ONLINE POSTINGS LED POLICE TO SUSPECT IN CAT KILLINGS !!!

[Daanyeer]

Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/486/story/1097422.html
Sunday, 06.14.09

The teenager accused of mutilating more than a dozen cats in South Miami-Dade was not the reserved yet rabid killer some expected. He was a dog-loving class clown, a swim class instructor, an 18-year-old who grew up before the eyes of the four-legged victims' families.

He appeared to be appalled by the horrific killings, and joined the Facebook group ``Catch the Cat Killer!''

Police said they were not fooled. They said Tyler Hayes Weinman's social networking led them to him. Sunday, Weinman was arrested in connection with 19 gruesome cat-killings.

The former Miami Palmetto Senior High School student split his time between divorced parents who lived in Palmetto Bay and Cutler Bay, the communities where the killings took place. Police, working with tips gathered from the community and reading his Facebook and MySpace pages, kept Weinman under surveillance for weeks.

Saturday night, he went to a party at the home of Kevin Corona in Coral Gables. Around midnight, investigators thoroughly searched his mother's house. Around 12:30 a.m., two men in plain shirts and jeans walked into Corona's house and asked for Weinman. Then, they quietly walked him outside.

''Enjoy the party,'' Corona recalled one of them saying. The men turned out to be undercover cops.

At 1:23 p.m. Sunday, Weinman was booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, with bail set at $154,500.

When it came time to take his mug shot, the clean-cut Weinman flashed a half-smile.

He was charged with 19 counts of felony animal cruelty, 19 counts of improperly disposing of an animal body and four counts of burglary. Each of the felony counts carries a minimum mandatory fine of $5,000, six months in prison and psychological counseling.

Weinman's attorney, David Macey, said his client is innocent. His parents, Alba and Douglas, could not be reached Sunday for comment.

Politicians and law enforcement agents had harsh words about the suspect.

Miami-Dade County Commissioner Katy Sorenson, who represents the area, called him ``twisted and depraved, somehow really not right as a human being.''

''Thankfully, for this community,'' Sorenson said, ``the terror has come to an end.''

Palmetto Bay Mayor Eugene Flinn said a motive is hard to fathom: ``No one here can get in the head of a person capable of such a heinous act.''

Left unexplained are 15 other cat deaths in the area that police have not tied to Weinman. Some or all of those cats may have been killed by dogs, authorities said.

Miami-Dade Police Maj. Julie Miller said the investigation was continuing and that it could stretch into other jurisdictions.

Police said Weinman sliced open some of the cats' bellies and gutted them, and often threw the carcasses onto their owners' front yards.

In the first known case on May 10 -- Mother's Day -- two cats were sliced open and left on a front yard. One of the animals was ''posed'' for shock effect, according to a police report.

CRUEL ACTS

For more than a month after that, gutted cats with crushed skulls appeared on owners' lawns in Palmetto Bay and Cutler Bay. In most cases, there was no blood near the carcass, leading some to believe they were killed elsewhere and then dumped.

''These awful scenes inflicted a great human toll,'' said Cutler Bay Mayor Paul Vrooman.

Such cruelty has perplexed Weinman's friends, who say he always behaved lovingly toward their pets. He sometimes worked as a counselor at the Swim Gym Aquatic Summer Camp in Key Biscayne and was known for his comedic classroom antics.