Local News

MIAMI (CBS4) ― A 'probable cause' affidavit released in the case of a series of cat killings and mutilations in Cutler Bay and Palmetto Bay sheds light on what led police to arrest the teenager who is charged in the serial crimes. It paints a purely circumstantial case against 18-year-old Tyler Weinman, one that the defendant's lawyer says is "absolutely" flawed.

The release of the document Monday came as CBS4 News reported that police are leaning on other teenagers in an effort to build a stronger case against the youngster who is now charged, and possibly identify an alleged accomplice or accomplices.

Weinman's attorney, David Macey, said of the probable cause affidavit, "It's really important to note that there is not one, single witness in there that says that Tyler Weinman touched a cat. Not one witness."

The affidavit was released only reluctantly Monday by prosecutors who were under court order to make it public. CBS4 News and our news partner, The Miami Herald, had asked the court to order the release of the ten page narrative, which is a public record.

According to the affidavit, Weinman first came to the attention of police on May 14th, just days after six cats were found mutilated and murdered. Miami-Dade police Detective Dominick Columbro said he spotted Weinman walking through the Whispering Pines neighborhood of Cutler Bay around 2 a.m. about a half mile from where the teen lived. Columbro said he approached Weinman, interviewed him, and then warned him to keep his cat indoors because of the killings in the neighborhood. Weinman laughed, the detective said.

The following day Columbro wrote that he received an anonymous tip that Weinman had been seen at 3 a.m. in the neighborhood talking on his cell phone. Three hours later, the body of another mutilated cat was found near where Weinman had reportedly been seen on the phone.

On May 15th, Weinman was pulled over for failing to stop at a 'traffic control device'. When the officers approached the car, he reported finding a 'cutting instrument' on the ground outside the vehicle's driver's side. The officer also found a small bag of marijuana. Weinman was arrested and taken to the Cutler Bay police department. Columbro stated that he noticed a scratch along the right side of Weinman's neck. When asked about it, the teen replied that he had gotten it from a stray cat he had fed at his mother's house. Weinman also reportedly showed the detective other scratches he had received from the cat, including ones on his back.

During the interview, Weinman told detectives he had dissected a cat during an anatomy class at Palmetto Senior High School. The arrest affidavit says Weinman was "excited" and animated when describing cat dissection.

The arrest affidavit notes that the cat killings shifted from Cutler Bay, where he spent time with his mother, to Palmetto Bay, where his father lives, after Weinman was grounded by his dad and not allowed to drive to his mother's house.

The police detective said he consulted with a "psychological" profiler who said Weinman fit the profile of the serial cat killer and would be considered a "sociopath," were he an adult.

The arrest affidavit says police got a court order allowing them to put an electronic tracking device on Weinman's Honda Civic and on his cellular phone.

On June 6th, another dead cat was discovered in Palmetto Bay. The tracking device revealed Weinman's car had been on the same block in the wee hours of that morning. The arrest affidavit says the device showed that Weinman returned to the neighborhood later in the day, suggesting that he watched the police activity at the crime scene from about three blocks away. An unnamed witness saw a "suspicious black compact car" similar to Weinman's Honda parked on the side of the road down the street from the crime scene.

Prominent criminal defense attorney Mark Seiden, who has no interest in the cat case, told CBS4 News that the facts outlined in the state's affidavit do not amount to probable cause. "I'm surprised a judge signed the arrest warrant," Seiden said. "There's no physical evidence whatsoever, and no witnesses that tie him to any of these crimes. If I were his attorney, I would be in court with a motion to dismiss these charges."

Weinman's attorney asked Judge John Thornton Monday to order the state to return "personal property" taken from the homes of Weinman's mother and father when police searched them after the teenager's arrest. "They went in there with a bulldozer," Macey said, "and took every piece of property from this poor family, regardless of whether it had any connection to these cases."

The attorney said that among things police improperly seized was the checkbook belonging to Weinman's father, who is a dentist. "They took his business checks, which have no connection whatsoever to this case. They have not allowed him to conduct his business for three weeks. It's wrong." Judge Thornton did not immediately rule on Macey's request that the material be returned.

A source close to the cat killings investigation told CBS4 News that police were working feverishly in the days leading up to Monday's release of the probable cause affidavit to bolster their case against Weinman and possibly arrest and accomplice or accomplices. The source told CBS4 reporter Jim Defede that police had conducted "marathon interrogations" of multiple teenagers, including one grilling that lasted "overnight."

Nothing in the affidavit released Monday suggests the possibility of accomplices in the cat killings. Prosecutors had argued against release of the document, saying it could harm the "ongoing" investigation.

Attorney Seiden told CBS4 he can't imagine what harm prosecutors feared. "There's nothing in there – no confidential informants, no possible co-defendants, nothing" that would jeopardize the probe, Seiden said.

Weinman was formally charged Monday in Miami-Dade court with 19 counts of felony animal cruelty, 19 counts of improperly disposing of an animal body and four counts of burglary. He has pleaded not guilty and is currently free on bond, though he is on house arrest. If convicted, he could face more than ten years in prison.

(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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