denied that allegation.
The terroristic threats charge is a more serious one than the original charges Gomez faced: mistreatment or killing of an animal and animal cruelty.
In exchange for the plea, Gomez was not being charged with two other incidents related to disputes in the Ramsey County jail in May and June.
Shirley Brown's letter concluded: "I hope you have to think about Chevy every time you see a dog. Someday maybe someone will take something that means as much to you as Chevy meant to us. I pray for it, maybe someday I could forgive you, but I'll never, never forget it. Our life will never be the same. You took away our beloved pet, our best friend."
Read more: Therapy dog beheaded, head gift-wrapped - Saint Paul, MN | Pet-Abuse.Com Animal Cruelty Database http://www.pet-abuse.com/cases/10922/MN/US/#ixzz2HPPpxQKm
In Ramsey County District Court this morning, Anthony Albert Gomez, 25, apologized for his involvement, but said he wasn't the one who killed the dog.
"I loved her, I loved her very much," Gomez said of her ex-girlfriend, Crystal Brown, who was 17 at the time her dog was killed. "I wouldn't hurt her, I wouldn't physically hurt her."
But in pleading guilty in September to terroristic threats, Gomez admitted he knew Crystal would see the head of her dead dog, "Chevy," and be terrorized by it.
Judge Elena Ostby sentenced Gomez, of St. Paul, to one year and nine months in prison, an upward departure from the sentencing guidelines. Gomez has been held in the Ramsey County jail since his arrest in March and has 252 days jail credit.
Crystal wasn't present during the sentencing, but her grandmother, Shirley Brown, was there and a prosecutor read a letter she had written to Gomez.
"What have we done to you to make you do such a horrible thing?" the letter said. "How could you do that? We trusted you, Chevy trusted you."
Shirley Brown wrote about Gomez eating and watching movies at her family's home, borrowing her car, taking him to work, and making him and his father an apple pie.
"I really don't think you understand what you have done to me and my family, the hurt you have caused," Brown wrote. "I can't even go to my daughter's house and visit because you killed Chevy right across the street. ... It hurts me so much to think about Chevy, he never hurt anyone. He gave us his love and protected our home. We felt safe with Chevy in the yard. You ripped the heart out of my family."
Gomez, who goes by the nickname "Bubba," admitted in court that he and an acquaintance took the dog into the basement of Gomez's home in February.
Gomez said that the other man shot and killed the 4-year-old Australian shepherd, and then Gomez encouraged him to cut off its head while he videotaped it.
Three or more people were involved in the crime, but prosecutors haven't charged anyone other than Gomez, assistant Ramsey County attorney Mark Hammer said in court today.
According to the criminal complaint, police responded Feb. 28 to a North End home where a Christmas-wrapped box had been left on the front steps.
It was addressed to Brown. The girl's grandmother, who cares for her, put the box in her bedroom. When Crystal opened it, she found the dog's head, along with a twin pack of AA batteries and two small boxes of Valentine's candy.
Chevy had been missing since Feb. 7. A St. Paul parks worker found the rest of the dog's body Feb. 21 in Lilydale Regional Park.
Another man called police in March to say Gomez killed the dog because Gomez wanted to get back at Brown, who had "jilted him," according to a search warrant application.
At the time, the girl's grandmother said Crystal was devastated. She had had a tumultuous life, and she often talked out her problems with the dog, the grandmother said.
Gomez told police that "missing drugs" was the motivation for the killing.
He said Crystal had been present when the drug-related matter transpired; she denied that allegation.
The terroristic threats charge is a more serious one than the original charges Gomez faced: mistreatment or killing of an animal and animal cruelty.
In exchange for the plea, Gomez was not being charged with two other incidents related to disputes in the Ramsey County jail in May and June.
Shirley Brown's letter concluded: "I hope you have to think about Chevy every time you see a dog. Someday maybe someone will take something that means as much to you as Chevy meant to us. I pray for it, maybe someday I could forgive you, but I'll never, never forget it. Our life will never be the same. You took away our beloved pet, our best friend."
Read more: Therapy dog beheaded, head gift-wrapped - Saint Paul, MN | Pet-Abuse.Com Animal Cruelty Database http://www.pet-abuse.com/cases/10922/MN/US/#ixzz2HPPpxQKm
