ohmidog!

Animal control officer Jodi LeBombard had just stepped into the grisliest investigation of her career — the serial slaying of what would turn out to be 13 Italian greyhounds — when she opened a closet door in the apartment of their suspected killer.

Inside was a white Italian greyhound, bruised and bloodied and weighing about three pounds.

LeBombard, a deputy for Ingham County Animal Control and Shelter, removed the shaking puppy from the home of Michigan State University medical student Andrew David Thompson on June 21, 2011.

“I really didn’t believe that she would (survive), but I had hopes that she would,” LeBombard said. “She was pretty injured.”

The dog known as Chloe No. 2, was taken to Southside Animal Hospital, where veterinarian Joyce Heideman diagnosed internal bleeding and fluid in the dog’s lungs. Heideman also doubted the dog would live.

But, to everyone’s surprise, Chloe No. 2 lived, becoming the lone survivor of the 13 Italian greyhounds that Thompson would, at one point, admit to having killed in fits of rage, mostly by throwing them against the wall or floor, or grabbing them by the neck and beating them.

Sometimes they died instantly, sometimes, like Chloe 2, they lingered for a few days. After one Italian greyhound died, Thompson, 24, would buy another.

The State News in Lansing told the story of the lone survivor last week, including it’s happy ending: Renamed Jezabelle, the dog now lives with Heideman and the veterinarian’s five other dogs.

Heidman said it was three days into the lethargic puppy’s recovery that she saw some hope. When taken out to go to the bathroom, the puppy saw a small leaf land nearby and, with a sudden burst of energy, pounced on it.

“That was the first time I knew she would actually live because she showed there was something in there,” Heideman said.

Six days into her recovery, Heideman adopted the puppy, taking her home to live with her two boxers, two labs and a one-eyed pit bull Heideman rescued after he was abused with a baseball bat.

“I never really thought I would actually adopt her, but I kind of fell in love,” she explained. “She snuggles up next to you, and you just feel like, ‘Oh, it doesn’t matter what happened today, I’m just happy now.’”

Despite her abuse, Jezabelle isn’t skittish or  anxious around humans. “She seems to be a very loving and kindhearted dog that wouldn’t hold a grudge against anyone,” Heideman said.

Thompson, who was suspended from medical school after his arrest, faced 13 felony charges of animal killing in Okemos and East Lansing. He ended up pleading guilty to three of the charges and was sentenced in June to five years probation.

Judge Paula Manderfield said she saw little benefit in incarcerating him. She  mandated he continue to receive psychiatric treatment, pay more than $5,000 in court fines and restitution, perform 400 hours of community service and work at least 30 hours per week.

Heideman, like many, found that sentence way too light.

“People who write bad checks get more time in jail than somebody who killed (13) dogs,” she said. “There’s something wrong with our legal system.”

More than a year after saving the puppy from a closet, Deputy LeBombard — to whom Thompson initially confessed – still drops by Heideman’s animal hospital to visit the dog.

“I get to go over there and give her hugs,” LeBombard said. “You can’t even hold her she’s so squirmy. She’s a sweetheart, and she couldn’t have gotten a better home.”

(Photos: The Italian greyhound now named Jezabelle; by Natalie Kolb / The State News. You can find more photos of Jezabelle here.)

Andrew David Thompson, the former Michigan State University medical student who admitted killing about a dozen Italian greyhound puppies, was sentenced yesterday to probation.

Thompson, who admitted to beating, kicking and throwing the puppies against walls when he became angry with them — and buying new ones to replace those who died — will serve five years of probation.

At a hearing in Ingham County Circuit Court, Judge Paula Manderfield rejected prosecutors’ request for a prison sentence of two to four years, the Lansing State Journal reported.

“I am disgusted and embarrassed and have so much remorse for what happened,” Thompson told Manderfield during the hearing, which his mother, father and other supporters attended. “I’m shocked I even let it get to this point.”

Thompson pleaded guilty in April to three counts of animal killing. Two of the charges were for killing two different dogs while he lived in East Lansing. The third charge was for killing nine dogs when he lived in Meridian Township.

