Sources: accused cat killer motivated by anger toward family
MIAMI (WSVN) -- Sources are speaking exclusively about what may have motivated a South Florida teen to allegedly kill more than a dozen cats, and they say it may have to do with misdirected anger for his family.
The big question in this case remains motive: What would drive someone to kill 19 neighborhood cats? Miami-Dade Police investigators believe Tyler Weinman was bursting with anger. They said the divorce of his parents, the remarriage of his father and the loyalty to his mother all played a role.
Weinman stands accused of slaughtering cats in the communities of Palmetto Bay and Cutler Bay as early as April. After a lengthy investigation, police announced his arrest on Sunday, June 14.
Law enforcement officials call him a teenager boiling with anger, with much of that anger directed at his family, but taken out on innocent cats.
In 2006, Tyler's father and mother divorced after nearly 17 years of marriage. His mother then moved just about a mile away from her ex. Most of the cat killings occurred in the stretch of area between the two homes.
Two years after the divorce, his father would re-marry. Last Tuesday, Douglas Weinman showed pictures of his son toasting the couple at the wedding. Weinman was his father's best man.
Investigators said, Weinman and his father had an argument at the wedding over the music being played. Sources believe this is when the teenager's anger started surfacing.
When Weinman's stepmother moved into the father's Palmetto Bay home, she brought her nine cats with her. "We have nine cats in this house," said the father outside the jail that held his son before he posted bond. The terms of Tyler's bond also meant he had to pass a psychological exam that proved he was not a threat to the public, which he passed. He is now home wearing a monitor pending his trial.
Weinman's father noted that he never saw his son act cruelly toward the new cats in their home. "I've never seen Tyler do anything wrong to any animal in my entire life," he said.
The teen's father spoke at length last Tuesday, saying his son was not angry about the divorce and noted that he had received many calls of support from those who know his son. "The minister that married myself and his stepmom about a year and a half ago called all the way from Seattle, Washington today and said, 'Your son was the best man at your wedding. I spent a lot of time with him. I'm a good judge of character, I'm a minister. It's not him.'"
Sources close to the case believe their suspect killed the first cat around the one-year anniversary of his father's marriage to his new wife, around April of this year.
We asked the Weinmans' attorney for a comment, and he said: "At this point we are conducting our own investigation and will not comment on any of these matters."
We are also learning more about the accused, dating back to middle school. Sources said he was classmates and friends at Southwood Middle School with Michael Hernandez, the convicted murderer who sliced classmate Jaime Gough's throat in the school's bathroom six years ago.
It remains unclear at this point how close the two were, but investigators said they were buddies.
Meanwhile, Tyler's father and stepmother have both said Weinman has no issue with them. They also both deny there was an argument at their wedding. They added that Weinman dealt with the divorce like any other teenager and that he is not capable of mutilating 19 cats.
Weinman's mother would not comment.
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