Starved, Beaten, Strangled, Stuffed Under The Ice, Desmond Becomes Rallying Point [Video]

Micah Rapini first met Desmond, a light brown pit bull/boxer mix, when Desmond was at a low point in his life, having been kicked out of his lifelong home of six years after a series of problems in that home.

The woman who owned Desmond had a baby with her boyfriend, Alex Wullaert. The woman and Wullaert broke up after a domestic dispute. An affidavit filed in New Haven Superior Court says the woman said Wullaert tried to strangle her. Then, in January 2011, the woman decided to turn Desmond into the shelter because she feared Desmond was exhibiting jealous tendencies towards the baby.

When Desmond was turned in to the The Robin I. Kroogman Animal Shelter at 81 Fournier Street in New Haven, he was a sad but sweet boy who quickly became beloved by many at the shelter,  said Rapini, a self-described "shelter momma" who volunteers there.

He'd sit in a chair, then look up at you like he wanted you to join him

If you asked him to sit, he wouldn't just sit. He'd hop up on a chair, which can be a sign of a dominant dog. Still, he'd look up at you like he wanted you to join him, she said. And, Rapini said, Desmond was smart, obedient, and loved to cuddle. He was a favorite with her and the other "shelter mommas" at the Kroogman Animal Shelter.

Rapini said she had high hopes that his forever home would be a perfect fit. Instead, he was destined to live a hellish few months before he was strangled to death and stuffed under the ice in a Madison lake.

A few months after he was turned in to the New Haven animal shelter and then transfered to another municipal shelter, Wullaert reclaimed Desmond and took him home. Wullaert later told police that he fell upon difficult times and was struggling.

A cup of rice a day, and regular beatings

He started feeding Desmond only about a cup of rice a day. Wullaert was working and often left Desmond at home alone for 12 hours or longer.

When Wullaert returned home, he told police, he would "punish his dog by spanking him quite hard, kicking him or spanking him with a shoe and kicking him hard to keep him from barking."

On Jan. 12, 2012 at 8 a.m., Wullaert came home and tried to take Desmond for a walk, he told police.

An uncontrollable rage

"When he retrieved the dog from the bathroom and attempted to put a collar on him, the dog bit him," the affidavit filed in New Haven Superior Court says. Wullaert said he then took the dog for a walk for about a half hour, but that Desmond did not relieve himself. The two went back to Wullaert's apartment and the dog urinated on Wullaert's leg, the affidavit says.

"This infuriated Wullaert, who stated he went into an uncontrollable rage and grabbed the dog by the collar," the affidavit says. "Wullaert stated he then lifted the dog off the ground and twisted the collar tightly around the dog's neck until it died."

Even after he died, Desmond's eyes would not close, so Wullaert told police he covered the dog's head with a Walmart bag. He then put Desmond in a black plastic bag and got into his car. He drove to a lake in Madison, he told police.

Flowers for Desmond

"Wullaert stated he broke a hole in the ice-covered lake and threw the canine in," the affidavit says. Wullaert told police he then drove to a local store, bought some flowers, returned to the lake, and tossed them in the water.

"Wullaert stated the flowers were to symbolize 'the great memories they had' and considered them to be an apology to the dog," the affidavit says.

On March 11, 2012, Madison Police Officer Kimberly Lauria was dispatched to a neighborhood near Lake Drive in Madison. A dead animal had been found in a black trash bag in the woods near the lake.

An officer's diligence leads to details about Desmond's death

Officer Lauria found the bag and opened it. She found the remains of a dog with a white Walmart bag over his head. Officer Lauria looked at the dog's face. She saw that it was light brown in color and was a mixed breed pit bull/boxer.

A microchip in the dog's neck identified him as Desmond and connected him with the woman he spent the first six years of his life with, Wullaert's former girlfriend. The dog's body was then taken to the pathology department at UConn-Storrs and a necropsy was performed to determine how he died.

The necropsy showed the dog did not die of natural causes, the affidavit says. It revealed the results of all the abuse Desmond had suffered in the last few months of his life.

Broken teeth, hemorrhages, a stomach with junk inside instead of food

"The canine had broken teeth, subcutaneous hemorrhages in the dorsal cranium, right dorsal and lateral thorax (ribs 6-9), dorsal thoracolumbar area and ventral abdomen," the affidavit says. "There was red discoloration of all viscera and abdominal and thoracic cavities ... The stomach contained little food material. Instead, segments of gauze, paper, fabric, and plastic tissue."

The examining veterinarian said the hemorrhaging was consistent with blunt trauma and "the lack of food material in the stomach replaced with the paper, fiber and plastic tissue found there is consistent with materials that could be found in a bathroom."

In other words, it seemed clear that the abused and starving dog, locked into the bathroom for a half day or more at a time without food, was eating whatever he could find.

A press release from Branford police, then shelter mommas go into action

Following Wullaert's arrest on charges of cruelty to animals and littering, the Branford Police Department issued a press release with details leading to the arrest and praising Madison Police Officer Lauria for her diligent work and follow-up.

After that press release was issued, Rapini found out about the fate of Desmond. She says she sobbed. Then she and the other shelter mommas went into action. They set up a Facebook page dedicated to Justice for Desmond, and they started an online petition asking for Justice for Desmond. As of early Wednesday, the Facebook page had more than 2,826 likes. The petition, with a goal of 1,000 signatures, had garnered more than 1,800.

The Facebook page and other online media outlets encouraged people to fax letters to the courthouse at (203) 789-7492 to encourage Justice For Desmond. The friends of Desmond also created an event called Sweet Baby Desmond Mattered, inviting people to "*peacefully*" support Desmond by showing up in front of the courthouse on the morning of Wullaert's arraignment Tuesday.

