Serial pet killer and emotional abuser up for parole
http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20110125/NEWS010703/101260331/Cat-killer-up-for-parole
A Northern Kentucky man thought to be the first person prosecuted under a Kentucky law that made it a felony to kill a domesticated animal will be up for parole after serving about two years and five months of a 12-year sentence.
The parole hearing for Russell Swigart, 32, of Highland Heights is set for Feb. 15 at Northpoint Training Center, a medium security prison in Burgin.
He pleaded guilty in October 2009 in Kenton Circuit Court to two counts of torture of a dog or cat in addition to one count of second-degree burglary.
Swigart broke into Bridgett Wright's Lakeside Park townhome in September 2008 and stabbed to death two cats, named Piggy and Mr. Frank. A third cat, Alley, hid and wasn't harmed. Swigart and Wright were former coworkers and had a brief romantic relationship.
Former Kenton County Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Justin Sanders has written a letter to Kentucky's parole board urging its members to order Swigart to serve out his entire sentence.
"It is imperative that Kentucky's citizens feel free and safe to end bad relationships, to break up with a husband, wife, boyfriend, or girlfriend without fear of revenge or retribution," Sanders wrote.
"At the risk of stating the obvious, people must be able to tell someone, 'I just want to be friends,' without placing themselves, their families, their pets, or other loved ones at risk of serious physical injury or death."
Swigart has a history of injuring or killing women's pets since the late 1990s, according to court records. Swigart "has left a trail of emotionally devastated and frightened women in his wake," Sanders wrote.
Swigart was convicted in 1997 of domestic violence arising from a series of attacks on a woman who lived with him in Wauseon, Ohio. After the woman moved out, Swigart came to her new home, placed her pet cat in a shoebox, sealed it with tape and shot the box with a shotgun - killing the trapped cat.
He then forced his former female roommate to look at her dead cat and threatened to do the same to her, Sanders said.
Several years after the domestic violence conviction, Swigart stole a female neighbor's key, had a copy made and used it to secretly enter her Columbus, Ohio, apartment to beat her two dogs, Sanders wrote.
A woman Swigart was living with in Columbus told Sanders that Swigart beat her cat so badly that it sustained several broken ribs, a punctured lung and a tongue laceration.
In January 2007, Swigart was working for a medical equipment company headquartered in Chantilly, Va., when he hired Wright as a sales representative. The pair had a four-month, on-and-off relationship that ended in July 2007, according to court records.
In September 2008, after Swigart quit his job at the medical equipment company, he started sending unsolicited, alarming and threatening text messages to Wright, according to court records. The text messages indicated Swigart had broken into Wright's townhome and killed the cats. Wright, who was on business in Ashland, Ky., called police, who found the dead cats.
"Bridgett Wright is likely alive today only because she took a last minute, out-of-town business trip," Sanders wrote. "The evidence in this case showed that Mr. Swigart did not know that Ms. Wilson was out of town until he broke into her condo, armed with a deadly weapon - the large hunting knife."
Sanders provided the parole board with the findings of a 1997 study by the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty of Animals that found a person who has committed animal abuse is five times more likely to commit violence against people and four times more likely to commit property crimes.
"It is not unreasonable to believe that (Swigart) may even be a serial killer in the making," Sanders wrote.
A Northern Kentucky man thought to be the first person prosecuted under a Kentucky law that made it a felony to kill a domesticated animal will be up for parole after serving about two years and five months of a 12-year sentence.
The parole hearing for Russell Swigart, 32, of Highland Heights is set for Feb. 15 at Northpoint Training Center, a medium security prison in Burgin.
He pleaded guilty in October 2009 in Kenton Circuit Court to two counts of torture of a dog or cat in addition to one count of second-degree burglary.
Swigart broke into Bridgett Wright's Lakeside Park townhome in September 2008 and stabbed to death two cats, named Piggy and Mr. Frank. A third cat, Alley, hid and wasn't harmed. Swigart and Wright were former coworkers and had a brief romantic relationship.
Former Kenton County Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Justin Sanders has written a letter to Kentucky's parole board urging its members to order Swigart to serve out his entire sentence.
"It is imperative that Kentucky's citizens feel free and safe to end bad relationships, to break up with a husband, wife, boyfriend, or girlfriend without fear of revenge or retribution," Sanders wrote.
"At the risk of stating the obvious, people must be able to tell someone, 'I just want to be friends,' without placing themselves, their families, their pets, or other loved ones at risk of serious physical injury or death."
Swigart has a history of injuring or killing women's pets since the late 1990s, according to court records. Swigart "has left a trail of emotionally devastated and frightened women in his wake," Sanders wrote.
Swigart was convicted in 1997 of domestic violence arising from a series of attacks on a woman who lived with him in Wauseon, Ohio. After the woman moved out, Swigart came to her new home, placed her pet cat in a shoebox, sealed it with tape and shot the box with a shotgun - killing the trapped cat.
He then forced his former female roommate to look at her dead cat and threatened to do the same to her, Sanders said.
Several years after the domestic violence conviction, Swigart stole a female neighbor's key, had a copy made and used it to secretly enter her Columbus, Ohio, apartment to beat her two dogs, Sanders wrote.
A woman Swigart was living with in Columbus told Sanders that Swigart beat her cat so badly that it sustained several broken ribs, a punctured lung and a tongue laceration.
In January 2007, Swigart was working for a medical equipment company headquartered in Chantilly, Va., when he hired Wright as a sales representative. The pair had a four-month, on-and-off relationship that ended in July 2007, according to court records.
In September 2008, after Swigart quit his job at the medical equipment company, he started sending unsolicited, alarming and threatening text messages to Wright, according to court records. The text messages indicated Swigart had broken into Wright's townhome and killed the cats. Wright, who was on business in Ashland, Ky., called police, who found the dead cats.
"Bridgett Wright is likely alive today only because she took a last minute, out-of-town business trip," Sanders wrote. "The evidence in this case showed that Mr. Swigart did not know that Ms. Wilson was out of town until he broke into her condo, armed with a deadly weapon - the large hunting knife."
Sanders provided the parole board with the findings of a 1997 study by the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty of Animals that found a person who has committed animal abuse is five times more likely to commit violence against people and four times more likely to commit property crimes.
"It is not unreasonable to believe that (Swigart) may even be a serial killer in the making," Sanders wrote.