Colorado Man Sentenced to 45 Days and $135 for Cat Killing
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In Colorado this week, a judge sentenced convicted cat killer Paul Vickers (left), of Longmont, to a scant 45-day work release stint plus probation. Vickers beat his wife’s cat, Bootsie, fracturing her skull and jaw, and then shot the cat with a .22 rifle. He claimed the attack was at attempt to “get back at” his wife.
The defense attorney claimed that Vickers “otherwise loves animals and should do community service at a shelter.” Say what? The poor cat was found with a fractured skull and jaw and fatal gunshots. On what planet would Vickers be considered an animal lover?
Here’s the full story from DailyCamera.com
A Longmont man who admitted to killing his wife’s cat in an attempt to get back at her was sentenced Monday to 45 days of work-release and two years probation.
Paul Vickers, 50, was also sentenced to 48 hours of community service, but the judge denied his request to serve that time at an animal shelter.
Vickers shot the cat, named Bootsie, with a .22-caliber rifle in March, in what police called an act of revenge over an argument with his wife. Investigators also uncovered 4.2 pounds of processed marijuana in Vickers’ house.
He pleaded guilty in October to felony counts of aggravated cruelty to animals and attempt to possess marijuana.
Vickers’ lawyer, Jason Savela, argued that his client was severely stressed in his role as sole caretaker for his wife, who suffers from multiple sclerosis. He said Vickers had been drinking heavily before the killing.
“He was drinking tons and tons of alcohol in the days leading up to this event,” Savela told Boulder District Judge Maria E. Berkenkotter on Monday. “The cat died because he was drunk and was making bad decisions.”
Savela said his client does not dislike animals in general but “hated” the particular cat he beat and shot, mainly because it was mean to other cats in the house.
He asked the judge if Vickers could resume growing pot because his wife needs it for medical purposes. Vickers didn’t have a medical marijuana license at the time police found the drug in his house.
Savela said it would be too expensive for Vickers, who is unemployed, to obtain marijuana from dispensaries in the state. He said the price of the drug is currently around $100 for a quarter-ounce and Vickers’ wife needs one to 1½ ounces a month.
“I think there are reasons to allow him to grow again, your honor,” Savela said.
But Berkenkotter refused the defense attorney’s request and said Vickers or his wife needs to obtain a medical marijuana license and buy pot from a licensed facility.
She also said Vickers should serve 45 days of work-release as a punitive measure for his cruelty toward the cat, especially the beating he gave the animal before he shot it.
“It appears that the cat suffered,” the judge said, noting that the animal was found with a fractured jaw and skull.
She said the killing was particularly egregious because Bootsie was a favorite of his wife, who relied on Vickers for all of her care.
“That makes the killing of the cat not just cruel, but very intimidating,” Berkenkotter said.
Vickers told the judge he would hire someone else to help care for his wife to ease his stress level.
“I’m no longer going to have to do it all,” he said, choking up. “And alcohol is not the answer.”
Vickers was also ordered to pay $135 in restitution, get a full-time job, and attend 12-step meetings.
They should have given that guy a free cruise to the middle of the ocean. Then he should have been put overboard and told to swim back home. The law is just too easy on these so called animal lovers. Maybe while he’s in jail during the night another animal lover will make a pet out of him!
We agree with Bosco. He looks like he would make a good girlfriend for someone in prison. We hope that in the future his end is slow and painful.
What a winner that guy is – no full-time job, drinks heavily, and beats animals! He is a real catch! Bootsie should boot him to the curb and change the locks!
I am glad the judge denied his request to do his community service at a cat shelter. It’s a privilege to get to help homeless cats. His community service should be picking up trash from the side of the road. In the middle of August.
That monster deserved a much worse punishment than the slap-on-the-wrist the judge gave him. 45 days community service for assault and murder?
That’s certainly NOT justice for Bootsie. That horrible human deserved to get what he gave. No amount of punishment is good enough …
DMM
I think he got off easily but at least he didn’t do community service where he could hurt more animals to get back at someone he was angry with. What he did was abusive not only to Bootsie but to his wife and anyone who would kill a pet to get back at a spouse could just as easily kill the spouse…
What was that judge thinking? I care for my disabled adult brother in our home & I understand the stress that comes with the job.
