Suspected Horse Killer Caught
The first horse killer suspect admits to the crime
By TODD WRIGHT
Updated 6:18 AM EDT, Thu, Sep 17, 2009
After 20 horses across Broward and Miami-Dade counties have been killed, police say they may have caught a man responsible in some of the killings.
Luis Miguel Cordero, 18, was arrested Wednesday and charged with burglary and animal cruelty after Miami-Dade police said they caught him in the act.
Cordero was trying to steal two horses from a pasture, allegedly to butcher them for their meat. He asked his neighbor to help in the heist and that neighbor was the one that called police.
Cordero confessed to at least one horse killing, but police are trying to find out if the teen was a part of a larger horse-killing enterprise.
The arrest may calm the nerves of horse owners, who have lived in fear for months since the spate of animal killings targeting horses. The most recent horse death suspected to be a victim of the slaughter occured last Wednesday.
Many of the horses have had their throats slit and bled to death as their bodies were sliced up by bandits who attack in the dead of night. The butchers usually take the animals' legs and parts of the meat around the stomach.
Horse owners, animal welfare groups and the police have pitched in to create a large reward for any information that will lead to the capture of horse killers that has jumped to around $30,000.
Investigators believe that Cordero and others kill pet horses for the meat, which is then sold on the black market for a handsome price. it's illegal in the United States to manufacture and sell horse meat.
First Published: Sep 16, 2009 6:16 PM EDT
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