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| Fort Myers Man Kills His Own Cat |
| Animal lovers blitz judge with e-mails urging jail time for cat killer By MIKE HOYEM, [email protected] Animal lovers from across the country � alerted by the national organization PETA � are urging a judge to jail a North Fort Myers man who killed and mutilated his own cat. Scott Herrin, 26, killed the Siamese named Thora on Feb. 11, 2001, because, Herrin said, it had fleas and kept him awake as he tried to sleep. Herrin and three young women mutilated the cat and took photographs as they posed with its blood-drenched body. When they took the film to a Walgreen�s store to be developed, horrified employees called the Lee County Sheriff�s Office. Herrin pleaded guilty to misdemeanor animal cruelty on April 3 and is to be sentenced April 29 by 20th Circuit Senior Judge Charles Carlton. Carlton � who dismissed a felony count against Herrin, saying the state was unable to prove it � said he�ll likely sentence Herrin to community service and probation because Herrin has no prior criminal convictions. He also said he may order Herrin to do community service at an animal shelter. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is urging animal lovers to write to Carlton and ask him to give Herrin jail time. The organization says sentencing an animal abuser to work in an animal shelter �is equivalent to putting a child abuser in a day-care center.� �If a man machetes the head of his own cat off and then takes pictures of it, there�s something wrong there,� said Lisa Lange, PETA�s director of policy and communications. PETA has put Herrin�s story on its Web site under the headline �Cat Mangler Faces Slap on the Wrist.� The story includes one of the photos used as evidence against Herrin � a picture of co-defendant Leeah Shepardson standing under the dead cat with blood on her face as more blood drips onto her hands. Among those who have written and e-mailed the judge is Adela Pisarevsky of New York City. �You may have forgotten, sir, that cruelty to non-human animals will engender, and fiercely so, cruelty to humans,� Pisarevsky wrote, adding that she wants Herrin sentenced to �the absolute maximum penalty.� Milisia Anderson, who is judicial assistant to the circuit�s senior judges, said Carlton has been getting lots of letters and e-mails. �From this past Friday until Monday morning we received almost 200 e-mails,� Anderson said, adding that they�re all being printed out and forwarded to the judge. Anderson said Carlton would have no comment. �I�m sure there is a lot he would like to say, but until the gentleman is sentenced, he is bound by judicial ethics not to discuss the case with anyone,� Anderson said. In addition to Herrin, police arrested Shepardson and Bobbie Gayle Condon, both 19, and Herrin�s sister, Betty Herrin, 18, for animal cruelty. The charge against Betty Herrin, who took the photographs, was dismissed during her trial. Condon was sentenced to three years of probation. Shepardson pleaded guilty in February to felony animal cruelty in exchange for one year in juvenile jail. She is scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday. As part of her plea deal, Shepardson agreed to testify against Scott Herrin. But Shepardson � who recently married Herrin � changed her story on the witness stand and refused to say some of the things she said in earlier sworn statements. Assistant State Attorney Chris Crowley prosecuted Herrin and was confident he could prove the felony. But after Shepardson changed her story and Condon, according to the judge, was incoherent on the witness stand, Carlton said he had no choice but to dismiss the charge. Carlton agreed with Herrin�s attorney, John Spiller of Immokalee, who argued the state didn�t prove the cat died a cruel death or suffered �unnecessary pain,� which are required by state law for a felony conviction. After Carlton�s ruling, Herrin pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor. Judges often tailor sentences to fit particular crimes, such as making a convicted litterbug pick up trash. Carlton may have been thinking along those lines when he said he might make Herrin work in an animal shelter. But at least one local shelter doesn�t want him. �He�s not welcome at our shelter,� said Judith Yevick, who is volunteer coordinator and a former board member at the Animal Refuge Center in North Fort Myers. �I�ve also passed on this person�s name to the shelter in Charlotte County.� Yevick has been urging animal lovers to attend Herrin�s sentencing. The few who are able to cram into the small hearing room where the sentencing will be held likely won�t get to say anything. �I doubt they�re going to let anybody talk,� said court administration spokesman Ken Kellum. �He�s not going to let everybody in the world get up and talk.� |
| Source |
| Please be aware before reading that this case is very disturbing, and the details are not for the faint of heart. Also, there is a link to PETA's story on this case (following the articles), and on PETA's page are photographs that are extremely graphic, so please exercise caution if and when you view them. |
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| The Honorable Judge Carlton Senior Judge Senior Judges� Office Lee County Justice Center Complex 1700 Monroe St. Fort Myers, FL 33901 Tel.: 239-335-2251 Fax: 239-335-2387 E-Mail: [email protected] (Judge Carlton�s assistant) |
| Threatening e-mail delays sentencing of man in cat death Saturday, April 27, 2002 Associated Press FORT MYERS � The sentencing of a man convicted of killing the family cat because it annoyed him has been postponed while investigators look into threatening e-mails sent to the prosecutor in the case. Scott Herrin, 26, was to be sentenced Thursday on misdemeanor animal cruelty charges in a case that has drawn the attention of animal rights groups nationwide. Investigators said Herrin is now suspected of sending the threatening e-mail. The News-Press of Fort Myers said in Thursday's editions it also received an e-mail believed to be sent by Herrin in which the writer jokes of becoming a "suicide bomber." Herrin, his wife Leeah Shepardson and two other young women were arrested after Herrin's Siamese cat, Thora, was killed and mutilated on Feb. 11, 2001. Herrin said he killed the cat because it kept him awake and had fleas. The four photographed the cat being killed and mutilated, with Shepardson posing in one picture with the animal's blood on her face and hands. Horrified employees at the drug store where the film was developed turned the couple in. Herrin's attorney, John Spiller of Immokalee, did not immediately return calls for comment Friday. Shepardson pleaded guilty to felony animal cruelty and was sentenced to a year in a juvenile facility. Charges against the two other women were dismissed. |
| Source Naples News |
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| Please write Judge Carlton and urge him to sentence Herrin to the maximum sentence. Also, point out that the last thing that should happen is that Herrin perform work in an animal shelter. He should be nowhere near animals. Please be sure to be polite in your letters and make your points without attacking the Judge. Negative emails are counter-productive to our cause. Thanks. |
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| Click here to read PETA's writeup of this case. |