Chicago Man Accused of Brutally Killing Cats and Replacing Them With Lookalikes
A Chicago man has been accused of killing at least six kittens since May and buying lookalike replacements of the animals so that his mother wouldn’t become suspicious.
Prosecutors have charged Thomas Martel, 22, with four counts of animal torture as well as two counts of aggravated animal cruelty, according to CWBChicago.
At a bail hearing Tuesday, Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney Sarah Dale-Schmidt detailed horrific allegations of brutality in which she claimed Martel drowned and possibly microwaved the kittens.
Police reportedly became aware of the alleged cruelty last month when Martel’s girlfriend gave authorities disturbing images and videos she found on his phone, including one picture of a living kitten captioned “just before I murdered her.”
Prosecutors claim he also recently told his partner that “he enjoyed killing cats and he had been like that since he was eight years old.”
At one point during his alleged spree, Martel’s girlfriend said he kicked her out after she told him he had to stop buying cats—only to immediately call asking for more money to buy another kitten.
Martel’s girlfriend also said he later told her he had microwaved three cats and put them in the pantry of his apartment, where police subsequently found a bag containing what looked like parts of “‘multiple’ kittens,” according to Dale-Schmidt.
Martel turned himself into police on Monday.
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