A Wicker Park man charged with killing at least six kittens, then replacing each one with a look-alike bought off Craigslist so his mother would not catch on, will head to a jury trial that is now to begin Monday.
Thomas Martel, who remains free on electronic monitoring, appeared by Zoom on Wednesday alongside his attorney, Brandon Brown Jr., for what had been scheduled as a routine status hearing. Brown told Judge Sharon Kanter he intended to ask for a continuance, explaining he had just wrapped up another trial and needed time to rest and prepare, according to a representative from the Garrido Stray Rescue Foundation, whose court advocates have attended Martel’s court hearings for almost three years.
Kanter took a brief recess to consider the request, according to the foundation’s advocates. When she returned, she noted the case had been sitting on her docket since August 17, 2023, and walked through its lengthy history, including the numerous hearings, motions, evidentiary rulings, witness testimony, and cross-examinations that had piled up over the past three years, the foundation’s representatives said. The judge then denied Brown’s request and set the case for a jury trial beginning Monday at 9:30 a.m. at the Skokie courthouse.
Throughout the years of proceedings, court observers say they believe Martel and his attorney have intentionally drawn the case out. Some have told CWB Chicago that Martel has smiled at them in what they describe as a taunting way after winning previous delays.
At an initial hearing in July 2023, prosecutors laid out disturbing allegations against Martel, now 25, saying he had told his girlfriend he enjoyed killing cats and that the impulse dated back to when he was eight years old.
Martel’s girlfriend alerted police after an acquaintance sent her a video showing Martel throwing a pillowcase into Lake Michigan, officials said. She was told the pillowcase contained Martel’s newest kitten, which he had named Shelly. The girlfriend never saw that kitten again, though Martel was not criminally charged in connection with its disappearance, officials said.
Within a couple of days, Martel bought another kitten, also naming it Shelly, along with an adult male cat he named Reggie, according to officials. He invited his girlfriend to his home in the 1500 block of North Wicker Park Avenue to meet the new animals.
Things were fine for a few days, prosecutors said, until Martel, after drinking and using narcotics, put the new kitten into a tub of water. His girlfriend told investigators she saw him pull the unresponsive kitten from the water and try to revive it by performing chest compressions with his thumb.
The next day, Martel allegedly told her the kitten needed more chest compressions and took it into the bathroom for about ten minutes, emerging with it dead, prosecutors said. He then put it in a bag and threw it down the trash chute, according to the allegations.
Martel immediately turned to Craigslist again, prosecutors said, eventually finding a similar-looking kitten in Indiana that he also named Shelly. A couple of days later, after coming home from work, Martel told his girlfriend he wanted to teach the new kitten to swim and took it into the bathroom, where it met its demise, prosecutors alleged.
He again searched Craigslist and found another similar-looking kitten, prosecutors said. By that point, his girlfriend had told him he needed to stop, and Martel responded by kicking her out of the apartment, only to call her back almost immediately, asking for money to buy the new kitten, according to prosecutors. The two bought a fourth kitten in Woodstock, which Martel again named Shelly.
The following day, prosecutors allege, Martel became angry with the kitten and decided it needed a “bath,” too. The next day, Martel sent his girlfriend a photo of another kitten and asked for money to buy it, prosecutors said. The couple drove to Burbank and returned with the animal, which Martel again named Shelly. About ten days later, the girlfriend looked through Martel’s phone and found graphic photos and videos involving the fourth kitten, prosecutors said. One video showing the kitten still alive was captioned “just before I murdered her,” according to prosecutors. The woman forwarded the material to herself and contacted Chicago police again, officials said.
After staying away for several days, the girlfriend returned to Martel’s apartment. Martel told her he had killed three cats in the microwave and stored them in the pantry, prosecutors alleged. She told police she saw a black bag on a pantry shelf giving off a strong odor. The woman called Chicago police that night and directed officers to the bag. Officers cut the bag open and found what appeared to be the remains of multiple kittens, according to prosecutors.
Officials said Martel underwent a week-long mental health evaluation before turning himself in to face charges in the case.
