Cat thrown against telephone pole, neck wrung
Evansville, IN (US)Date: Aug 21, 2004
Disposition: Convicted
Abuser/Suspect: Thomas L. Head
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A man who tormented a disabled woman by killing her pet kitten is "a chronic alcoholic," his attorney said. Thomas L. Head admitted in court on Aug 23 that he killed a young cat after torturing it last year.
"He wrung its neck, swung it over his head and threw it against a telephone pole," Vanderburgh County Deputy Prosecutor Donita Farr said. Head, 48, was scheduled to go on trial in Vanderburgh Circuit Court on a charge of cruelty to an animal. Instead, Head pleaded guilty as charged. He will be sentenced for the Class D felony on Oct. 3.
The cat killing happened Aug. 21, 2004, at 514 W. Oregon St., records showed.
Farr described the cat's owner, Tammy Crow, as an amputee who is also deaf and unable to speak. Head "just started bothering this victim," Farr said, and the problem escalated into Head's grabbing Crow's house cat and violently abusing and killing it. "She was definitely upset by it," Farr said of Crow.
If Judge Carl Heldt accepts the plea agreement, Head will receive a three-year sentence. The first year will be spent in Amethyst House, an inpatient treatment facility for male substance abusers in Bloomington, Ind. Head then will serve two years on work-release at the Vanderburgh County Community Corrections Center, also called the SAFE House. He also will be on the county's Alcohol Abuse Probation Service program.
Previously, Head has served prison sentences for drunken driving, robbery, theft and resisting law enforcement, Department of Correction records show.
Farr said Head's guilty plea to animal cruelty will ensure he gets treatment for alcoholism. "No question, the defendant was intoxicated when this incident occurred," she said.
Defense attorney Chris Lenn described Head as "a chronic alcoholic" in need of inpatient treatment. "I suspect this is his last chance," Lenn said.
Had the trial taken place, Farr would have utilized an American Sign Language interpreter to translate for the cat owner if she testified.
Although Head claimed in court that the kitten was his, Farr disputed that and said Crow was the owner and the cat lived in Crow's apartment. References« Back to Search Results
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