Convicted cat killer faces new animal cruelty charges

RIVERSIDE -- A man convicted of torturing and killing cats in Rancho Cucamonga faces new criminal charges for allegedly killing cats in April 2008 at a Corona motel.

Riverside County prosecutors filed three counts of felony animal cruelty Friday against Timothy Kooyman, 25, who is currently serving a five-year prison term for abusing cats in Rancho Cucamonga.

After Kooyman was arrested for abusing cats in Rancho Cucamonga -- acts which included cutting off cats' tails with scissors and setting one cat on fire -- he confessed to detectives that he had recently committed similar acts at the National Inn in Corona, according to police reports.

Investigators believe he may have lured cats from a nearby neighborhood before abusing them in his motel room.

Kooyman told detectives he broke the cats' legs, decapitated a cat with an ax, ran over another with his truck, and cut another repeatedly with a razor blade, according to police reports.

About a month and a half after the alleged abuse in Corona, Kooyman was arrested in Rancho Cucamonga for killing cats there.

San Bernardino County prosecutors initially charged Kooyman for the alleged abuse in Corona as well as his acts in Rancho Cucamogna, but a judge dismissed the Corona charges because the alleged crimes occurred in a different county.

Kooyman pleaded guilty to abusing animals in Rancho Cucamonga and was sentenced to five years in prison, a sentence which he is currently serving.