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Case #12300 Rating: 1.3 out of 5
Cats bound, mutilated with knives and scissors
Universal City, TX (US)Incident Date: Sunday, Sep 16, 2007
County: Bexar
Charges: Felony CTA
Disposition: Convicted
Defendants/Suspects:
» Austin George Patterson
» Jordan Scott Mitchell
Case Updates: 2 update(s) available
Universal City Police arrested a Live Oak man Sunday in a case of extreme animal cruelty involving the deaths of three cats.
A person in the Cibolo Creek bottoms, an area used by walkers and joggers, discovered the mutilated bodies of three cats, police said.
The animals, front and hind legs bound with duct tape, had been tortured, police said. They also found knives and scissors near the scene.
A vehicle was found nearby and traced to Austin Patterson, 19, who lives at an apartment complex in nearby Live Oak.
Patterson told police he was a student at San Antonio College studying forensics who is interested in blood splatter. He and a friend were detained for questioning. However, Patterson was the only one who was arrested.
Authorities say Patterson had just adopted one of the cats from an ad on the Web site Craig's List on Saturday.
Patterson is charged with 3 counts of animal cruelty/torturing and killing. He was also charged with possession of marijuana. He is being held in lieu of a $61,000 bond.
Case UpdatesThe son of a former Randolph Air Force Base colonel was ordered to serve eight years in prison Thursday after a day-long sentencing hearing in which he admitted to the mutilation of three cats he obtained from Craigslist ads.
Austin George Patterson, 21, cried frequently as family members described mental issues that started in his teens and begged state District Judge Sid Harle to assess probation.
Harle agreed with family members that since his arrest in 2007 for animal cruelty and his subsequent stay at a mental hospital, Patterson has done everything right to become a productive member of society.
"But I've got to consider, frankly, the message," he said, acknowledging the national attention â€" including an article in the National Inquirer tabloid â€" that Patterson's case generated.
Patterson was arrested after investigators found his vehicle near Cibolo Creek Trails, where a pedestrian had discovered the carcasses of three gray tabbies that were duct taped in the shape of a triangle to a piece of plywood. Two had slit throats and the other had been disemboweled.
A box containing knives, scissors, a hammer and nails was also found nearby.
Patterson said Thursday he had fallen into deep depression due to a bi-polar disorder and was obsessed with "all things horror." He described in a soft-spoken voice two other killings â€" one in which he tied a cat to a tree and burned it alive.
"The irony of all this is that I'm an animal lover, and that includes cats," he said. "For the rest of my life, as long as I live, this will be something I look back and hate myself for. I was a deeply troubled, mixed-up person."
In addition to the bi-polar disorder, Patterson had a psychosis in which he was hearing voices from a presence he called "the wolf," said defense attorney Andrew Del Cueto. But since getting treatment, he's become a new person, Del Cueto said.
Prosecutor Bill Pennington pointed to the more than 500 letters the district attorney's office has received from across the country expressing outrage about the cat deaths.
"He was able to convince two families to give up their animals that they love," Pennington said. "He was manipulative."
Retired colonel Greg Patterson, the defendant's father, and former police officer George Patterson, his uncle, both wept as they recalled Patterson falling into a dark, aloof, antisocial cloud for years leading up to his arrest.
"He was into heavy metal, black clothes, nunchucks," his uncle said.
But he's always been small, lanky and soft-spoken, the uncle said. If sentenced to prison, he told the judge, he will be lucky to come out alive. | Source: mysanantonio.com - June 10, 2010
Update posted on Nov 27, 2010 - 2:17PM |
A San Antonio man was sentenced to three years in prison Wednesday for his role in a series of bizarre cat mutilations three years ago that garnered national attention.
Jordan Scott Mitchell, 24, pleaded no contest to three counts of animal cruelty in February for the torture and death of three gray tabbies that were found duct taped to a piece of plywood near the Cibolo Creek Trails. Two had slit throats and another had been disemboweled.
Wednesday's hearing came less than a month after co-defendant Austin George Patterson, 21, was ordered to serve eight years in prison for the same cruelty charges.
During both hearings, the defendants acknowledged a fourth killing in which a cat was doused in gasoline and burned alive while tied to a tree. Both men also cited psychiatric problems that had haunted them since childhood and blamed the other for being a negative influence.
"Frankly, I don't know how you two found each other," state District Judge Sid Harle told Mitchell as he announced the sentence. "It might have been the perfect storm."
Both men seemed to have loving families who tried to get them help, Harle said. But "when the acting out starts to occur at this level, punishment has to happen," he said.
Mitchell told police he stood by as Patterson coaxed the felines from families who posted ads on Craigslist seeking new homes for their pets, and he accompanied Patterson to Home Depot as they purchased plywood and nails. While Mitchell didn't participate in the mutilation or killings, he did help duct tape the animals and knew what Patterson was about to do to them, Mitchell said.
The two weren't so much friends as acquaintances "co-existing in misery," Mitchell testified Wednesday.
"I didn't want to be by myself, so I hung around him," he said. "I believe that with my depression and anxiety, it felt like nothing mattered. With Austin's anger and unbalanced emotions â€" I fed off of his anger and it made me more angry."
Defense attorney Brandon Hudson cited testimony from two psychologists who said Mitchell was a follower and didn't appear to show sociopathic tendencies. Deferred adjudication probation, he said, would allow for punishment without taking away from the progress Mitchell has made with new anxiety medication. "Nothing should scare us of Jordan," Hudson said. "His mind is not so broken as to be a threat to society."
Prosecutor Jason Garrahan asked for a six-year sentence, pointing out that the district attorney's office has received more than 500 letters from the public expressing disgust for the men's actions.
Mitchell will have to serve at least half of the sentence before being eligible for parole. | Source: mysanantonio.com - Jun 30, 2010
Update posted on Nov 27, 2010 - 2:09PM |
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