New details emerge about alleged dog killer
Graduate student Andrew David Thompson admitted to killing 10 Italian greyhounds by grabbing them by the neck and beating them or throwing them against the wall or floor, court records show.
Thompson admitted to killing the dogs during an investigation by Ingham County Animal Control, according to court records.
Thompson faces charges of 13 counts of dog killing, three of which allegedly occurred in a condominium at 220 M.A.C. Ave. He is being held in the Ingham County Jail on a $600,000 bond.
Thompson’s attorney Kimberly Savage could not be reached for comment as of Wednesday.
Ingham County Animal Control Deputy Jodi Lebombard conducted Thompson’s investigation following an anonymous complaint the office received on June 14. Lebombard testified in 55th District Court on June 24.
Thompson’s former roommate told Lebombard at least 13 dogs were killed or went missing since they began living together in about November 2010.
According to Lebombard’s testimony, Thompson killed the dogs out of anger.
“He stated that he had killed them because they defecated on his floor or they peed in his bed or they wouldn’t come to him when he called them, and he got frustrated,” Lebombard said during her testimony.
Thompson told Lebombard the violent impact or beating sometimes would kill the dogs instantly. For others, it took several days for them to die, she said.
After he killed a dog, he was “kind of freaked out” and threw away their outfits, collars and belongings along with their bodies, Thompson told Lebombard.
“He’d throw them into the garbage bag along with the dog’s body and cry all the way to the dumpster and throw it in the dumpster,” Lebombard said.
Thompson sometimes would take a deceased dog’s possessions and transfer them to the next dog he purchased, she said.
According to the record, Lebombard found an Italian greyhound in Thompson’s closet on June 21 during her investigation. The dog defecated blood and was taken to a veterinary hospital, where veterinarians confirmed the animal had internal bleeding from mistreatment.
Thompson admitted to abusing the dog, referred to as Chloe No. 2, on June 20, Lebombard said.
The surviving dog is alive and undergoing treatment at a local veterinary hospital.
Following Lebombard’s testimony, a warrant was issued for his arrest by the 55th District Court in Mason, Mich. After the warrant was issued, Thompson turned himself over to the Meridian Township Police Department and was transported to the Ingham County Jail.
Thompson was suspended from the College of Osteopathic Medicine on June 23 because of allegations against him, said William Strampel, dean of MSU’s College of Osteopathic Medicine. Pending the results of his legal investigation, Thompson faces expulsion from the college, Strampel said.
Before his arrest, Thompson had been seeing a psychiatrist, Lebombard said.
His psychiatrist was concerned Thompson would injure himself after his suspension from the college, she said.
“He said that was everything to him,” Lebombard said. “He’s worked really hard for that, and … we got a statement that (his psychiatrist) was concerned that he would harm himself.”
Thompson was arraigned in 55th District Court June 27 for 10 counts of animal killing and one count of animal neglect. June 29 he was arraigned on three additional counts of animal killing in East Lansing’s 54-B District Court.
His pretrial with the 55th District Court is scheduled for Thursday morning.
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