Accused Cat Killer Pleads Not Guilty

Bonafide, left, died from his injuries; Emo, right, is missing and presumed dead

Sean Lynde pleaded not guilty to charges that he killed and/or tortured his ex-girlfriend's six cats over a four month period last year. Lynde, who is out on $5,000 bail, told the Post, "There are two sides to every story. Right now, we are hearing just one incredibly distorted one."

Lynde, 36, a graphic designer, faces multiple counts of felony animal cruelty. He had moved into girlfriend Rachel Strate's Upper West Side apartment last fall, and that's when the alleged abuse of State's cats began. Strate originally had cats Cleo and Zoe, but when they died, she adopted two others—Willie and Betty. When Willie was injured and Betty died, she adopted two others, Emo and Bonafide. From the Post:

Last Oct. 4, just three days after he moved into Strate's apartment, Lynde brought Cleo, 15, to a neighborhood vet dead from head trauma, including a broken jaw and bleeding eye. Three weeks later, he brought in Zoe, 12, who was unable to stand because of an unknown trauma. She had to be euthanized.

In late November, Strate returned an injured Willie to its original [owner]. Two days later, Lynde brought 3-month-old Betty to a different Upper West Side vet dead, saying she had fallen off a kitchen counter.

Emo, a 2-month-old male, suffered a mysterious broken paw in on Dec. 21 and subsequently vanished. Bonafide, also a 2-month-old male, somehow broke two vertebrae in his neck, slipped into a coma and died.

It turns out a vet contacted the ASPCA and that Emo is presumed dead (Lynde allegedly told Strate he ran away). ASPCA Assistant Director Joseph Pentangelo called the charges "chilling... It's unprecedented in recent years to see different pets abused almost on a schedule."

Strate was not charged. Yesterday, a commenter wrote, based on his/her personal knowledge, "the ex-girlfriend is falsifying all these charges as a revenge tactic. the aspca has no evidence of anything other than the word of an angry, psychotic ex... as the facts come out, this will be proven to be nothing but slanderous lies." We contacted the ASPCA for comment and information about the investigation, and Stacy Wolf, the ASPCA's Vice President & Chief Legal Counsel for Humane Law Enforcement, told us that no further details about the investigation could be shared because it's a pending criminal case. Wolf added, "It is worth noting, however, that the Grand Jury believed that there was enough evidence to indict Mr. Lynde on multiple criminal counts, including felony charges of animal cruelty. The case is now in the hands of the district attorney and The ASPCA is confident that as the evidence is presented in court in the coming months, justice will be served."

Lynde's lawyer pointed out to the Post that the cats were on shelters' euthanasia lists, "These cats all had problems. I'm completely convinced of my client's innocence." Uh, a cat's placement on a euthanasia list does not necessarily mean the cat has "problems"—sometimes, cats are put on euthanasia lists due to shelter overcrowding.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on August 22, 2009 3:11 PM

Comments [rss]

felixthecat2

I hope he gets hit by a cab.

jshdoff

Uh, the ASPCA does NOT euthanize for overcrowding. In NYC, only theCACC does. That aside, there's obviously evidence of abuse, but not of who the perpetrator is. Without investigation, there's no telling which one of them is responsible for the actual abuse, and which one is responsible for standing idly by and allowing it to continue.

They're both guilty.

gerryvisco

Cats don't get injured this easily on their own.

Not sure how you guys know so much about Strate. I can only say that if she IS a whack, then her taste in men probably isn't so good, either. Abusive men often are jealous of the pets of girlfriends. Check it out: there are scores of documented cases of this sort of tragic behavior by abusive men.

Sean Lynde has a lot to answer for and those of you who are unwilling to make the leap of faith here are deaf dumb and blind.

thatswhenireachformyrevolver

Wow...this cross-eyed white trash sadist and his moronic girlfriend make such a good case for eugenics. Do we really need socially useless people like this walking around loose and possibly breeding? Elliot Kay sounds as psychotic as his client. Apparently he plans to pull out all stops in this case and implement the time-honored "bad kitty" defense. I wonder what law school he went to.

dgeee

After he killed her first pet, you'd think she would have caught on.

just saying

fruitstand = Sean Lynde

silver

These 2 are actually PETA activists euthanizing pets.

basictraining

Um....I'm not buying it. Nope.

