A Muskogee woman charged with a friend of killing and skinning a puppy told authorities she couldn't afford to keep the animal and planned to make a belt out of its hide.
A Muskogee County judge has ordered a mental competency hearing for 23-year-old Krystal Lynn Lewis and 26-year-old Austin Michael Mullins. The two were charged this week 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."
Investigators suspect Lewis wanted the Jack Russell terrier puppy, named Poplin, killed because it was a gift from a female ex-lover with whom she doesn't get along, said Muskogee County sheriff's deputy George Roberson.
Court records show the two have not yet been assigned a public defender.
Roberson says Mullins shot the puppy 10 times with a .22-caliber pistol. Authorities say Lewis then skinned the puppy at her apartment and nailed the hide to a board.
Mullins and Lewis each were being held Friday in the Muskogee County jail on $25,000 bail.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
