- Connecticut, USA -
The Watertown Police Department announced the arrest of 41-years-old JUSTIN J. KONTOUT (pictured).
KONTOUT was arrested on October 12, 2023, but the incidents that ultimately led to his arrest date back to March 2023.
According to the affidavit obtained by Voice For Us, on March 21, 2023, Animal Control Officer Umstead was made aware of a deceased cat and an injured dog both of whom lived at 80 Park Avenue, Oakville with KONTOUT and his father identified as SK.
The affidavit identified the cat as Sophia and the dog as Charlie.
During the investigation, ACO Umstead talked with KONTOUT’s sister, LK, who recounted the facts as she learned them from her father. LK stated that on March 20, 2023, when her father went home, he noticed that Charlie was “injured with cuts on his head and was limping.” SK then called for his son but there was no one home.
SK also noticed that the kitchen garbage can was in the back of the Chevy pickup truck in the driveway. When SK got the garbage can out of the truck, he saw his father’s ashes in the trash in the truck.
When LK went to her father’s home, he told her what had happened and as they sat down to eat, KONTOUT arrived and according to his sister, he was under the influence of something because he was “acting irrationally.” LK asked him why their grandfather’s ashes were in the truck. At some point, LK and SK went to the truck and found Sophia, lifeless, “wrapped in multiple layers of blankets.” LK told ACO Umstead that Sophia’s throat was cut from “a large laceration.” LK stated she saw blood and started yelling at her brother asking him what he did to Sophia.
According to LK, later that evening, her father found a knife in the truck that may have been used to murder Sophia.
LK went on to say that her brother began to refer to himself as “Stanley” and told his father and sister they had the wrong guy.
As stated in the affidavit, LK said “she believed that Justin is a danger to animals and/or people if he is under the influence and that she believed he killed the cat and injured the dog.”
Charlie was taken to a vet in Bantam and it was determined that he had two wounds on the top of his head, an injury to the inside of his left lip, and a wound on his muzzle with some swelling.
As for Sophia, her body was handed to UCONN Storrs for a necropsy.
On March 29, 2023, Watertown Police executed a search warrant at the KONTOUTs’ home and among the items that were confiscated were a wooden handle silver colored knife, and a wooden handle hammer. On the hammer there were stains that appeared to be blood and one of the detectives took a DNA swab which was submitted to a lab to determine whether the blood belonged to a human or an animal.
Meanwhile, ACO Umstead received a call from the pathologist who performed the necropsy on Sophia. Results showed that “this case is for sure blunt force trauma.” The pathologist explained that if Sophia had been hit by a car, she would have had more fractures, torn skin, and abrasions. The pathologist further said that if Sophia was hit by a car, then “the cat was just clipped because the lesions were primarily in the skull rather than the rest of the body.” According to the pathologist, Sophia “had lesions consistent with blunt force, however what that blunt force was from is unclear.” In regard to the injury on Sophia’s neck, which appeared to be a round oval shape, the pathologist stated that the fact that it is more linear, it would mostly be consistent with a puncture from an object.
As the investigation progressed, ACO Umstead took Charlie to Embrace Animal Hospital for a second opinion. The doctor that examined him said the wounds on his head were “suspicious” since they were on the back of his head and not in an area he would normally hit running through bushes, nor caused by another dog or animal.
Charlie, a 4-year-old a Rhodesian Ridgeback/hound mix, has since recovered and police said he has been adopted and is living in a loving home.
On a separate note, according to an article published by NBC Connecticut on May 20, 2016, KONTOUT had been arrested on May 19, 2016, by Thomaston Police for multiple thefts and forgeries.
Voice For Us Disclaimer: This story is sourced from official news outlets. Links included.
Details may be removed or additional information may be provided in future should such sources report an update.
KONTOUT’s mugshot shared from the Watertown Police Department.
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