Letters flow in to New Haven Superior Court from all over

By the time of Wullaert's arraignment, his file was stuffed with more than 20 letters, articles and faxes from as nearby as New Haven and as far away as San Antonio, Tucson, Boston, Pittsburgh, and Ontario, Canada. There was a letter on the letterhead of the Pitter Patter Feline Rescue Inc. of Stamford, the Harvard Medical School, and the Children's Hospital in Boston, Department of Neurology.

All of the letter writers expressed horror at the reports of Wullaert's deeds. They expressed concern that he has a child. Some said they heard that he also had another dog, and requested a court mandated removal of the child and any animals he might have. There was a letter from a grief-stricken woman who had adopted a sick dog ten days before he died, just so that sick dog would know it had found its "forever family." She expressed grief at what happened in Desmond's "forever home."

The letter writers also gleaned details about Wullaert from his public social media profiles, some of which appear to show details about his life over the past few years. Those details, including a picture of a mutilated baby doll hanging on a chain link fence with a knife through its head that was found on a MySpace page that looks like it belongs to Wullaert, were sent into court as well and handed out at the protest.

With Wullaert due in court at 9 a.m. Tuesday, the protest was scheduled to start at 8:30 a.m. Animal rights activists, animal lovers, people who heard about the story on the news, and passersby started gathering at 8 a.m. on the courthouse steps at the corner of Elm and Church Streets in New Haven.

Two dozen protesters, outside and inside the courthouse

Wullaert, wearing a blue dress shirt, stone-colored khakis, and black dress shoes, was settled into Courtroom A at Superior Court by 9 a.m., sitting quietly in the spectator area with his hands folded in his lap. By 9:30 a.m. more than two dozen protesters had gathered outside. A dozen trooped in to the courtroom to bear witness. They sat right behind Wullaert.

One woman, also the owner of a pit bull/boxer mix, took a day off from work and came in to sit in the courtroom with her mother. Another woman said she had attended high school with Wullaert in East Haven, but did not know him that well.

She said she was there to bear witness and that she thought what he did was disgusting. Another woman pointed to her forearm, where she had rippling scars from where her dog attacked her. She almost died from the attack. With a heavy heart, she decided the dog was too dangerous to live, so she had the dog euthanized humanely at the veterinarian's office. She too said she found Wullaert's abuse of the dog hard to bear.

"He latched on to me. I have a little girl. She felt threatened."

Wullaert, alternately checking his cell phone and looking impassive, showed a little bit of emotion as a television camera was set up in the corner of the courtroom. He rolled his head and looked up at the ceiling, then shrugged. When asked for comment, he noted that the press reported that he killed the dog because it "peed on him." He wanted it clarified that the dog bit him. "He latched on to me. I have a little girl. She felt threatened."

He declined further comment. When asked about his lawyer, he said he wasn't sure who his lawyer was and that he thought he had a public defender.

Richard P. Silverstein, the New Haven attorney assigned to the case briefly appeared before the bench with Wullaert and asked that the case be continued until June 5, a request that was granted.

Escaping protesters via the emergency exit, only to find more outside

Wullaert and Silverstein left the courtroom, trailed by the protesters. The protesters followed Wullaert and Silverstein out of the courtroom and swarmed them as they stepped into a hallway. Silverstein steered Wullaert towards a side emergency exit. Court marshals stepped in front of the protesters to prevent them from following. The protesters ran to the front exit of the courthouse.

When Wullaert and Silverstein got to the front of the courthouse, they walked right into the full group of protesters, who, waving placards with Desmond's pictures, surrounded them.

Wullaert and Silverstein headed for Silverstein's office several blocks away, followed by the protesters, some of whom taunted Wullaert. The whole group was surrounded by several members of the media shooting pictures and video. Wullaert and Silverstein went into Silverstein's office building. A short time later, Wullaert came back out, alone.

"I'll walk with you"

He stepped into the crowd of placard-bearing protesters and began walking to his car in a parking garage down the street and around the corner, several blocks away.

"I'll walk with you," Rapini said gently, putting herself at his side. She said later her intent was to show him that they did not intend to hurt him, but that they did intend to hold him accountable.

The group of about a dozen protesters, with Rapini and Wullaert at the front, walked down the street. For the most part, the group was silent. And then a truck pulled alongside and the passenger asked what was going on. "Dog killer," several of the protesters said, and pointed to Wullaert.

Insults from someone driving by

"Scumbag!" the passenger in the truck cried, along with a few other words. The truck then sped off.

Wullaert got to the parking garage, and went inside. The protesters then went to the exit and posted themselves on both sides of the exit. Wullaert sped out. The protesters jeered at Wullaert and the sign he had on the back of his car that said "Baby on Board."

Following the protest, Rapini said she was very happy with the turnout, which included people from as far away as Boston and New York state. She also said she was glad it was a peaceful protest. She had heard earlier in the day that  some protesters were thinking of bringing baseball bats and said she and other organizers insisted the protest be peaceful.

Rapini and others said they planned to be out there June 5th. If people want to help, they encouraged them to visit the Facebook page dedicated to Justice for Desmond, or the online petition asking for Justice for Desmond.

Want to help? Think about giving time, money and love, supporters say.

They also encouraged people to donate time and money to their local shelters, and groups that support those shelters, such as the Friends of the Robin Krugman Animal Shelter in New Haven, where Desmond found some friends for a short time.

Rapini and David J. Henon, the New Haven Humane Commissioner who attended the protest, also encouraged dog owners to give their dogs a hug and to care for them well.

"Just continue to treat animals humanely and give them love," Henon said. "Love your pet and give them a big hug. We want to do what Desmond would want."