By: Yuritza Arroyo
Monmouth County authorities announced that a Grand Jury has returned an indictment against an Asbury Park man who killed his girlfriend’s Poodle last year.
According to officials, Nicholas C. Winter, 36, is charged with third-degree Animal Cruelty Resulting in Death.
Officials say shortly before 4 a.m. on Saturday, June 4, 2022, members of the Asbury Park Police Department responded to a residence on the 1400 block of Locust Drive on a report by an adult female that her boyfriend had killed her dog.
Inside the residence, the responding officers located the deceased dog, a 12-year-old male named “Bentley.”
According to Police, the victim’s other dog, a 14-year-old female named “Sophia,” was reported missing but found in the area several hours later.
Police say an investigation led by them and the Monmouth County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) determined that Winter had earlier repeatedly texted his girlfriend, threatening the welfare of her dogs, while she was at work.
An autopsy performed on Bentley determined that he died due to blunt-force trauma to the head, neck, and body that ultimately resulted in a fatal traumatic brain injury.
Winter was arrested and charged later in June 2022.
