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Man Accused Of Beheading Roommate’s Dog, Stuffing Its Body Into One Of Her Moving Boxes
Police say Jose Vega Meza confessed to other acts of animal cruelty, including killing a cat by pouring scalding water on it and beating it to death.
An Arizona man is accused of beheading and dismembering his roommate’s dog, then putting it in a moving box, as the woman was moving out of the home they had shared.
Jose Vega Meza, 21, is now facing two charges of animal cruelty in what police are calling a “disturbing” case of cruelty after the mutilated body of the dog was discovered, according to a release from the Buckeye Police Department.
Police said a woman had been moving her belongings out of the home Saturday when her dog went missing for several hours. A friend later saw Vega Meza trying to load a small box into the truck without anyone noticing.
The victim confronted Vega Meza about what was in the box and he “smiled” but didn’t answer.
“When the victim opened the box, she found her dead, mutilated, headless dog inside,” police said.
The woman was so upset she didn’t report the gruesome discovery to police until the following morning.
Investigators discovered Vega Meza late Sunday afternoon walking around a Buckeye neighborhood and arrested him. Police said he told officers he knew why he was being arrested and admitted involvement in dog’s death.
Vega Meza later told police that he had killed the dog because the woman had owed his mother, who owned the property they'd shared, rent money.
“I know what I did wasn’t right,” he allegedly told police, according to a police report obtained by The Arizona Republic.
Vega Meza refused to tell authorities where the dog's head was.
Police said Vega Meza also admitted killing other animals out of anger, including a cat. He allegedly told police that he had killed the cat by trapping it and pouring extremely hot water on it before beating it to death, local station KNXV reports.
In addition to the counts of animal cruelty, Vega Meza is also facing a misdemeanor assault charge after an “unprovoked” attack on another prisoner at the jail, police said.
