Dog beaten to death against wall, furniture
Granite City, IL (US)Incident Date: Sunday, Oct 4, 2009
County: Madison
Charges: Felony CTA
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged: Ian Joseph Nichols
Case Updates: 1 update(s) available
A Granite City man is charged with killing his roommate’s dog by repeatedly throwing the animal against a wall and furniture in his apartment.
Ian Joseph Nichols, 23, was charged Wednesday with aggravated cruelty to animals, a Class 4 felony.
As of late Thursday afternoon, he was in custody at the Madison County Jail, with bond set at $20,000.
The incident allegedly occurred Oct. 4 in Nichols’ apartment in the 2200 block of Delmar Avenue.
The dog, a mixed-breed female named Sheba, was owned by Jake Soltani, who was Nichols’ roommate at the time.
Nancy Kee, Soltani’s mother, said late Thursday afternoon that Soltani had been gone the night before, and when he returned to the apartment that morning the dog was missing.
Soltani put out fliers and was looking for the dog for more than a day before Nichols allegedly admitted that Sheba was dead.
Kee said Nichols claimed the dog’s death was an accident, and that he had become frightened and took the dog’s body to East St. Louis and dumped it.
Kee said they had been worried that nothing was going to be done about the incident.
"For a month, we’ve been keeping in contact with the police department and trying to push this forward," she said. "We’re just so relieved that something has finally happened."
She said Nichols "murdered a wonderful, sweet animal that didn’t have a mean bone in her body."
The case was investigated by the Granite City Police Department. Department officials were unavailable for comment.
Case UpdatesJake Soltani still grieves over the death of 10-month old Sheba, a mixed-breed dog that apparently died in early October.
Soltani's former roommate, Ian Joseph Nichols, 23, Granite City, is charged with aggravated cruelty to animals for allegedly throwing the dog against a wall and furniture repeatedly on Oct. 4 in Nichols' Delmar Avenue apartment.
Nichols has posted bond and has a Nov. 20 preliminary hearing. If found guilty, Nichols could serve up to six years in prison.
Granite City Police Maj. Jeff Connor said his department runs across animal abuse incidents a few times a year.
"We've worked dog cases, animal cases - it's not a new thing," he said. "We get a few of these a year and work them like other cases. If we have leads and witnesses, we follow up."
However, for Soltani, 23, the case hit hard. He never found Sheba's body and cannot imagine what happened to cause Nichols, who he has known since grade school, to attack the dog.
"We have a really close-knit group of friends," Soltani said from the south St. Louis home where he moved earlier this month from Granite City. "All the time I knew him, I never saw signs this could happen."
Nancy Kee, Soltani's mother, said her son put out fliers and was looking for the dog for more than a day before Nichols allegedly admitted Sheba was dead. Kee and Soltani each say Nichols claimed the dog's death was an accident and said he told them he dumped the dog's body somewhere in East St. Louis.
"She was a loving dog, always good with people," Soltani said. "As far as any signs, the only thing I look back on, was he said he accidentally poked her in the eye once and another time accidentally caught her with a back swing when he was practicing his golf swing-in the house. "
Dr. Robyn Barbiers, president of the Anti-Cruelty Society in Chicago, said reasons for people abusing animals vary.
"It runs the gamut," she said. "People often take their frustrations out on their pet."
She said because some believe there is a link between animal abuse and child and spousal abuse, veterinarians are supposed to report animal abuse to social service agencies.
"Unfortunately there are people out there that abuse living things," Barbiers said.
She said bruises are especially hard to see on dogs, but a limping or lame animal may be a victim.
"It could be an accident, but people do all kinds of things to animals," she said.
Pet owners, she said, should look for repeated injuries or if the animal has a change in behavior and begins cowering around people.
The impact of Sheba's death is still apparent on Soltani. He keeps her collar and tag. None of her toys are left because she would chew them up. He shows a wind chime his mother gave him that has Sheba's picture with the words "Best Friend" written above it.
"As you can see, she always had a smile," Soltani said half jokingly about Sheba's expression in the photo.
When recounting the events of Sheba's disappearance, his voice breaks and he fights back tears.
"I'll never get rid of this collar. It reminds me of the day I got her," he said. "I have a lot of guilt. People tell me I shouldn't. I could have made one choice and it might not have happened."
To help with the grief, Soltani's mother urged him to get another dog. Jackson, a shelter dog Soltani picked up at a local store, now pads through Soltani's St. Louis home.
"They said he's half Beagle," Soltani said. "I think he may have a bit of black Lab in him. Mom had sent me pictures of shelter dogs and said she thought it would really help. I didn't feel like I was ready."
As for his former roommate, Soltani has not talked to him since early October.
"The last time I actually spoke to him was when I was in the process of interrogating him over the phone," Soltani said. "He even had the nerve to tell me he would help me look for her."
He said he knows some people may think such grief for a dog is over the top.
"I know for me personally it was a much bigger deal," he said. "Probably society as a whole wouldn't take it as seriously as I do. Once it happened to me, I want more harsh penalties. I don't know - I'm at a loss for words." | Source: Suburban Journals - Nov 17, 2009
Update posted on Nov 19, 2009 - 1:20AM |
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