Man slit's throat of his mom's 16 year-old cat because she told him to move out and quit sponging off her

OREGON -- A 27-year-old Gresham man accused of slashing the throat of his mother's cat was arraigned Tuesday afternoon on allegations of first-degree aggravated animal abuse and first-degree criminal mischief.

Gresham police arrested Jonathan Frederick Wagner Monday at 11:15 a.m. at his mother's home in the 470 block of Northeast 18th Street in Gresham.

Wagner was booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center at 2:17 p.m.

According to court records, Wagner's mother told police that her son had killed her 16-year-old tabby cat and trashed her house.

She told officers that her son had gone into a rage because she had told him he needed to move out and needed to box up some of his belongings, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court Tuesday.

While she was out of the home visiting friends, the assault occurred, the mother told police. When she returned home, she found her cat, named Tom, dead in her bedroom, and the house in shambles.

Broken glass littered the living room carpet. TV cords were cut. Pictures were broken. Liquids were poured on the carpet and walls, with threatening messages scrawled on doors, police said.

She found Wagner sitting on a tipped-over couch, calmly playing video games, according to the affidavit.

When Wagner's mother asked her son if he had killed her cat, he said, "I sure did,'' according to Gresham police.

Wagner further said he did it because his mother had "touched'' his stuff, the affidavit said.

Wagner's mom had taken the cat in last October after her father had passed away, Gresham police said.

Wagner, who has lived with his mother for six years, works as a landscaper, he told court officials.

Wagner's mother told police that her son has not been diagnosed with a mental illness, but has been abusive to animals in the past, the affidavit said. He'd purposely tip over the food and water bowls for her cat, and the food and water bowls in her bird's cage.

But Wagner told court officials that he suffers from depression and psychotic episodes, according to court records.

He told court staff that he hasn't taken his medication the past month, according to court records. He was held Monday night at the Multnomah County Detention Center on $10,000 bail.

(Oregon Live - July 8, 2014)