Russell Hofstad Gets Prison for Burglary, Killing Cat, Eating Cat, Making Jewelry Out of Cat

See also: Russell Hofstad Broke Into a Warehouse, Skinned a Cat, Wore Tail as Necklace
See also: Russell Hofstad Pleads Guilty to Burglary... and Cat Crimes

Russell Hofstad will be going to prison for a couple years, in part for burglary, and in part for killing a cat, snacking on a cat, and making cat jewelry.

A judge sentenced Hofstad yesterday to two years in prison and four years of probation, about eight months after police showed up to a Phoenix warehouse and found about half a cat -- and Hofstad wearing its tail as a necklace.

Hofstad pleaded guilty to a couple charges last month related to that episode, including burglary and animal cruelty.

Police were called to the District 8 Warehouse in Phoenix on January 18 after the owner of the building found Hofstad had broken in, and was still hanging out in there.

Police went into the warehouse, and sure enough, Hofstad was wearing what police described as a "paint mask," and was wearing a cat's tail as a necklace.

The rest of the cat -- well, almost the rest of it -- was found in the middle of the warehouse, next to a pile of its guts.

The cat carcass was also short a leg.

"...[T]he cat had been skinned and gutted," court documents said. "The internal organs were on ice in a cooler used to hold water. There were screwdrivers and clippers next to the cat's body. There was a leg missing, and [Hofstad] was wearing the tail around his neck on a rope along with a piece of the cat's internals."

Hofstad told police he hadn't eaten for some time, so he bashed the animal over the head with a stick and used a butcher's knife he'd found to skin and gut it.

He also told police he wanted to utilize the cat's skeleton as a party decoration.

James King contributed to this post.




