A former Island Lake man was charged with first-degree murder in Phoenix, AZ; police say he beat his ex-wife’s boyfriend to death with a baseball bat, according to abc15.com. Phoenix police said David Walker, 29, flew into Phoenix, broke into his ex-wife’s home, took a baseball bat from the garage, went into the bedroom and struck the boyfriend several times with a baseball bat. The victim, Adam Moring, 29, was from Cary, according to the Daily Herald.
Lake County animal rescue workers were saddened by this news, but not surprised. Sandy Wisniewski, of Libertyville-based Animal Education and Rescue (AEAR) said the organization was called in on a dog rescue operation at Walker’s home in Island Lake four years ago.
“This case was in the top five of our most serious cases in the history of AEAR,” Wisniewski said. “The dog was truly being starved.” See video of the beagle rescued by AEAR.
“It’s atrocious and heart breaking and when we did the investigation he was just slapped with a $25 fine. He was not prosecuted,” Wisniewski said. She said the dog was not being fed even though there was dog food at the home. She said it was difficult to get the dog away, but AEAR persisted and was able to take the dog, bring it back to health and find an adoptive home.
AEAR is calling a special meeting to be held from 7-9 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 23, at Libertyville Civic Center, 135 W. Church St., Libertyville. The meeting will focus on the connection between animal cruelty, domestic violence, child abuse and crime.
Wisniewski said they will also discuss the laws and their experiences working with law enforcement, animal control and local officials.
“We’d like to focus on greater awareness of the issue and maybe spearhead some programs for change,” Wisniewski said.
Wisniewski points out that the connection of animal abuse to crimes against humans has been known for a long time, but is often not acknowledged.
Wisniewski said it is logical that animal cruelty is connected to cruelty toward humans.
"It should tell you something. If somebody is going to walk past a dog every single day and not going to feed the dog -- someone like that is just evil; it's beyond ignorance," she said.
