ST. CHARLES COUNTY, MO (CNN) — A man from St. Charles County gruesomely killed and dismembered at least a dozen cats and kittens that he found on Craigslist, prosecutors said on Saturday.
Kaine A. Louzader, 20, of Wild Deer Lane near St. Peters, is now facing two felony charges of animal abuse. The charges are felonies, not misdemeanors, because he’s accused of torturing or mutilating cats while they were alive.
Charges were filed Friday. St. Charles County Prosecuting Attorney Tim Lohmar said Saturday that investigators believe Louzader, who lives with his grandparents, killed at least 12 cats. He got the cats and kittens from people who were offering them for sale or for free on Craigslist, Lohmar said.
A spokeswoman said more charges are expected.
Charging documents claim that the dead cats have been turning up on or near Louzader’s street since January.
On Monday, a man was spotted dumping a dead cat from a bag of water near Louzader’s house, and Louzader’s car matched the description of the car the man was driving, according to an affidavit filed in court by St. Charles County police Sgt. Jeff Ochs. Ochs said that Louzader admitted scouring Craigslist ads for cats or kittens. He took the felines home, where he stomped on their heads or strangled them in a bathtub or on the patio. After killing the cats, Louzader would dismember some, cutting off their heads or limbs, Ochs wrote, and then dump them on the streets near his house.
When Ochs asked about the scratches on Louzader’s arms, hands and fingers, Louzader initially claimed that an elderly woman at the hospital where he worked had scratched him, Ochs wrote, but the scratches did not appear human. Louzader later admitted that the scratches were from the last cat he killed, on Sunday.
Louzader is being held in jail on $50,000 bond. His lawyer declined to comment. Relatives could not be reached.
On his Facebook page, there are few public postings. But Louzader did publicly post a portion of Psalm 46:10: “Be still, and know that I am God.”
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