Cat killer gets 8-year sentence

I am posting this to illustrate, once again, the dangers of animals being given away for free on places like Craigslist and Kijiji.
I wonder if his earlier issues with cruelty were ignored, or if anyone tried to get him help before 2007? Cruelty to animals is not a 'stage' that children and teens go through, it is an indication of very serious mental disorders and cannot be ignored. People who torture animals often grow up to be a danger to their communities.

Cat killer gets 8-year sentence

By Craig Kapitan - Express-News
Web Posted: 06/10/2010 8:08 CDT

The son of a former Randolph AFB colonel was ordered to serve eight years in prison Thursday after a daylong sentencing hearing in which he admitted to the mutilation of three cats he got from Craigslist ads.

Austin George Patterson, 21, cried frequently as family members described mental issues that started in his teens and begged state District Judge Sid Harle to give him probation.

Harle agreed with family members that since his arrest in 2007 for animal cruelty and his subsequent stay at a mental hospital, Patterson has done everything right to become a productive member of society.

“But I've got to consider, frankly, the message,” he said, acknowledging the national attention — including an article in the National Inquirer — that Patterson's case generated.

Patterson was arrested after investigators found his vehicle near Cibolo Creek Trails, where a pedestrian had discovered the carcasses of three gray tabbies that were duct taped in the shape of a triangle to a piece of plywood. Two had slit throats and the other had been disemboweled.

A box containing knives, scissors, a hammer and nails also was found nearby.

Patterson said Thursday that he had fallen into deep depression because of bipolar disorder and was obsessed with “all things horror.” He described in a soft-spoken voice two other killings, one in which he tied a cat to a tree and burned it alive.

“The irony of all this is that I'm an animal lover, and that includes cats,” he said. “For the rest of my life, as long as I live, this will be something I look back and hate myself for. I was a deeply troubled, mixed-up person.”

Besides the bi-polar disorder, Patterson had a psychosis in which he was hearing voices from a presence he called “the wolf,” said defense attorney Andrew Del Cueto. But since getting treatment, he's become a new person, Del Cueto said.

Prosecutor Bill Pennington pointed to the more than 500 letters the district attorney's office has received from across the country expressing outrage about the cat deaths.

It's sad that his family didn't or wasn't able to get him the treatment he needed before this happened. I hope he continues to receive help in prison and after his release.

I cross post things like this to my facebook.. thankyou. It's important to know the dangers of "free to good home".

I really hope they give him help in prison...prison is NO place for the metally ill.
I know we need to send a message but what message is this DA sending? It's not really that if you commit a crime that draws national attention you WILL be prosecuted but more like if you're mentally ill and everybody knows it you may still end up in jail with no hope of ever recovering...

I wouldn't have been happy if they sent that psycho from the Greyhound (the one that decapitated a fellow rider), was sent to jail for life. What that man and this one is the proper psychological aid for their illnesses.

However Cigar and Vanessa are right and saying this is about the dangers of posting free pets, too bad this DA missed this.

While I agree that rehabilitation is important, because we all know that these people will eventually be put back into society and we still have to make an effort to ensure that they are productive members of their communities, I am not going to be a bleeding heart about it. Prisons are still a form of punishment and people who commit crimes must be punished.
Sure, if he really does have a legitimate mental illness, and it is not just a ploy being used by his defence, then he should be treated for it but not at the expense of punishing him for the crimes he committed.
There are lots and lots of people suffering from legitimate mental illnesses who are not going around committing violent crimes like the ones that he did. The fact that he is capable of those violent acts, mentally ill or not, means that he is a danger to everyone in his community and must be treated as such.

There are alot of prisons that have what they call forensic units, and there are some hospitals with locked down forensic units with gards as well as doctors.
but our Jails are full mentally ill...that have no where else to go basically...in my province alot of mentall ill and homeless end up in jail alot...luckily takes them off the street in the winter...
My husband is not allowed to discuss inmates really but as long as he doesn't use names or give away identities he is ok to tell me some stories...and I have heard him say frequently these guys need a doctor not a gaurd...
Sad really...but I would not want the ones that are a danger to my family walking the streets.