Alex Phelps, 24-year old from Shepherdsville (Kentucky), was arrested on December 31 2010 for 4 counts of torture of a cat. He later confessed to stabbing and killing four cats using a sharp knife. He had adopted the cats using the online service – Craigslist.

A total for 7 cats have been found in the area – two dead bodies of cats were found behind Phelps’ home, 3 cats tortured to death in southern Jefferson County and 2 mutilated cats behind a Kroger in early December in Bullitt County.

Louisville Police arrested Alex Phelps, 24, on Dec. 30, after a tip line call led investigators to the Bullitt County man. Police have found three cats tortured to death in southern Jefferson County over the past couple of months. Bullitt County police also discovered two mutilated cats behind a Kroger in early December. Police say Phelps confessed to stabbing and killing the animals using a sharp knife. Source: www.lex18.com

Jefferson District Judge Donald Armstrong entered a plea of not guilty for Alex Phelps and placed his bond at $50,000 and ordered him not to have contact with any animals.

Alex got these cats using Craigslist – as people come forward with their stories. He got “Copper” and “Carrot” from Jason Knopp, “Weezer” from Samantha Caple and three rescued cats from Jennifer Chappell – all using Craigslist and posing as a genuine cat lover.

Jason Knopp said he gave his cats -Copper and Carrot -to Phelps. Knopp said he needed to find his cats a home. He said one reason was because family members had allergies. Knopp had owned the cats for four years, after he rescued them from a shelter in Indiana. He said he met Phelps in November. “He knew all the right things to say. He said he volunteered for the Humane Society, fostering cats half of the year,” Knopp said. Knopp’s said when he handed over his cats to a soft-spoken Phelps, he considered him the best available option. “It’s still going to be hard to deal with …I still feel guilty myself,” Knopp said. Knopp’s said he kept in contact with Phelps, asking about Copper and Carrot, hoping he’d get to see them again, but said Phelps wasn’t open to that. Looking over their emails, Knopp’s said nothing stood out. “Even now just to look at these things, it just sounds like somebody whose really wanting to help somebody {give them homes},” Knopp’s said. Now Knopp’s is left with pictures, wondering what became of their future. WAVE 3 was also contacted by Samantha Caple. Caple said she has known Phelps since 2005. “He made me feel comfortable enough to hand her over and I just …he really was convincing. That’s the scariest part about it,” Caple said. Caple said she gave Phelps ‘Weezer’ about 3 weeks ago. She had the cat for a few months. She said Weezer was a stray she helped bring back to health. After hearing Phelps had been arrested, it left her questioning everything. “I just want to know what happened to her,” Knopp said. Source: www.wave3.com

Chappell says after caring and loving for the kittens she posted an ad on Craigslist and Alex Phelps responded to the ad. Chappell even shared an email that Phelps wrote her, saying he has a dog and most of his family are “avid animal lovers”. Chappell says Phelps came to her home and she gave him the kittens in October. “He took them and I thought they would have a good home and he really talked it up like they would,” said Chappell. “He seemed like a cat lover.” Chappell says she had heard on the news that cats were found mutilated and tortured to death in the area of Preston Highway and Mud Lane. On Thursday police arrested Phelps and charged him with four counts of torturing and killing cats. Police say Phelps confessed to stabbing and killing the animals using a sharp knife. “I actually saw it on someone’s Facebook last night and I was cheering ‘Yay!’ that they caught the sicko then, as soon as I saw his name, I said ‘oh no!'” said Chappell. Source: www.wcsh6.com

He looks like a serial killer in the making as he seems to be working his way up from killing innocent cats to humans. Hopefully the sick man is given the full punishment possible!