Man sentenced for decapitating mother's 'evil and nosy' cat

Kaellen Hessel | Statesman Journal

A 25-year-old Salem man was sentenced to four years and four months in prison after pleading guilty to decapitating his mother's cat.

Rudi Espinoza pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree aggravated animal abuse and one count of delivering MDMA, also known as ecstasy. A second aggravated animal abuse count and two counts of manufacturing/delivering a controlled substance were dismissed.

On June 25, Espinoza was arrested after neighbors called 911. When Espinoza's mother returned home from work that night, he tried having a conversation with her that made little sense. She asked if they could continue talking after she fed the crying cat. Then Espinoza attacked the cat and his mother fled, according to court proceedings.

When deputies from the Marion County Sheriff's Office arrived, Espinoza was covered in blood, scratches and bite marks and was wearing only boxers, officials said.

Deputies found a decapitated cat with a broken tail. Photos presented in court showed the cat next to a knife in the laundry room.

Espinoza told investigating deputies he killed the cat because it was "evil and nosy," Lt. Chris Baldridge said.

Defense lawyer Stephen Lipton told the court Espinoza was under the influence of LSD that night and reacted to it to an extraordinary degree.

While investigating the animal abuse, deputies found a full-scale manufacturing operation that involved selling ecstasy over the Internet using bitcoin, prosecutor Jean Kunkle said.

During the sentencing, Espinoza's mother had an interpreter read a statement she had written expressing how much she's suffered because of the "horrible accident" that happened while her son was going through serious depression. With psychological help, she's now able to return to a normal life.

The letter asked that the previous restraining order she'd received against him be dropped and that he gets help to be a better citizen, rather than be sent to prison.

"I will always be there for him. I love him and understand him," the letter read.

In Espinoza's defense, Lipton argued that his client was negatively effected by having spent his childhood between Oregon and Mexico and having several of his male family members incarcerated on drug charges. Lipton called him a young man of promise who had made bad decisions.

A psychological review Lipton had conducted on Espinoza showed he has high intelligence, is impulsive and has difficulty expressing himself which has caused him suffering.

The report recommended Espinoza needs counseling, treatment and something to force him away from illegal activities.

"Prison's not going to do anything for him," Lipton said. "Treatment certainly will."

Espinoza told the court he realized he's hurt his family and community with his drug habit and that he has a lot of repressed emotions he needs to deal with.

"I'm done with drugs," he said. "It's not going to be easy but I'm done with drugs. All I ask for is help."

Judge Jamese Rhoades read Espinoza his mother's description of that night as recorded in restraining order documents from June. His mother described it like a horror movie in which she feared for her life.

Espinoza replied that he was disgusted with his actions and didn't intend to hurt her. He said he's sorry he made her feel that way.

Rhoades said that made her think he intended to decapitate the cat if he did not intend to hurt his mother.

"I have no idea why I did that," he said.

Rhoades' sentence allows Espinoza to be eligible for early release with good behavior, programming that could lessen his prison time and treatment.

After Rhoades handed down her sentence, Espinoza asked if he could be on a no-tolerance one instead citing this is his first offense.

"I just don't feel like (the 52) months given are going to be able to help me at all or my family," he said.

Rhoades explained that sentencing is not as simple as that. It's meant to not only punish and rehabilitate, but also to send a message to the community to discourage others from committing similar offenses.

Studies haven't been favorable to zero tolerance and aren't thought well of by the Department of Corrections and a former Oregon Supreme Court chief justice, she said.

The fact he murdered a cat suggests some disturbing things about him. In her experience, many people who hurt or kill other humans started by harming animals, she said.

She said she's hopeful he'll learn valuable skills through prison programs that will help him avoid drugs and reduce his sentence.

He then asked for the two sentences to be served at the same time instead of consecutively.

"You just aren't really listening to me, are you?" she replied.

Email khessel@statesmanjournal.com, call (503) 399-6743 or follow on Twitter @KaellenHessel