Posted on 02/10/2005 10:08:45 PM PST by ambrose
Man Gets 2 Years for Puppy Killing
A Knox County man accused of killing a puppy and tormenting his estranged wife and her daughter is on the way to prison.
This case is so disturbing that it's the first felony conviction of animal cruelty in Knox County.
But is the sentence still too weak? The defendant's wife thinks so.
As Volunteer TV’s Ron Sprowl reports, prosecutors say Timothy David Sawyer met his estranged wife and her daughter at the door laughing. He said he had something to show them.
"The puppy had suffered a blunt trauma to her head and her neck had been broken," says Willie Harper, assistant district attorney.
Sawyer is charged with killing eight week old Sophie, a Jack Russell Terrier by slamming her body into a door and forced her to take make-up.
Script court records show sawyer has repeated arrests for domestic violence involving wife Patti Sawyer.
"If anything good can come out of this puppy's death I want every woman out there that's in this situation to realize it's not going to get any better it's only going to get worse," says Patti Sawyer, estranged wife.
“When you look at someone who has the capability to perform this type of violent act against an animal this is a person that can do the exact same thing to a person,” says Harper.
A judge sentenced Sawyer to two years in prison, but with time already served he could be eligible for parole in six months.
"I know you can't compare the life of an animal to the life of a child but I think if a stiffer sentence would have been imposed maybe the next person that does this they'd think twice," says Patti Sawyer.
Sawyer still awaits a chancery court hearing later this month.
Prosecutors say Thursday’s sentencing was an outrage because he's not spending more time in jail.
But to do that, laws would have to be changed by the legislature.
Worse has been done to infants still in the womb. When are those killers going to start doing time?
Wow.. I guess murderers of humans should get parole.
Felony animal cruelty should not exist as a law.
Follow the Old Testament on animal restitution! Read Exodus 22.
On the day in question, the perpetrator and her victim, who had spent the night together, rose at about one in the afternoon. This was perfectly normal for them: they were both unemployed, and they had spent the evening before (as they always did) drinking to excess and smoking marijuana. Once they had risen, the victim went to the nearest store to buy more alcohol, in the form of cheap, strong cider, sold in two- or three-liter bottles to alcoholics—no one else drinks it.
They spent the afternoon drinking and smoking more marijuana together. Then, as so often happens when people combine drugs and alcohol, an argument broke out between them. Participants describe such arguments as existing independently of those who have them—more like a meteorological phenomenon than a human one. As the accused put it, the argument got out of hand, though she could not remember exactly, or even approximately, what it was about. She went to the kitchen to fetch a knife (actually, two knives) and then returned to her lover. Her intention, as she remembered it, was to encourage her to leave the apartment, which she did. Unfortunately, very shortly afterward, the accused followed her, and the rest was homicide. The killer called for an ambulance, and her teenage lover all but bled to death in her arms. Her last words were “It hurts” and “I’m tired.”
Relations between the victim and perpetrator, which had begun three years earlier, since they were 13 and 15, respectively, had always been difficult, with many drug- and alcohol-fueled quarrels, often ending up with the waving of knives and other weapons. The victim’s mother said that she had always thought it would end in murder
ping!
Restitution is hardly sufficient. A big part of crimes such as this one is the deliberate psychological harm to the humans who loved the animal. Do you really think that the cash price of a new puppy does anything to repair the harm done to a woman and a little girl who are presented with their beloved puppy's dead battered body, by the laughing beast who tortured it to death? If so, you're as sick as this perp.
Funny you should mention that. Jews do not use Torah to justify ignoring animal cruelty. Why should Christians?
Ping!
Well, if it is good enough for God, why can't it be good enough for us?
Get over it. There is no amount of money or torture that can bring back the animal nor equate to its infinite value as a pet. Such is life in a fallen universe.
It is not my fault if the Jews you know do not follow their own scripture.
What is in the Old Testament (Torah) is the worst that can be expected of such a perpetrator in punishment.
Get over it.
It is not my fault if the Jews you know do not follow their own scripture.
What is in the Old Testament (Torah) is the worst that can be expected of such a perpetrator in punishment.
Get over it.
It is not my fault if the Jews you know do not follow their own scripture.
I doubt you know any Orthodox Jews. We also don't stone children who disrespect their parents either.
Well, you just try to harm my "property" and see how long you're still drawing breath.
Paying five times the replacement value of your lost animal is a very fair form of restitution.
Maybe they should throw him in jail for being so stupid.
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