Idaho zoo monkey killer Michael Watkins, 25, accused of violating parole

IDAHO -- A Weiser man who broke into Zoo Boise and beat a monkey to death with a stick in 2012 in could face returning to prison after his most recent arrest.

Michael Jacob Watkins, 25, was sentenced to seven years in prison for killing the patas monkey, but was paroled in September 2015.

His freedom may be short-lived, however, after an arrest for possession of drug paraphernalia Tuesday.

According to the Idaho Department of Correction, Watkins is now accused of violating his parole in the 2012 case.

Watkins pleaded guilty to the possession of drug paraphernalia charge Wednesday and was sentenced to 90 days in jail, with all but three days suspended. The parole commission will now decide whether to revoke his parole and send him back to prison to serve out the three years remaining in his sentence.

Watkin's case received national attention after he was arrested in connection to the monkey's death.

According to prosecutors, Watkins was extremely intoxicated when he entered Zoo Boise after hours Nov. 18, 2012. His defense attorneys argued he never planned to hurt the monkey, and characterized the zoo break-in as a drunken prank gone wrong.

Watkins admitted to opening the monkey's cage and chasing it. After the monkey bit him on the arm, Watkins hit it multiple times on the head and torso with a tree branch, mortally wounding it.

He eventually pleaded guilty to attempted grand theft and cruelty to animals.

What happened in 2012: It was a security guard who first ran across the crime, Burns said, coming across two men early Saturday morning - one inside the zoo and one outside the perimeter fence near the primate exhibit. Both men fled, with one running into the interior of the zoo. Burns and police were searching the grounds when Burns heard a groan and found the injured monkey outside of its exhibit, near the fence surrounding the zoo. They were able to get the animal into a crate and to the zoo's animal hospital, but the monkey died just a few minutes later of blunt force trauma to the head and neck.

He received a rider in the case, but the judge ultimately elected to relinquish jurisdiction and send him to prison.

The zoo installed razor wire to fences and added security measures in the wake of the monkey's death.

If the parole commission decides the paraphernalia arrest amounts to a violation, Watkins could remain behind bars until November 2019.

(KREM - April 23, 2016)