Cat kill rap: No to bail

Man agrees to custody

by Sam Pazzano, Courts Bureau, Toronto Sun, March 29, 2003

A former Toronto squeegee kid facing mischief charges in the brutal torture and slaying of a tabby cat consented yesterday to his detention while he awaits trial.

Matthew "Matt" Kaczorowski was remanded into custody until April Fool's Day at the request of his new lawyer, Dan Brodsky.

Kaczorowski, 21, is the third suspect in what the Toronto Humane Society's Amy White called "one of the most gruesome cases" of animal cruelty witnessed in the city.

Police brought Kaczorowski back from Vancouver earlier this month.

Last April, Anthony Wennekers, 25, and Jesse Power, 22, both pleaded guilty to charges of mischief and animal cruelty and sentenced to time served and 90 days respectively.

Two years ago, police investigating calls from residents of a roominghouse near Queen St. W. and Bathurst St. discovered a video of the torture and skinning of a live tabby.

Humane Society investigators removed a dog, four mice, two rats and animal bones. They discovered the body of a skinned cat and found the head of another in the fridge.

Katie Woodward, who attended yesterday's court session, has set up a Web site (www.findmatt.org) to find the owner of the slain cat -- named "Kensington" because it was snatched from that neighbourhood. [The reporter inadvertently confused Katie's site, about her efforts to find Matt, with this site. Since the Sun article appeared, Katie has added a search for Kensington's owner to her site.]