A Nevada man scheduled to appear in court Wednesday is accused of dismembering six dogs, five of them at a motel in Reno, the Associated Press reported.
Jason Brown was arrested July 9 after Washoe County police searched his south Reno Super 8 motel room and found the heads of four dogs, other dog body parts and two bloody kitchen knives. Police arrived at the motel after a maid called and she found a decapitated dog, the AP reported.
Prosecutors believe the 24-year-old also killed a sixth dog at another location during his alleged four-day dog-killing spree in early July. Brown was charged with six felony counts of torturing or maiming and killing an animal.
An investigation into Brown began when a man named Al Von Wellscheim sent Washoe County police an email on July 4 saying another woman claimed she saw dog body parts in the suspect's vehicle.
Wellscheim also said Brown was murdering dogs he found on Craigslist, Washoe County sheriff's Detective Joe Bowen said according to the AP.
A Sun Valley woman named Nancy Frank told police she gave two Chihuahuas to Brown hoping he would provide a better home for them, police said in a probable cause report. When police searched the motel room they found two collars with rabies tags in Frank's name as well as the dead Chihuahuas, the report said.
Upon questioning Brown told police he did buy a dog from Frank. But he said he found the dog dead in the bathroom when he returned to the motel room on July 7, reads the report obtained by the AP.
He told investigators the dog appeared to have been chopped up and that some girl named "Debbie" did it. Brown later changed his story.
John Oakes, Brown's lawyer, said his client has "mental health issues" and may need to be evaluated by a psychiatrist before he is tried, the Reno Gazette-Journal reported.
Brown, who also faces two counts of possession of methamphetamine, was held at the county jail on $70,000 bond, the AP reported.
