► 'Puppy Doe' had been stabbed in the eye, had her vertebrae smashed, had limbs pulled apart, and had her tongue severed into a forked serpent shape
► Czerawski was staying in U.S. on expired tourist visa and working as home attendant to 95-year-old dementia patient
► He is also accused of stealing 11 checks worth total of $6,700 from New Bedford, Massachusetts, church in April 2012
MASSACHUSETTS -- An illegal alien from Poland faces decades behind bars for allegedly torturing and leaving for dead a tiny pit bull dubbed 'Puppy Doe' in August.
A jury yesterday indicted Radoslaw Czerkawski, 32, of 12 counts of animal abuse and one count of misleading police, with an arraignment expected to be set before December 20.
The indictments move the existing case from the Quincy District Court, where criminal complaints only carry a maximum sentence of two and half years in a county House of Correction, to the Norfolk Superior Court.
Prosecutors said Czerkawski obtained the dog free of charge on Craigslist and spent weeks brutally abusing her before dumping the tormented dog in a Quincy park. The pet later had to be put down due to the severity of her injuries.
The two-year-old pit bull reportedly was stabbed in the eye, burned, had her limbs pulled from the joints and had her tongue sliced in half like a serpent. It was described as 'medieval' torture.
'I just want to know so bad why he did it. Why her, of all dogs? What did she ever do to him to make him want to hurt her so bad? She loved everybody,' Puppy Doe's former owner Laura Hankins told the Boston Herald.
According to prosecutors, Czerkawski worked as a home attendant, caring for a 95-year-old Polish dementia patient woman in Quincy, Boston Herald reported.
Police say Czerkaswki abandoned Puppy Doe in the park a day after his client passed away. Her death certificate stated that the woman died from 'failure to thrive' caused by her illness.
Authorities
When asked during a press conference in October about a motive behind the sadistic animal abuse, Quincy Police Chief Paul Keenan said: ‘Who has a motive for something like this? He's probably just a sick individual.’
Following Czerkaswki’s arrest in New Britain, Connecticut, Sunday, police in New Bedford, Massachusetts, announced that the man was a suspect in the theft of about $6,700 from a local church, South Coast Today said.
Czerkawski is accused of stealing and cashing 11 checks from St Lawrence the Martyr Church, where he had stayed between January and April 2012 after telling the pastor there that he wanted to become a priest.
A month after he left for Canada, the church noticed that three of its accounts were missing about $6,700.
Czerkawski, a native of Hrubieszow, Poland, has been staying in the U.S. on a tourist visa that had expired, according to The Patriot Ledger.
In addition to the Puppy Doe charges, he is expected to face 11 counts of larceny by check over $250 and a single count of larceny in a building in connection to the New Bedford case.
Police found Czerkawski at a La Quinta hotel before he appeared in New Britain Superior Court to start the rendition process back to Massachusetts.
The two-month investigation before Czerkawski was nabbed sparked outrage among dog lovers from coast to coast.
During his Czerkawski's arraignment last month, animal activists filled the Quincy courtroom to support Puppy Doe. Outraged dog owners and their four-legged friends also waited outside the courthouse.
'She didn’t deserve what she got. We’re definitely here with our puppies to support her,' dog owner Kelly Duncan told WBZ NewsRadio 1030.
Cops had spent weeks following the trail of people who have owned the dog, which had been given away at least once on Craigslist’s animal-adoption pages by a woman who owned the dog last year.
Police and much of the public had been on the hunt for the suspect since the female pit bull was found on August 31st close to a local playground.
Quincy, Massachusetts Police, the Animal Rescue League of Boston and the Office of the District Attorney for the Norfolk District in Massachusetts had been investigating.
'Please be assured that these three agencies are working in concert to identify and hold accountable the person or persons responsible for the torture of Puppy Doe,' Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey said in a statement.
'It is highly unlikely that this level of sadistic cruelty could be shown to one animal and not be part of a pattern involving other animals or perhaps vulnerable people.'
Animal rescue workers described the pit bull's injuries as the worst they had ever seen.
Veterinarians at the Animal Rescue League of Boston who treated the dog said that she was emaciated and weighed half of what would be expected for a two-year-old.
The pit bull had to be put down due to the extent of her injuries.
When she was first found it was thought that she had been hit by a car, but the true nature of her injuries soon came to light.
Vet Martha Smith-Blackmore was so shocked by the extent of the abuse that she had to walk away and give herself a break as she examined the dog's body.
'Her joints were pulled apart like medieval times,' she said. 'She was beaten, stabbed, burned over weeks to months and maybe her whole life. And could not walk.'
The vet added: 'When I saw how vulnerable she was and I understood immediately the duration of her suffering, my heart collapsed.'
Public outrage saw a number of tips come flooding in to help the Quincy police department in tracking the perpetrator, along with thousands of dollars that had been set aside for a reward.
The Animal Rescue League of Boston offered $5,000, followed by the California-based Animal Legal Defense League put up $2,000. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals offered up another $5,000, and Second Chance Rescue out of New York raised $11,000 for information.
The Animal Rescue League raised also raised $35,000 additionally to be put toward the investigation of this and other animal abuse cases.
The story has prompted Facebook groups that have become the sites of a tremendous outpouring of outrage and grief, and resulted in a vigil held for 'Puppy Doe.'
Although there was no evidence of sexual assault, which the vet said can be seen in such abuse cases, the dog's joints had been separated from being pulled apart repeatedly.
Despite the pain and suffering Puppy Doe had clearly experienced in her short life, staff at the rescue center said she was sweet natured.
'Within hours of being found she had pain medication, food and love. She experienced some tenderness and some care at the end of her life,' Dr Smith-Blackmore said, adding that the dog's injuries were so severe she would have always been in pain if she hadn't been put down.
As well as the burn and stab marks, the dog's vertebrae had been smashed from being hit by a baseball bat or board.
(Daily Mail - Nov 22, 2013)