If this man turned to drinking & no doubt using marijuana himself to cope then he does not need to be anywhere around his wife.
If he was willing to horribly kill her cat I shudder to think what he might do to her in the future. I do not believe this was a drunken rage at all. I think it sounds much more like a practice run with his wife being next. He should have been thrown in jail & have people take a long hard look at his wife’s safety to make sure he wasn’t abusing her & couldn’t get to her. The man is lucky I was not the judge.
What a total loser. He should do the world a favour and kill himself.
Stories like this git my fur up. Justice wuz not served. I hope Karma will finish the job.
In happier nooz, Mommy red one of the cat confeshuns on her radio show. She tole Trippers schrimps story and invited peeple to call with thare own stories and one lady called and sed her cat had taken a bite out of all three of her punkin pies before a big dinner. She sed “If yoo wuz me yoo wood haff jes put whippt creem on it and served it anyhow”. And she tole evryone to log on to Catster and reed yur blog.
Is the lame judge related to the dude? What are they all smoking up there in the Rockies? Shame on that judge – the Italian Court would never have let this slide by.
Viva Italia and stiff sentences!
$^^#*$^#^$(#$ tard!! Hope he has bad karma for the rest of his lives. I spit on him and the judge and put curse on them both!
The man is a psychopath and will do it again.
His “community service” should be 45 days in lockup with a murderous, 300lb cellmate named Bubba that thinks Mr Vicker’s is HAWT STUFF.
I agree with everyone else’s posts, and add one more: That defense attorney should be in the looney bin! Asking for permission to grow marijuana again? And trying to get him to do community service at an animal shelter? NUTS!!!!!!!!
Nope! That was the wrong sentence for this guy. A year in jail and must pay money to help fund an animal shelter for the rest of his working life. Hissssss.
Wow *shudder*. We agree with Oly, the poor feline was practice before he turned completely on the woman. Oohhhh. We’re so sad fur poor Bootsie & the human. Anyfur fur haunting him the rest of his miserable life?
Karma.
A shame, but not a surprise. Can we really expect justice for our feline friend when murderers get to walk around free everyday anyway? The sad thing is this woman will probably forgive him and take him back with loving arms after he did this to her little companion & friend without a second thought. She should be changing the locks, and throwing his stuff out on the lawn, or better yet make him have to come back with a police escort for it. She has to have other friends or family that can help her. If he will kill her kill her cat, he will kill her next.
To answer everyones’ question…no, not EVERYONE in Colorado gets high, so we’re all not stupid like this idiot. May he get justice in the afterlife.
The only 12 step program in this guys future should be nice, solid concrete ones leading to the basement of the jail Hopefully he trips on them!) where he will meet his fate after a few affectionate nights with a guy known as “bulldozer”.
A $135 fine? You pay more for a stop sign violation! I’m wondering who’s crazier… the wife for putting up with this man, the man for being a d&%$^ cat killing lunatic, Savela the lawyer for even suggesting that the killer be permitted to volunteer at a shelter and continue growing marijuana, or the judge himself for allowing this nonsense to pass through the courtroom greatly unpunished!
Anding charging him with an “attempt to possess marijuana… excuse me, I must be high… if he HAD the 4+ lbs stored in his house I’d say he made more than a mere “attempt” to “posses”!” Utter insanity! That’s felony posession, and more than likely had full intent to distribute!
This mans next victim will probably be his pothead wife. That’s just how these things escalate.
Someone needs to save the imminent grief and shove that .22 up his rectum and string him upside down by his feet in the woods. Bear snack!
why the bleep do people seem to think revenge on another person thru a pet is a good thing. they don’t seem think it’s a crime. i can’t tell mew how many kitties and other animals i’ve seen up here who are here because of those kinds of things. at least once a day i see some poor animal who is being cared for by a gaurdian because they are to hurt to acclimate.
Lets hope he drops the soap in the shower…Whai a vile waste of DNA.