Kingston cat-strangler receives probation
Sue Yanagisawa, QMI Agency
First posted: Wednesday, April 08, 2015 01:55 PM EDT | Updated: Wednesday, April 08, 2015 01:59 PM EDT
KINGSTON, Ont. — A 24-year-old man who stole a neighbour’s cat, strangled it and pitched its body off a bridge in a nearby park was sentenced Tuesday to three years’ probation.
Paul A. Schwindt pleaded guilty to theft of property valued at less than $5,000 — Pip the cat — and to illegally causing death to a domesticated animal.
The pet’s owner, Julie Marois, wasn’t given notice of the plea. Animal rights advocates, who have shown up with placards outside the courthouse for some of Schwindt’s previous appearances, were also absent because there had been no indication anything was likely to happen immediately after the Easter long weekend.
Schwindt had been scheduled only for a judicial pretrial, a private discussion in the judge’s chambers between his lawyer, John Olver, assistant Crown attorney John Skoropada and, on this occasion, Judge Allan Letourneau.
There had been pretrial discussions before.
But this time the lawyers emerged with a deal. Skoropada read a brief account of the facts of the case into the court record and then Letourneau made it official.
He placed Schwindt on probation and ordered him to perform 60 hours of community service and complete any counselling, assessments and rehabilitation programs his probation supervisor deems necessary to deal with his substance abuse and mental-health problems.
He must take his prescribed medications but no street drugs and can’t be around domestic animals, other than his family’s dog, unless a responsible adult is supervising.
According to the facts of the case, on April 21, 2014, Marois put Pip out on her front lawn, securing the cat with a leash.
After Marois discovered her cat missing, she distributed fliers around the neighbourhood and learned, in talking to some of her neighbours, that a man had been seen that day running with a cat in his arms.
Police questioned Schwindt and he eventually admitted he stole the cat, strangled it and threw its body off a bridge in Ridgeway Park.
He claims he doesn’t know why he did it.
Skoropada told the judge that Schwindt has since expressed remorse and wrote a letter of apology to Marois — which was shared with the judge.
The judge said Schwindt’s mental health was “extremely compromised” the day he killed the cat, adding “it’s clear to me your use of marijuana leading up to this was a contributing factor.”
He then told Schwindt, “You appreciate how diligent you have to be to not use marijuana in the future.”
Kingston cat-strangler receives probation | Ontario | News | Toronto Sun
Sue Yanagisawa, QMI Agency
First posted: Wednesday, April 08, 2015 01:55 PM EDT | Updated: Wednesday, April 08, 2015 01:59 PM EDT
KINGSTON, Ont. — A 24-year-old man who stole a neighbour’s cat, strangled it and pitched its body off a bridge in a nearby park was sentenced Tuesday to three years’ probation.
Paul A. Schwindt pleaded guilty to theft of property valued at less than $5,000 — Pip the cat — and to illegally causing death to a domesticated animal.
The pet’s owner, Julie Marois, wasn’t given notice of the plea. Animal rights advocates, who have shown up with placards outside the courthouse for some of Schwindt’s previous appearances, were also absent because there had been no indication anything was likely to happen immediately after the Easter long weekend.
Schwindt had been scheduled only for a judicial pretrial, a private discussion in the judge’s chambers between his lawyer, John Olver, assistant Crown attorney John Skoropada and, on this occasion, Judge Allan Letourneau.
There had been pretrial discussions before.
But this time the lawyers emerged with a deal. Skoropada read a brief account of the facts of the case into the court record and then Letourneau made it official.
He placed Schwindt on probation and ordered him to perform 60 hours of community service and complete any counselling, assessments and rehabilitation programs his probation supervisor deems necessary to deal with his substance abuse and mental-health problems.
He must take his prescribed medications but no street drugs and can’t be around domestic animals, other than his family’s dog, unless a responsible adult is supervising.
According to the facts of the case, on April 21, 2014, Marois put Pip out on her front lawn, securing the cat with a leash.
After Marois discovered her cat missing, she distributed fliers around the neighbourhood and learned, in talking to some of her neighbours, that a man had been seen that day running with a cat in his arms.
Police questioned Schwindt and he eventually admitted he stole the cat, strangled it and threw its body off a bridge in Ridgeway Park.
He claims he doesn’t know why he did it.
Skoropada told the judge that Schwindt has since expressed remorse and wrote a letter of apology to Marois — which was shared with the judge.
The judge said Schwindt’s mental health was “extremely compromised” the day he killed the cat, adding “it’s clear to me your use of marijuana leading up to this was a contributing factor.”
He then told Schwindt, “You appreciate how diligent you have to be to not use marijuana in the future.”
Kingston cat-strangler receives probation | Ontario | News | Toronto Sun
