Ex-Wolfeboro man gets 5-12 years for killing cats

OSSIPEE — A former Wolfeboro man will serve five to 12 years in prison after pleading guilty to torturing cats and strategically placing pieces of their dismembered bodies near a public path.

In sentencing him Thursday, the Carroll County Superior Court judge decided that he would give Brendan Elwell a year less than the prosecution recommended.

An expert witness called it the worst animal cruelty case in state history.

At the sentencing hearing, Elwell expressed his remorse.

The Carroll County Attorney’s Office and Wolfeboro Police Department on June 30, 2021, announced the arrest of Elwell, now 28, formerly of Wolfeboro, for charges related to animal cruelty.

Since his arrest, Elwell has been held in jail for nearly three years.

After hearing from Senior Assistant Carroll County Attorney Christopher Mignanelli and Joseph Garrison, of Garrison Law of Franconia, Judge Mark Attorri handed down the five-to-12-year sentence.

Additionally, Elwell will have 10.5 to 21 years of prison time hanging over his head for 10 years if his behavior is not good, and probation upon release. He may not own or live with animals during the suspension period.

“My wish is not to impose a sentence on Mr. Elwell that is itself cruel,” said Attorri.

“The conduct here is so incomprehensible to me that my main concern in fashioning the sentence is that Mr. Elwell will have the greatest access to the rehabilitative resources the state can provide him through the Department of Corrections,” the judge added.

Indictments filed against Elwell in 2021 accuse him of torturing cats, cutting them up and placing their remains on the Bridge Falls Path during 2020.

The public multi-use trail runs along the shore of Back Bay in between the Railroad Depot downtown to Wolfeboro Falls.

The County Attorney’s Office declared this to be the worst case of animal cruelty in the state and had asked for a sentence of 6-12 years.

“The defendant embarked on a pattern of torture of these animals for a number of months, adopting these animals from people who thought that they were going to have loving homes,” said Mignanelli.

He said that Ewell dismembered the cats, spread the parts around town and even threw remains at cars.

“The state of New Hampshire has never had a case like this,” he said.

Mignanelli had veterinarian Dr. Jerilee Zezula of Madbury give a statement about the case.

Zezula is a licensed veterinarian based in Madbury and is an expert on animal cruelty laws. She said Elwell killed 12 or more cats after torturing them for various period of time.

“To my knowledge, there’s never been another cruelty case of such magnitude, scope, or purposeful maliciousness,” said Zezula.

“I strongly recommend that Brendan Elwell be given the maximum incarceration sentence as allowed by law, once released, he should be prohibited from having contact with animals. And remodeled and monitored for the remainder of his life.

“He is a menace to any society that cares for and respects the lives of animals,” Zezula said.

She said cats have similar nervous systems to people. “Going through the discovery of evidence for this case to document the short life of each individual cat that came into his possession, it became evident to me that Brendan Elwell was a sadistic, malicious predator of these cats,” said Zezula.

“He acquired active healthy cats under false pretenses from typical pet owning homes with the intention of torturing and killing them, and making sure that the world knew about it by photographing, videotaping the torture and kill and finally posing them in bizarre configurations to photograph, and then placing the remains in locations where others would see his handiwork,” she testified.

She said Elwell wanted to “shock and horrify” the people who would find the remains.

Elwell addressed the court, speaking softly and barely audible.

“I can’t find the words to express how sorry I am to the community,” said Elwell, adding he was affected by Zezula’s statement.