You'll have to do better there Fruitstand.

Seriously....try harder. You can do it.

You claim to be such an expert on the person that was claimed to be harassed & stalked.

Really....it's easy. Subject first....then predicate.

Then maybe we can work on the premise & conclusions. You're doing really poorly with assumptions so we'll save that for last.

basictraining

Geez Fruitstand....did you just walk out of the Va-JJ factory? Hate women much? Maybe a little angry?

The Grand Jury indicted Sean Lynde for killing cats, stalking and harassment.

It's amazing that you can harass someone online like a true internet hero that you are.

You use words that you cannot prove nor are an authority on, so we're just supposed to take your word for it?

If you were a real man, you would stop attacking the person he harassed and stalked and offer up some evidence that your good friend "Sean" is such an honorable guy.

Oh yeah, there isn't any.

fruitstand

To answer your questions:

No, did not just walk out of the Va-JJ Factory.

No, do not hate women.

No, not particularly angry.

No, I don't consider myself an internet hero (like Baby Hitler), I'm just a regular internet mortal like you and that guy Jacque Mehoff who is not particularly funny.

And I don't know a thing about Sean Lynde other than he's a guy accused of killing cats, and he's a guy who dated someone I know, who is nuts. Maybe they deserve each other, I dunno.

velmonk

I'm not going to come on here and try and argue with specific commenters.

All I'm saying is that the tiny, distorted sliver of information you all are basing your judgement on is just that. I'm not saying anyone should believe me over anything else you read on the interweb. I'm just advocating the principal that our justice system is based on...innocent until proven guilty. Is that really so hard to swallow? Just imagine for a moment, if only for the sake of argument, that this is an innocent person wrongly charged. How wrong is it that this person's life can be destroyed by an accusation? I don't know who this 'fruitstand' person is, but their comment is indicative of this woman's history.

BabyKitten199

The douche bag later plead guilty so we were right after all!!! May he rot in hell!!!

thefacts

The lynch mob mentality is alive and well on Gothamist.

ockhamsrazor

My favorite is the following from his defense attorney. This is actually a classic...."These cats all had problems. I'm completely convinced of my client's innocence."

Uh huh. Yep...totally. Good job.

With that stellar defense......I'd be a bit worried for Mr. Lynde.

And to Velmonk earlier points where he/she/it was confused as to when it answered the question "Are the six dead cats".....it responded "no there aren't."

Well, we know there are not SIX dead animals....but I'm wondering how many Velmonk thinks is good enough. Scary.

And from a good quote from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.... “There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action.”

Well put Johann....well put.

Spirit of 76

velmonk didn't think through the obvious question. If these are nothing but the lunatic ravings of a "psychotic" ex, why should we believe velmonk more than we believe her? Because he came here and said so?

NannyState

Gothamist Court is now in session. The Honorable Spirit of 76 presiding...

Spirit of 76

You're out of order! Bailiff, remove this commenter!

NannyState

I was set up!

Theodore Wirth

Jen,

From reading your posts, I can tell your are an animal lover. How difficult is for you to report these atrocities?

I leave you with this:

“Animals are God’s creatures. He surrounds them with his providential care. By their mere existence they bless him and give him glory. Thus men owe them kindness. We should recall the gentleness with which saints like St. Francis of Assisi or St. Philip Neri treated animals.”—Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraph 2416

Spirit of 76

Where's "velmonk" and his "personal knowledge" now? These aren't allegations from Lynde's girlfriend. These are reports from veterinarians Lynde himself brought the cats to. Two cats that had lived long lives with his girlfriend suddenly get fatal injuries within weeks of him moving in? And what's this bullshit about a kitten dying because she "fell off a kitchen counter?" Even assuming the well-known righting reflex of cats didn't put her on her feet, a three-foot fall would not be enough to kill a kitten. Something really smells, and it's not a litter box.

When the lawyer said, "I'm completely convinced of my client's innocence," what he meant was "I'm completely convinced of my ability to collect my fee from this guy, whether we win or lose."