Thomas Wentworth mugshot.
A man in Maine is accused of having sex with a dog named Missy and then murdering it by putting a trash bag over the labrador’s head.
Thomas Wentworth denies the sick allegations, saying his girlfriend made them up to get back at him.
However, police accuse the 55-year-old Durham man of having sex with the animal and then murdering it to terrorize the woman.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Wentworth’s Girlfriend Says She Caught Him Having Sex With the Labrador
Wentworth’s girlfriend walked in on the horrific scene: Her boyfriend allegedly having sex with his dog, a labrador retriever named Missy, police say.
According to Fox News, “An affidavit indicates his girlfriend saw him abusing the animal.”
The girlfriend, now his ex, “witnessed Wentworth having sex with the dog while the couple was living together,” reports the Sun Journal.
Fox News reported that Wentworth “is accused of having sex with his dog and killing it.”
The bestiality incident allegedly occurred in November 2016 and the Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Department “learned about the alleged abuse and the death of the dog while investigating a domestic disturbance at Wentworth’s Pinkham Brook Road home in December,” reports the Sun Journal.
Wentworth and the girlfriend were living together at the time.
2. Wentworth Admits Killing the Dog With Ether
Wentworth has tried to paint the dog’s death as a mercy killing.
According to WMTW, Wentworth told his probation agent that “he killed the dog by putting a bag over its head and filling it with ether.”
“He claimed that the dog was howling in pain because it had Lyme disease,” and claims he was just putting the animal out of its misery, the television station reported.
The dog was blind, reports Fox News.
3. Wentworth Is Accused of Threatening His Girlfriend
AUBURN — Thomas Wentworth of Durham, arraigned on animal abuse charges, pleaded not guilty. #NEWSCENTERmaine
In addition to the animal abuse, Wentworth is accused of threatening his girlfriend.
“The affidavit says he told her he buried the animal with a backhoe and could do the same to her,” reports Fox News. The Sun Journal put it this way: “Wentworth also threatened to kill his ex-girlfriend and bury her body in his yard, next to the dead dog.”
It’s not the first time Wentworth has been in trouble with the law. He was already probation for a 2015 domestic violence, reported WMTW, which added that he had alcohol in his system at the time of the dog incident.
4. Wentworth Faces a Slew of Criminal Charges & Worked as an Arborist
Wentworth has pleaded not guilty to the string of charges he’s facing.
They include cruelty to animals, domestic violence assault, and domestic violence terrorizing.
He told CBS 13 that he “spent the past two decades as an arborist, often rescuing cats and bird’s nests from trees” and claimed he loves animals.
5. The Man Claims He’s Innocent of the Sick Claims & There Was a Similar Case in England
@SteepleTimes adds pensioner named Carol Bowditch to its roll call t.co/mvqNLywCC3 You won’t believe what she likes to do with dogs.
In a jailhouse interview with CBS 13, Wentworth denied having sex with the dog and said he loved the animal, which was his pet.
“Oh, I absolutely maintain my innocence,” said Wentworth of all the charges, according to the television station. “I absolutely did not have sex with that dog.”
He told the TV station that he used the lab for hunting and added that he killed the dog because “the poor thing was in such pain and couldn’t lay down without howling.”
It’s not the first time such an allegation has been raised. In England, “Carol Bowditch, 64, had sex with a St Bernard, a black labrador and an Alsatian claiming later she did not realise that it was illegal,” reports the Mirror.