CANADA -- Two Canadian teenagers cut their burglary and animal abuse trial short Wednesday in Camrose, Alberta, by pleading guilty to microwaving a cat during a break-in.
The males, 16 and 17, who can't be identified, struck a deal earlier this week in connection with the December 2007 events and will face sentencing July 17 after their lawyers cut a deal with prosecutors, the Edmonton Journal reported.
In all, four teens are charged with breaking into the house twice while the owners were away on Christmas vacation. The house was badly vandalized, and Crown prosecutor John Laluk alleged on the second break-in, the cat was killed.
"There were reports of the sound of the cat screaming and that 10 minutes passed before the sounds diminished and the cat died," he told the court.
After the surprise guilty plea, Laluk told reporters it was unlikely the teens would face jail time because they are first-time offenders and have no prior records. He said the two indicated they wanted to apologize to the cat owners before being sentenced.
The other two teens charged entered innocent pleas and will go to trial Nov. 17, the report said.
(UPI - June 4, 2008)
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