A Florida man pleaded guilty to torturing a pit bull puppy – stabbing it more than 50 times and then stuffing it into a suitcase while still alive.
Brendan Evans, 35, who was initially charged with 17 counts of animal cruelty in the 2017 torture of a pit bull named Ollie, pleaded guilty to two counts after prosecutors dropped the others in exchange for his plea, defense attorney Michael Gottlieb told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel Tuesday.
Evans, of Hollywood, had insisted he was innocent after a couple out for a late-night walk heard the brutalized pup crying and clinging to life while inside a blue suitcase near his apartment. The dog was rushed to an animal clinic, but died two days later, the newspaper reported.
Hundreds of animal lovers offered to adopt Ollie before he died and they donated nearly $60,000 in hopes of tracking down his killer once the dog succumbed to his injuries. Evans was charged after Hollywood police linked his DNA to the blue suitcase, according to the report.
Detectives searched his apartment and found cat paws and rats with severed heads — as well as bloodstains on a shower curtain and a bathroom toilet. An 18-inch machete was also recovered and investigators discovered dried blood and animal fur in his oven, authorities said.
Investigators also discovered a handwritten note in Evans’ apartment imploring that the “entire pit bull investigation” go away, police said.
“Return all curses placed on Brendan to their sender,” the cryptic note read. “Give Brendan peace of mind.”
Evans has been jailed since his arrest in November 2017.
“He’s coming up on four years,” Gottlieb said Tuesday. “My client wanted closure.”
Gottlieb said Evans needs mental health care in addition to the medication he takes, treatment he hasn’t been received while behind bars.
“I am hopeful the prison will get him some kind of help when he gets there,” Gottlieb told the newspaper. “This is the biggest issue with sentencing someone like him to prison. At some point he’s going to get out. He comes from a really good family. So I am sure they are going to get him help.”
Evans also faces up to 15 years in prison in a separate case related to a probation violation in a Hernando County robbery. He has a hearing scheduled for Friday, the Sun Sentinel reported.
Evans had faced up to 85 years in prison if convicted on all 17 animal cruelty counts. The organizer of a Facebook group called “Justice for Ollie” said details of the dog’s torture and fight to stay alive resonated with people around the world, including New York and London.
“Ollie endured immense pain and he stayed alive for a reason,” animal activist Mindy Moffatt told the newspaper. “He’s the reason why all these other animals are not going to have to endure a painful death. That’s why this dog means the world to me.”
But Moffatt wrote in a Facebook post Tuesday that nothing would bring back Ollie despite Evans’ plea in the case while saying he “should be serving” all 85 years he faced.
“I hope the other case gives him more time on top of his charge because he needs to remain in prison for a very long time!” Moffatt said. “It scares me to think of the day he walks free.”