I had trouble bringing it up too. I had to search for it inorder to read it.
Accused cat killer faces protesters

KATE RAMUNNI
Article Last Updated: 08/22/2008 03:56:33 PM EDT



Donna Ploss of East Hartford demonstrates in front of the Derby Court House, where Jay Baldwin, accused of killing kittens, was in court. Activists demand stricter penalties for crimes against animals. Irene Hudobenko, right, whose kitten was killed, waits outside the courthouse. (B.K. Angeletti/Staff photographer )



DERBY — The former Ansonia man accused of killing at least one cat and mistreating several others that had to be euthanized pleaded not guilty today to 10 counts of animal cruelty.
His head shaved and legs in shackles, Jay Baldwin stood before Judge John Cronan with Public Defender Jonathan Gable by his side. In the audience were more than a dozen animal-rights activists, many toting signs calling for the harshest of penalties for Baldwin.
The case was continued to Sept. 8, and then Baldwin, 57, dressed in jeans and a blue plaid shirt, was led out of the courtroom to be transported back to the Bridgeport Correctional Center, where he is being held on $10,000 bond. If he posts bond, he needs to get a mental evaluation and can't
Animal activists demand stricter penalties for crimes against animals outside of the Derby Courthouse, where Jay Baldwin, accused of killing kittens, was in court. Activists from left to right are Florence Caroll, former girlfriend of Baldwin, Lisa Gay of Shelton and Donna Ploss of East Hartford. (B.K. Angeletti / Staff photographer )


own any animals, Cronan said.
Baldwin was arrested Aug. 8 on a warrant. He allegedly killed one of two kittens he adopted from Ansonia resident Irene Hudobenko, who later retrieved the surviving kitten and had autopsies done on the deceased kitten. Those results show that the cat — that she had called "my little boy" — had died on blunt trauma to the head.
Hudobenko was outside of Derby Superior Court early this morning, along with about a dozen others, including Baldwin's former neighbor Georgejinna Chevrette.
Her blue Burmese cat has been missing since April, Chevrette said, and she fears the worst.
"I think he took my cat," she said. "She never strayed far from the stoop." Another former neighbor said he was
Advertisement

engaged in a running battle with Baldwin until they were both evicted in July.
Mark Carlowitz and his girlfriend Rosalie Bishop lived in the apartment below Baldwin's and said they heard strange noises from above the whole time Baldwin lived there.
"There were cats screeching and crying in the middle of the night and all hours of the day," Carlowitz said. "I can't even tell you how many times I called the police."
The situation was so bad that he kept a running diary documenting the problems the couple had with Baldwin, Carlowitz said. Baldwin would spend the nights pacing back and forth, he said, and there were numerous cats in his apartment.
After Baldwin's court appearance, several of activists who came to watch the proceedings stayed in the court lobby talking to Gable. One urged him to have Baldwin put in a mental facility, which sparked a confrontation between the two.
"He's mentally ill," Donna Ploss told Gable. "If he gets out, your little kid is next." That enraged Gable, who stopped Ploss from leaving.
But Ploss said her comment wasn't a threat. "It's not a threat," she said. "I'm just telling you that if he gets out he will start on little kids."
Gable, however, said his client does need mental health treatment. "It is quite obvious he has mental health issues," he said. Baldwin also is facing burglary and larceny charges stemming from an incident in Milford. In the past he has been convicted of breach of peace, fifth- and sixth-degree larceny and violation of a protective order, Gable said, but has never served jail time for any of those convictions.