by Elisa Black-Taylor
(USA)
Tyler Weinman: Cat killer or not?
Please see part one if you have come straight to this page.
Tyler Weinman, accused cat killer, will soon be coming to trial for the alleged murder of two dozen cats (give or take a few). Today I will give details which Tyler says will soon make him a free man. Either our legal system has gone very off course, or Tyler has the sweetest face since executed serial killer Ted Bundy.
For full affadavit, please see href="http://tylerweinman.com/affidavit.pdf (this webpage was deleted some time ago it appears), a PDF file. This PDF has VERY GRAPHIC CONTENT. The affidavit explains the manner in which the cats were killed, along with the fact that due to the lack of blood, they were killed elsewhere. It also notes that when Tyler stayed with his father and was deprived the use of his black Honda, the cat killings moved north closer to his father's residence.
The defense stresses there is no physical evidence whatsoever tying Weinman to the crime. No DNA from any of the cats was found on any of the instruments in his possession. Weinman was signed up for a dissection class at his high school. Tyler admitted he attended the only school in the area (Palmetto Senior High School) to import cats from Mexico for dissection and said that the dissection class explained the presence of the knives.
He even commented on the sound a cat makes as the fur is being torn from the hide.
But no DNA.
According to court documents, police did remove box cutters, knives, hypodermic needles and a metal dental tool from Weinman's possession. Some of the knives were "hidden" in the walls. They also took an iPod, computer equipment, shoes and typed directions on a piece of paper. Heinman's attorney David Macey argued that the items, which were taken from Weinman and his parents, prove nothing. Box cutters and knives are common instruments and Tyler's dad is a dentist. Macey also stated the police "bulldozed" through the house taking objects unrelated to the crimes.
Macey has also asked Judge John Thornton to return items taken from the Weinman home, including his father's business checks, which have no bearing on the case1.
Staff doctors working for the Dade County Police Department did state that Tyler Weinman exhibited behavior symptomatic of conduct disorder which in an adult would be considered sociopathic. Yet a judge said he wasn't a danger to himself or to others and put him under house arrest. So who should we believe?2
There are no eyewitnesses, insists Tyler. However, on May 14 and May 15, 2009, investigators and police encountered him in the area of the cat killings. On the first encounter he was walking and on the second he was skateboarding. Weinman laughed when police told him of the killings, and even suggested the cats would have to be sedated or poisoned before the dissection took place.
There is a Facebook page titled "Tyler Weinman Did Not Kill 19 Cats" in which Tyler stresses that wild pit bulls in the area committed the crimes.
Tyler claims to be the victim of a police department looking for anyone to pin the crimes on. With Weinman's troubled childhood, he still insists he was an excellent choice.
On one occasion an officer noticed scratches on Tyler's neck and shoulders, which Tyler explained he received while feeding a stray cat in the neighborhood. He was "nice" enough to allow the officers to photograph said scratches.
Yet other than the police, he insists there are no eyewitnesses and believes the police are using him as a scapegoat. This statement was made despite the fact that a court ordered tracking device placed on his car put him in the same block where a cat was found murdered that day.
The tracking device on his car also showed that he returned to an area three blocks from the crime scene and a black car similar to Weinman's Honda was seen by an unnamed witness.
Anyone reading the media reports concerning the cat slayings would likely believe Tyler Weinman guilty. There is NO written confession or videotaped confession professing his guilt. Weinman has stated since the beginning that he is innocent of all charges.
Tyler's family has suggested the public study a source called The Innocence Project in proclaiming his innocence. Basically the project information states how often mistakes are made in our American justice system and an innocent person is sent to prison for life3.
If some horrible miscarriage of justice has been made, one young man's life has literally been destroyed even prior to the trial. His name and his family's name has been in the headlines for over a year now.
The police who investigated the case are confident a conviction can be made on what they've gathered-WITHOUT DNA.
This has so far been a very complicated case with new developments around every corner. I, like my readers, will have to watch and wait to see how justice is served.
Since I've presented his side of the story, I'd now like to go back in and ask several questions of Tyler Weinman.
1. Why did the tracking device on your car place you in the area and before that the police placed you there?
2. Why were knives hidden behind the walls in your bedroom? An innocent person doesn't store their knives behind a wall.
3. Why did you have scratches on your neck and shoulders? Everyone knows a frightened cat will run away from the person they're afraid of-NOT climb them. Cats being held against their will DO climb in an attempt to escape.
4. Since when do pit bulls know how to skin a cat in a set pattern and place said cat in posed positions?
5. Why did area where the crimes too place change to the area where your father resides while you were staying with him?
6. Does your dad own a dental tool sterilization machine that could have eliminated all traces of DNA?
7. Why were you later placed at one of the crime scenes. Innocent people usually avoid crime scenes, don't they?
8. Were the hypodermic needles found used to sedate the cats? Just asking...
9. You say there was never a witness to any of the killings. A previously killed cat could have been posed and left where the killer wanted it found in a matter of seconds.
These are the same questions the district attorney will be asking. Cases were proven before DNA came into existence.
My biggest question isn't directed to Tyler, but to the judge who released him after the court appointed physician diagnosed him with conduct disorder and sociopathic tendencies. Given Tyler's history, he may not have been a threat to himself, but I'd hate to walk the streets near his home. A monitoring system isn't going to stop someone from breaking the law. Especially someone diagnosed with sociopathic tendencies.
Please remember most serial killers practiced on animals before moving on to human victims.
Perhaps Tyler will be found innocent. Perhaps not. The law states to be found guilty there can be no reasonable doubt. The jury must be absolutely certain he committed the crime based on the evidence presented.
What do the readers think?
Elisa
Best source I've found for updates is at http://cbs4.com/local/
Referenced sources:
1. http://cbs4.com/local/tyler.weinman.cat.2.1073153.html.
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