Cat beheaded, mutilated, dismembered and eaten
Inverness Park, CA (US)Incident Date: Tuesday, Nov 16, 2004
County: Marin
Disposition: Convicted
Defendant/Suspect: Shane Goelet
Case Updates: 1 update(s) available
An Inverness Park 19 year old, who beheaded the family pet last week, has been charged with felony cruelty to an animal. The youth was taken to a psychiatric ward after beheading his grandmother's cat.
Sheriff's deputies at 11:01 p.m. Nov. 16 received a call from the grandmother that Shane Goelet was having a "psychotic episode" and had killed her cat.
Sheriff's deputies Ray Watson and Chris Hunter found Goelet sitting quietly in his room. An affidavit filed by the District Attorney's Office to secure an arrest warrant, says that Goelet told the deputies he couldn't explain why he had killed the cat, adding that he had eaten part of its brains and muscles.
Deputies found the cat's remains in a bathtub. Having been advised that Goelet has suffered from manic depression, they drove Goelet to Kaiser Mental Health Services in San Rafael.
"Deputies at the time thought that placing him on a 72-hour hold would be a good idea," Lt. Scott Anderson, the commander of the West Marin Sheriff's Substation said. He said Goelet was reportedly cooperative with deputies.
Two days later, Goelet was transferred to Mount Diablo Psychiatric facility in Walnut Creek. The hospital has refused to release any information about his condition or even confirm that he is a patient.
Upon his release, Goelet will be arrested and charged with animal cruelty, which carries a maximum sentence of three years in jail and a minimum of probation. Assistant District Attorney Ed Berbarian said that Goelet has no prior convictions.
Speaking on Wednesday, Lt. Anderson said that Goelet still had not been arrested, but that he expected the hospital would contact the Sheriff's Office as soon as he was discharged. Bail is expected to be set at $50,000. A court date will be set during the arraignment.
Case UpdatesGoelet pled guilty to felony charges on the condition that he not be sent to state prison. Goelet initially pled not guilty to the charges of felony animal cruelty but changed his plea last Friday after he was able to secure a commitment from Judge Terence Boren that he would not sentenced to a state prison, District Attorney Ed Berberian told The Light.
Goelet is scheduled for sentencing on May 13, and the judge will have a lot of leeway in determining his sentence, Berberian said, noting that he could face up to a year in the county jail, a fine of up to $10,000, or at the very least, probation.
The commitment that Goelet received from the judge was under a deal worked out between his defense attorney and the judge, and the DA did not agree to the terms, Berberian noted.
"We did not agree to this," Berberian said. "We will not agree on a sentence commitment on a felony."
Goelet has no prior convictions. His attorney, Arthur Pirelli of San Francisco, said he would not comment on the case at the request of the family. Deputy DA Paul Haakenson is the prosecuting attorney. | Source: Port Reyes Light - March 17, 2005
Update posted on Mar 21, 2005 - 6:30AM |
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