Anthony Appolonia, 58, of Aberdeen, was sentenced to prison in December 2008 after he pleaded guilty to killing 19 kittens and cats he had adopted through newspaper ads.
Appolonia described in graphic detail how he broke the animals' bones, stomped on them and kept them suffering for up to several hours before drowning the kittens in the toilet and the larger cats in the tub.
He would then wrap the furry corpses in newspapers and throw them in the Dumpster. The animals’ bodies were never recovered.
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| This black and white cat named Tony was allegedly adopted by Appolonia but his whereabouts are unknown |
Appolonia justified his actions at the time by claiming that he turned on the animals because they became angry with him and stopped being his friends, reported NJ.com.
The cat killer also told a psychologist conducting his court-ordered evaluation that he was under stress because he was out of work for more than a month and fighting with his brothers.
As part of his sentencing, Judge Edward Neafsey prohibited Appolonia from owning any animals or being in the presence of cats without supervision.
But in recent months, Appolonia may have adopted at least five new cats, which he now cannot account for, according to four people who say they handed over the pets to him not knowing the man’s dark past.
Speaking to an NJ.com reporter from his townhouse in Dover, Delaware, Appolonia has vehemently denied accepting any cats and accused animal rights activists of trying to set him up. The reporter noted that there were no cats in the man's home during the interview conducted on July 7.
‘I've done nothing wrong,’ said Appolonia. ‘I did the crime. I did the time. If people say they gave me cats, they're fabricating it.’
Addressing his past misdeeds, the 58-year-old man said he was 'remorseful' for what he had done.
The former owners of the allegedly missing pets claim that Appolonia, using his own name as well as various aliases, had responded to Craigslist ads offering cats free of charge or for a low price.
They now suspect that the cats they had given to Appolonia are dead.
Rumors about Appolonia's alleged animal hoarding began spreading on social media sites as far back as January, prompting the Delaware Office of Animal Welfare to launch an investigation into his activities, which has stalled because the lead investigator has been out of commission for several months due to an injury.
While he was still living in New Jersey, Anthony Appolonia had responded to dozens of ads offering cats for adoption. In the course of just eight weeks in 2007, he took into his home, and then killed, a total of 19 felines.
The killings came to a stop after members of the animal rescue community tipped off the Monmouth County SPCA about Appolonia's adoptions.
When questioned by an SPCA investigator following his arrest, Appolonia said he loved the cats he took into his home and treated them like his friends, but then he would look at them and think they were mad at him.
'He developed an anger, and as he described it, he had to hurt them,' former SPCA investigator Stuart Goldman told NJ.com. 'He would have to punish them.'
Appolonia pleaded guilty to animal cruelty charges in September 2008 and was handed a five-year sentence. He was released from prison in 2012 and moved to Delaware.
Speaking to the NJ.com reporter last month, the 58-year-old man insisted that her has not owned or harmed a cat since his incarceration.
'I'm not doing it anymore,' Appolonia said. 'I'm trying to get my life together. I just want to be left alone.'
But four concerned pet owners are of a different opinion.
James Waite and Heather White claimed that Appolonia responded to their ad offering their 2-year-old calico named Tony up for adoption in the summer of 2015.
The couple said they drove their cat to Appolonia's home in Dover and even asked him if they could check up on Tony to see if he was settling in well.
Everything was going smoothly until earlier this year the coupe found out about Appolonia's criminal past.
White said that when she contacted the 58-year-old asking if her cat was OK, the man angrily responded that she should not text or call him anymore.
Tammy Elliott, 48, described a similar experience in which she delivered an orange tabby kitten to Appolonia's townhouse after he responded to her Craigslist ad last October.
Two days later, Elliott said she got a call from Appolonia telling her the kitten was too skittish, and that he ended up giving it to a woman with a little girl.
According to Elliott, Appolonia then asked if she knew of another kitten up for adoption, and the woman arranged for her friend to give the man a cat.
Myra Hitchens and her husband, of Smyrna, Delaware, also allegedly gave Appolonia two kittens after he contacted them about their Craigslist ad.
All the pet owners who have come in contact with Appolonia reached out to the Delaware Office of Animal Welfare after learning of the man's animal cruelty conviction.
(Dailymail.com - August 1, 2016)
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This is a man that should not be out in society. How long till he starts doing this to people? Has he already???
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