ME - Shannon Walters & Erin Wylie for drowning dachshund, Eliot, 2004

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[/font][font=arial,helvetica][font=arial,helvetica] PORTSMOUTH - A Portsmouth woman accused of staging a burglary so she could kill her boyfriend’s dog tried to cover her tracks by placing a lost-and-found advertisement in the Portsmouth Herald last week. The ad had asked for the public’s help in locating the pet. [/font][/font] [font=arial,helvetica][font=arial,helvetica] On Sunday, Portsmouth police charged Shannon C. Walters, 33, of 5 Nichols Ave., Newmarket, with cruelty to animals for allegedly drowning the dog, named "Dewey," at the home of Erin M. Wylie, 27, of 50 Harvard St., Portsmouth. Wylie was charged as being an accomplice to that act. Both crimes are Class B felonies. [/font][/font]

[font=arial,helvetica][font=arial,helvetica] Last Friday, police in Kittery, Maine, arrested Walters and Wylie in connection with a reported May 18 burglary at a home in neighboring Eliot, Maine. [/font][/font]

[font=arial,helvetica][font=arial,helvetica] A computer, a camera, and a 2-year-old dachshund were reported as stolen from the home. [/font][/font]

[font=arial,helvetica][font=arial,helvetica] The tale behind the dog’s disappearance began to come into focus when Walters reportedly told police that Wylie was the burglary victim’s girlfriend, and that she did not like his dog. Walters allegedly said the burglary was staged so they could take the pet. [/font][/font]

[font=arial,helvetica][font=arial,helvetica] Authorities allege that immediately after the burglary, the two women "at their own admission" went to Wylie’s Portsmouth home, where Wylie filled her bathtub with water and Walters drowned the dog, said Eliot Patrolman Thomas Hundley on Monday. [/font][/font]

[font=arial,helvetica][font=arial,helvetica] Authorities apprehended the suspects last Friday night after Hundley received information from Newmarket police that Walters and Wylie wanted to meet at the Dairy Queen at the Kittery traffic circle at about 10 p.m. There, they planned to talk about what to do next. [/font][/font]

[font=arial,helvetica][font=arial,helvetica] A Newmarket resident had tipped off police about that meeting after discovering e-mail messages sent between Walters and Wylie that allegedly implicated them in the crimes, according to Hundley. [/font][/font]

[font=arial,helvetica][font=arial,helvetica] "In the e-mails was talk of the burglary, stealing the dog, and the death of the dog," he said. [/font][/font]

[font=arial,helvetica][font=arial,helvetica] Kittery police subsequently arrested Walters after she showed up at the Dairy Queen. [/font][/font]

[font=arial,helvetica][font=arial,helvetica] "(Officers) found the dead dog in the back of (Walters’) truck," said Kittery police Sgt. Charles Denault. [/font][/font]





[font=arial,helvetica][font=arial,helvetica] Wylie was a little late for the meeting, he added. But minutes later, when she arrived at the Kittery police station to help bail out Walters, police arrested her as well, according to Denault. [/font][/font]

[font=arial,helvetica][font=arial,helvetica] "They confessed to burglary and murdering the dog," he said. [/font][/font]

[font=arial,helvetica][font=arial,helvetica] On Sunday, Wylie and Walters turned themselves in to Portsmouth police, after officers issued warrants for their arrest on the cruelty to animals charges. [/font][/font]

[font=arial,helvetica][font=arial,helvetica] But last week, on Thursday, May 20, a woman who identified herself as Erin Wylie claimed the dog had been lost. At that time, she called the Herald to place a classified advertisement, which claimed a 2-year-old miniature black-and-tan dachshund named "Dewey" was last seen May 18 on River Road in Eliot, Maine. The dog was wearing a brown leather collar, the ad said. Members of the public who may have had information about the pet’s whereabouts were encouraged to call a Maine telephone number listed in the advertisement. [/font][/font]

[font=arial,helvetica][font=arial,helvetica] No one answered the phone at that number on Monday afternoon. Likewise, neither Walters nor Wylie could be reached for comment.
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[font=arial,helvetica][font=arial,helvetica]http://www.seacoastonline.com/news/05252004/news/17870.htm
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In a bizarre conspiracy sparked by jealousy, two Maine women kidnapped a boyfriend's mini-dachshund and drowned it in a bathtub.

Wednesday to animal cruelty and conspiracy to commit burglary charges. Shannon Walters, 34, faces a maximum up to four years in prison when she is sentenced Nov. 20. Walters admitted to helping her friend, Erin Wylie, 28, plot the demise of Wylie's 2-year-old dog, Dewey. Wylie had complained that her boyfriend, Patrick Collins, paid too much attention to his pet.

"Shannon was close friends with Erin and she did this just to help her out," Walters' defense lawyer, Philip Desfosses, said. "It was Erin's idea. She never met Mr. Collins or the dog."

Wylie was sentenced to 12 months in prison Sept. 28 on the same charges. During her court sentencing, she said her motive was "petty jealousy."

On the night of May 18, 2004, Walters and Wylie broke into Collins' home in Eliot, Maine, and kidnapped the dog. While Walters acted as a lookout, Wylie stole a laptop and video camera to make the break-in look like a common burglary. The women transported the dog to Wylie's house in Portsmouth, N.H., a border town just a few miles from Maine. According to court documents, Wylie filled her bathtub with water, and Walters held Dewey's head underneath.

The next day, Wylie e-mailed Walters, saying she had helped her boyfriend search for a dog she knew "they would never find."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ct/20051013/cr_ct/twowome

I have a mini, how could anybody do something like this to such a sweet little thing? 12 months is not enough time for her:furious:

I know, I was thinking the same thing... all animals deserve respect and compassion - but some are so sweet, like this little guy and it is baffling how anyone can hurt them.

I see they plead guilty to animal cruelty.. IMO it is murder

I remember this horrible story and Cassie broke the news back then......

http://websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8001&highlight=dewey

Wow sassy, I looked for that thread too, couldn't find it! thanks

awww that is so sad, they should get alot longer then 12 months.....Isnt that usually how the craziest murderers start out is by hurting animals, hmmmm