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Last updated on Wednesday, December 5, 2012
(BLOOMINGTON) - Bloomington police arrested a man Monday after he admitted to stealing a cat from an animal shelter and tying a cord around its neck.
19-year-old Christopher C. Gugliuzza, an IU student, was arrested.
Staff members at the Bloomington Animal Shelter told police they had given the cat to Gugliuzza to hold because he'd expressed an interest in adopting the cat, according to Bloomington police Sgt. John Kovach.
Staff members said while they were helping other customers, Gugliuzza fled the shelter, got in his car and left.
Kovach says, shelter staff say they recognized Gugliuzza, because he had adopted from the shelter twice before, and they gave police his address.
The theft led to Gugliuzza's arrest.
While speaking to police, Gugliuzza admitted that he stole the cat because he had no money but added the cat had run away into the woods.
As Gugliuzza was being released from the jail for the theft-related arrest, Bloomington police arrested him a second time on preliminary charges of animal cruelty.
Gugliuzza's girlfriend told police Gugliuzza might have killed the cat he stole and told police it was not the first time he had killed an animal.
The woman told police she saw Gugliuzza throw the stolen cat against the wall of his residence five times, choke the cat with his hands, tie a computer power cord around the cat's neck and drag the cat around the apartment. She says he also put a 20-pound weight on the cat's paw in an attempt to break it.
She reported Gugliuzza then dragged the cat to a nearby wooded area and threw the cat into trees. The woman told police she yelled at Gugliuzza to stop, as the cat cried out in pain. That is when she alleges Gugliuzza pick up a large rock and throw it at the cat, causing the cat to go limp and stop crying.
The woman told police that is not the first time Gugliuzza had killed a cat.
She reported that about two months ago, Gugliuzza told her that a cat, named Misty, scratched him and he choked it to death. The woman told police she did not witness the death but helped him bury the cat.
Police found the remains of a cat believed to be Misty buried along 17th Street.
The woman also told police that two days after the incident with Misty, Gugliuzza got another cat named Rosie.
She told police she noticed Rosie had injuries to its paw and face. This cat died, but she didn't know how.
The woman also told police that a few days ago, Gugliuzza had a cat named Peaches, who had an injury to its leg.
She says Gugliuzza told her the cat injured its leg jumping off a counter and that he returned from a visit to a veterinarian, who said the cat had to be put to sleep.
In a second interview with police, Gugliuzza admitted to slapping the stolen cat and tying the computer cord around the cat's neck, but says he did not tie the cord tight.
He also admitted to police he threw the cat into a tree, but says he believed the cat did not die,
Gugliuzza also admitted to strangling and killing his cat Misty and buried her in a wooded area.
He told police the cat Rosie, died in its sleep after falling down the stairs, andPeaches hurt its ankle after jumping off a counter, but ran away.
Gugliuzza was released from the Monroe County Jail Tuesday morning after posting $905 bond.
Gugliuzza's three roommates said they met Gugliuzza on Craig's List, but now that they know more about him, they don't want anything more to do with him.
Roommate Aaron McGuin now thinks the injuries and deaths of three other cats are related.
"My cat, his name was is Einstein, he had a broken leg and his face was like, it was just bleeding and stuff," McGuin said. "It's been mind boggling to me to understand what happened to my cat and understanding like how badly he was hurt, like how did that happen by himself. I couldn't get it through my head, but now I have clarity, what actually happened. I understand he was abused."
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