Spurned Suitor Arrested In Dog Beheading
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney speaks in Craig, Colo., May 29, 2012. / AP
A 24-year-old man has been arrested, suspected of cutting the head off a 17-year-old girl's pet dog and leaving it at her front door in a gift-wrapped box, reportedly because she hadn't returned his affections.
The girl's grandmother told the St. Paul Pioneer Press she had suspected Anthony A. Gomez since the head was delivered to her granddaughter, Crystal, in February in a box with candy hearts.
"I thought it was a sign that he loved her and she hurt him because she didn't want to be his friend anymore," Shirley Brown told the paper. "He knew that killing her dog was the thing that would hurt her worst of all; it would tear her heart out."
Gomez was charged with felony counts of animal cruelty and torture for allegedly beheading a dog.
"I think I can sleep a lot better now," said Crystal Brown. "It will make me feel way safer. Now we can walk around the whole block."
Crystal was devastated last month when Chevy, her 4-year-old Australian shepherd mix, disappeared. Two weeks later, a gift box addressed to Crystal was found at the front door of a house she shares with her grandmother. Inside, Crystal found Valentine's Day candy and a garbage bag containing her pet's head.
Police said Gomez lived a few blocks from Brown. He has a police record involving assault.
The case drew widespread media attention. The television show "America's Most Wanted" posted the case on its Web site, and donations pushed a $2,500 reward offered by the Humane Society of the United States to $20,000.
"Acts like this have disturbing implications for the community at large because there is a well-documented connection between animal cruelty and human violence," the Humane Society said on its Web site.
© 2009 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report. The girl's grandmother told the St. Paul Pioneer Press she had suspected Anthony A. Gomez since the head was delivered to her granddaughter, Crystal, in February in a box with candy hearts.
"I thought it was a sign that he loved her and she hurt him because she didn't want to be his friend anymore," Shirley Brown told the paper. "He knew that killing her dog was the thing that would hurt her worst of all; it would tear her heart out."
Gomez was charged with felony counts of animal cruelty and torture for allegedly beheading a dog.
"I think I can sleep a lot better now," said Crystal Brown. "It will make me feel way safer. Now we can walk around the whole block."
Crystal was devastated last month when Chevy, her 4-year-old Australian shepherd mix, disappeared. Two weeks later, a gift box addressed to Crystal was found at the front door of a house she shares with her grandmother. Inside, Crystal found Valentine's Day candy and a garbage bag containing her pet's head.
Police said Gomez lived a few blocks from Brown. He has a police record involving assault.
The case drew widespread media attention. The television show "America's Most Wanted" posted the case on its Web site, and donations pushed a $2,500 reward offered by the Humane Society of the United States to $20,000.
"Acts like this have disturbing implications for the community at large because there is a well-documented connection between animal cruelty and human violence," the Humane Society said on its Web site.
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Next time don't try to be 'cute', just make an intelligent statement that matters.
You have lost it!!!
You know exactly what I meant, but, then again, maybe not, because you're not a dog,cat, or animal lover.
When you've had the pleasure of caring or loving someone other than yourself you will understand the sentiment here.
After a period of time they do become a part of your family, in which you do think of them as children.
Posted by kailumego1 at 08:52 PM : Mar 23, 2007"
No doubt you are the one who mated with their mother, right?
Some Americans have been known to kiss, sleep with, and mate their dogs.
You have no HUMANS with whom to form companionship?
All this man-animal stuff is getting out of hand.
The lowly dogs are supposed to SERVE humans and are 'happy' just to do that. Animals aren't meant to be mates and 'sons', etc.
Can you imagine how abusive and controlling he would have been in a relationship with the girl, or any other woman? She is very lucky she got away from him. This guy needs to be kept away from society, he is real trouble. I hope his cell mate is a very large, angry dog lover.
My dogs are like two large babies, they love you unconditionally. One dog I took in because someone had thrown him out into the streets when he was a puppy. He was running around scared and hungry. It was obvious that he had been abused, it took a lot for him to trust me. He likes to cuddle up and give you a sloppy kiss, as well as the other dog.
Their names are Choc and Dustin, and the thought of someone decapitating my dog, I would want to kill him.
This woman sounds just as crazy as he juvenile who committed the crime. Why is she rationalizing this horrible offense??????