Accused Cat Killer to Cops: Let's Make a Deal

Court documents reveal Tyler Weinman wanted charges to "go away"

The teen accused of being the South Florida cat killer may have tipped his hand to cops when he tried to cut a deal to make some of the charges go away, according to newly released court documents.

"OK, so let me see if I understand. As long as I tell you about the cats that I did, you can get rid of the others?" Tyler Weinman asked detectives during an interview before his arrest.

Weinman said he'd talk "about one or two cats" if cops made "the rest go away," according to the court documents released yesterday.

But before any deal could be made, Weinman said he "would need to get my attorney involved," and the interview with Miami-Dade detectives ended.

The 18 year old was arrested on June 14 and charged in the slaughter of 19 cats which were found throughout Cutler Bay and Palmetto Bay often killed and cut to pieces and left for their owners to find.

The teen was hit with 19 counts of felony animal cruelty and improperly disposing of an animal body, and four counts of burglary.

Weinman's arrest affidavit, released earlier this month, detailed the teen's odd behavior and some of the evidence police had gathered against him.

The affidavit detailed Weinman's May 15 arrest for marijuana possession, when police pulled him over for running a red light and found a cutting tool near his car, which police believe he had tossed out the window.

During the pot arrest, Weinman spoke with officers and described the "tearing sound" made while dissecting cats, something he studied during an anatomy class in high school.

"If you drop the marijuana charges, I'll tell you about the cats," Weinman told the police, according to the court documents.

During the May interview with police, Weinman also showed police scratches throughout his neck and back, telling police they came from a stray cat that he feeds at his mom's house.

Police said they'd found Weinman near the scene of some of the cat killings, and that they'd made him a prime suspect in late April. But Weinman was let go after the May arrest, and wasn't interviewed by police until the June 14 cat killing arrest.

During that interview, police asked Weinman what should happen to the cat killer.

"Help out. I don't really like jail," Weinman said. "Though when it comes to violent things, I think they should . . ."

Weinman didn't finish his thought, according to the court documents.

Weinman's lawyer, David Macey, maintains Weinman's innocence and said the statements are misrepresentations.

"The reported statements are either misleading and or false," Macey told the Miami Herald. "The real statement will never be heard because the investigation -- with its unlimited resources -- failed to find a tape recorder. They did not want to record the truth, that Tyler Weinman is innocent."

Weinman was released in June on $249,500 bond. He's currently under house arrest and being monitored electronically while he awaits trial.

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