Bill McCleery

bill.mccleery@indystar.com

A 37-year-old Indianapolis man killed a friend’s dog by placing it in a hot oven at a Near-Southside home and leaving the animal to bake until it died, according to Marion County prosecutors.

On May 17, Joel Clark was staying with friends Christina Kelley and Richard Smith, according to court documents, when sometime during the early part of the day he grabbed the couple’s red mini-pinscher, Zane, and put him in the oven.

Neither Kelley nor Smith was around at the time, police said.

About 3 p.m., Clark told Smith he killed the dog, police said, but Smith dismissed the admission as nonsense stemming from Clark’s drunkenness.

Smith told police Clark made another troubling remark when the other dog at the home, a pitbull, walked past them. “I can take care of that dog, too,” Clark allegedly said.

Kelley discovered Zane dead in a trash can about 3:30 p.m. that day.

After finding Zane dead, Kelley and Smith ordered Clark to gather his things and leave their home, according to court documents.

Around noon the next day, Kelley and Smith gathered Zane from the trash can, wrapped him in a sheet and placed him in a cardboard box, they told police. They buried him in the yard of their home in the 1500 block of Leonard Street.

Later that afternoon, Kelley opened her oven and found red hair and a toenail from Zane on a cookie sheet and a pizza pan, according to court documents. The couple called police.

Zane’s body was examined by a Purdue University veterinarian, police said, who determined the dog died of “thermal pulmonary injury” — that he succumbed, in other words, to the effects of the oven’s intense heat.

Clark and his hosts hadn’t argued before Zane’s death, police said, leaving Zane’s owners to wonder why their pet was killed in such a cruel way.

Clark faces formal charges of torturing or mutilating an animal, killing a domestic animal and escape. The last charge pertains to an alleged violation of the terms of his house arrest, which stems from a previous conviction of resisting law enforcement.

A call to Clark’s attorney, Carey Donovan York, was not immediately returned.

Clark will appear in Marion Superior Court on Wednesday for a pretrial conference, according to court documents.

Call Star reporter Bill McCleery at (317) 444-6083. Follow him on Twitter: @BillMcCleery01.