June 19, 2009 — MUSKOGEE, Okla. (AP) — A 23-year-old woman is accused of getting a friend to kill her Jack Russell terrier and skinning the puppy to make a belt out of its hide.
Krystal Lynn Lewis and Austin Michael Mullins, 26, were being held Friday in the Muskogee County jail on $25,000 bail each. They each were charged with one felony count of cruelty to animals.
“We’re talking about a 6- or 7-week-old defenseless puppy,” said sheriff’s deputy George Roberson, who said the pair confessed to the crime. “That’s pretty heinous and sadistic.”
Lewis wanted the puppy, named Poplin, killed because it was a gift from an ex-lover with whom she doesn’t get along, Roberson said.
Roberson said Mullins shot the terrier 10 times with a .22-caliber pistol. Lewis skinned the animal at her apartment and nailed the hide to a board.
Lewis told investigators she killed the animal because she couldn’t afford to keep it, Roberson said.
A Muskogee County judge has ordered a mental competency hearing for the pair.
Court records show the two have not yet been assigned a public defender.
