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A 26-year-old Provo man who pleaded guilty to torturing and killing two kittens — one which was doused with gasoline and set on fire, the other which died from blunt force trauma — was sentenced to prison on Monday for up to five years.
Spencer Jens Pedersen was charged in 4th District Court with two counts of torture of a companion animal, as well as one count of possession of heroin with intent to distribute, all third-degree felonies. He also was charged with class B misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia.
Last month, Pedersen pleaded guilty to one count of animal torture and the drug count. In exchange, the other counts were dismissed.
On Monday, Judge Robert Lunnen ordered Pedersen to serve zero to five years in prison on each count, and ordered the two terms to run concurrently.
The case began at about 3 a.m. on Oct. 15, when Provo police officers went to the area of 1500 North and 350 West on a report of a cat on fire, according to charging documents.
They found a kitten that had been burned and left in a gutter. The animal was alive but was euthanized because of its injuries.
Pedersen, who lives about a half-block away, admitted to police that he was in the area and that he had purchased gasoline at a nearby gas station just before the animal was burned, charges state.
On Nov. 6, a Provo resident noticed Pedersen looking into his yard. The resident then noticed an injured kitten in a dog run in his yard with blood around its mouth. The resident had found eight other dead kittens in his dog run over the previous two weeks, one which had a yellow rope around its neck, charges state.
The resident's wife told police she had seen the defendant with a live kitten one day and that the next day that kitten was dead in their dog run.
On Nov. 15, Provo police picked up Pedersen's trash can and found a dead kitten, as well as 1.63 grams of heroin and drug paraphernalia. A veterinarian determined the cat died from blunt force trauma, including broken back legs, a broken jaw and blown eardrums.
When police executed a search warrant at Pedersen's home on Nov. 16, they found more heroin in his bathroom, charges state. And in his truck, police found a rolled up mat with blood spatter on it, and yellow nylon rope.
Pedersen has prior convictions in Davis County for class A misdemeanor arson in 2009; third-degree felony possession of marijuana with intent to distribute in 2010; and class B misdemeanor counts of possession of less than an ounce of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia in 2010, according to court records.