Dog stabbed to death
Anchorage, AK (US)Incident Date: Friday, Feb 27, 2004
County: Anchorage
Charges: Misdemeanor
Disposition: Convicted
Defendant/Suspect: Tommie Earl Smith
Guilty on all counts was the verdict Thursday (Jan 13, 2005) in the case of a dog-killing assailant who held police at bay for two hours last winter while he chased a German shepherd around a stranger's house stabbing it to death.
After a two-day trial earlier this week, Superior Court Judge Philip Volland found Tommie Earl Smith, 20, guilty of felony burglary and four misdemeanor counts of assault, criminal mischief and cruelty to animals.
On paper, the penalty for burglary is zero to 10 years, but Smith has no prior felony record so he faces a probable maximum of four years to serve on that count. Misdemeanors carry maximums of one year each but sentences for multiple offenses normally overlap.
Volland set a sentencing hearing for May 20.
Assistant district attorney John Skidmore said he plans to present evidence at the hearing about Smith's apparent addiction to an over-the-counter drug that he was using in addition to marijuana the day he pushed his way into the home of Gale Keppler, a woman he didn't know, and killed Theresa, her pet German shepherd.
Unlike juries, who never have to explain themselves, judges handing down verdicts have to say why.
Cruelty to animals requires a finding of prolonged suffering. During the trial, defense attorney Dan Lowery argued there was insufficient evidence that the blood-smeared house and the multiple puncture wounds found in the dead animal added up to proof beyond a reasonable doubt.
But Volland concluded five bloody knives and a fork, several of them broken or bent from the force of the assaults on Theresa, plus evidence of violent encounters all over the house, supported the charge, Skidmore said.
According to trial testimony, Smith was high on something and deep into paranoid behavior when he knocked on the door at Keppler's West 31st Avenue home on the afternoon of Feb. 27, 2004. Lowery argued during trial that Smith's mental state that day left him unable to form the intent necessary to be convicted of any of the charges, especially burglary, but Volland concluded otherwise.
Keppler, an educational consultant, said she wasn't going to answer the door but the stranger was persistent.
When she did, Smith immediately tried to push his way in, bloodying Keppler's thumb and breaking her nails. She fought and escaped. After trying to convince her to come back inside, Smith shut the door, putting him alone in the house with Theresa, a pet rescued from an abusive home, Keppler said.
During the ensuing standoff, police heard Theresa yelp several times and suspected she was being hurt. But they had no idea if Smith was armed and their policy is not to risk human lives to save animals.
Police later concluded the injured Theresa tried to get away from her tormentor by climbing on a bed for a while and by hiding behind a sofa.
Keppler sat through the trial and was in the courtroom Thursday to hear the verdict. She told a KTUU-TV reporter the incident upset the whole neighborhood and she was glad the criminal justice system worked.
Volland also convicted Smith of fourth degree assault for threatening an office worker in a downtown church earlier that day. References
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