John Barth, a passing motorist noticed a severely burned cat, and rushed her to a veterinary clinic. A witness saw a number of young men "partying" in their back yard next door. One of them was seen dousing the cats, with hair spray and lighting them on fire. The cat ran away screaming.
Olivia a yellow eyed, 6 year old black cat, had 3rd degree burns over 40% of her body. Olivia died Sunday, October 12th, 2 1/2 months after 3 successful skin grafts, when her heart finally gave out. She had a fatal stroke. Olivia's owners, Matt Murphy and Lesley Davis spent $14,000 caring for their cat.
John Barth's cat Trumpy was one of the other cats tortured. Trumpy sustained burns across her back and tail - the top half of her ears fell off, as well.
Initially all 4 Indiana University roommate's were arrested and charged with misdemeanor animal cruelty, but it was determined that Scott Painter, age 19 and Joshua Nole, age 18 were not involved in the cruelty. Painter and Nole are no longer students at Indiana University.
Blake Case and Errett Rouch, both 19 and both freshmen, are accused of luring Olivia and 3 other cats into a fenced-in yard, dousing them with an accelerant and setting them on fire.
At his trial, Case told the court he and 3 others, doused 2 opossums, a raccoon and 2 cats with lighter fluid after catching them in a trap and set them on fire. He denied any involvement in the torture of Olivia.
Judge James Harris of Morgan County Circuit Court sentenced Case to a $100 fine, plus court costs in addition to his indeterminate jail term. Case could spend up to a year in jail.
Case's jail term was listed as indeterminate because he continued to have loud obnoxious parties, litter in the street and completely ignored the Bloomington Police when they were investigating according Trumpy's owner.
Errett Rouch was also sentenced to 1 year in jail on 5/21/1998.
Sympathy letters, phone calls and money were sent to Olivia's owners. Petitions were signed and protest took place to ensure animal cruelty doesn't go unpunished. Because of the attention drawn by this case, Bloomington Rep and State House Majority Leader Mark Kruzan authored House Bill 1037 to prevent animal cruelty and punish its perpetrators more harshly. The bill passed and was signed into law by Governor Frank O'Bannon. A new Public Law #41 also went into effect, making a 2nd offense of animal cruelty a Class D felony. References | The Indiana Herald Times | | Olivia's Petition | | The Indiana University Daily Student News |
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