Stacia Buchanan, Thompson’s attorney, argued that his offense was a ”property crime”  and that he had no prior criminal record. She said he has mental health issues for which he hasn’t receive treatment.

Under the sentence, he will.

The judge ordered Thompson to undergo mental health treatment, perform 400 hours of community service and not own or care for any animals while on probation.

Technically, Manderfield sentenced him to a year in jail, but she gave him credit for the 107 days he has served and suspended the remainder of the jail term pending successful completion of probation .

Manderfield said she didn’t believe a prison sentence would serve anybody’s interests. Probation, she told Thompson, would allow her to “always hold the hammer of prison over your head… I’m not convinced society would be served spending thousands of dollars to incarcerate you for two to four years,” she said.

(Photo: Paul Henderson / Lansing State Journal)

The trial for former Michigan State University medical student Andrew David Thompson, accused of killing a dozen Italian greyhounds, ended before it started yesterday when he pleaded guilty to three felony charges of animal killing or torture.

“I got upset, I hit the dog and it died,” Thompson told Ingham Circuit Judge Paula Manderfield, referring to one of the killings with he was charged. The plea, part of a last-minute agreement with prosecutors, came as his trial was to begin.

His sentencing is June 13.

The maximum penalty for each charge is four years imprisonment, according to Mlive.com.

Prosecutors say Thompson, 24 and originally from Arizona, threw the dogs against a wall, hit them and grabbed them by the neck. Authorities say Thompson killed 10 dogs — all Italian greyhounds — while he lived at an apartment in Okemos and three more while living in East Lansing.

He was suspended by MSU’s College of Osteopathic Medicine on June 23, a day before charges against him were authorized.

In earlier court appearances, some of Thompson’s roommates and acquaintances testified they often heard dogs yelping, and they occasionally saw Thompson hurt the dogs or throw them across the room.

According to an animal control officer, Thompson admitted under questioning that he killed the Italian greyhounds, bought new ones and killed them too.

Only one of his dogs is believed to have survived — a female discovered injured and malnourished inside a closet of his apartment on June 21, 2011.

That dog, named Chloe at the time, recovered from her injuries and was adopted by the veterinarian that treated her.

“She was bruised with obvious signs of trauma, she was bleeding and most likely bleeding internally,” Dr. Joyce Heideman, of Southside Animal Hospital, told WILX. Heideman, who adopted the dog, said she is now named Jezabelle.

A roommate of accused serial dog killer Andrew Thompson testified that at least eight Italian greyhounds mysteriously disappeared from their house, and that one of them died as he and Thompson watched.

Thompson, a former Michigan State University medical student, is charged with torturing and killing more than a dozen dogs in two different jurisdictions.

After a preliminary hearing Thursday, a judge ordered Thompson’s case in Meridian Township back to circuit court where he’ll face trial on nine felony counts of animal abuse, WLNS reported.

MSU student Jacob Dreyer testified that he saw Thompson throw one dog across the room, watched Thompson carry another one’s body outside in a garbage bag, and watched as yet another one died.

“It was hyperventilating, trying to catch a breath. At that time I grabbed my laptop and we were trying to look up an emergency vet and within minutes the first dog had died,” he said.

Dreyer said another dog was thrown by Thompson after it bit his face.

“He took the dog and threw it clear across the room and it went and hid behind the TV. It was shaking and whimpering,” the roommate testified.

A third dog was left in the home for “a day or two” before Thompson removed it, he said. “I did see the third dog dead on the floor. I spoke with him multiple times to take care of the deceased body.”

Dreyer said he told no one except his girlfriend and parents about the incident, because he was afraid of what Thompson might do.

Upon hearing Dreyer’s testimony, a District Judge Donald Allen ruled there was enough evidence to take the case to trial and reinstated six of the seven felony counts that a circuit judge threw out.

In all, Thompson, accused of killing dogs at residences in two different jurisdictions, faces 13 counts of animal killing and torture.

Seven counts in the Meridian Township case previously had been sent back to district court after a circuit court judge ruled previous testimony by one of Thompson’s friends was inadmissable. The friend was unable to appear at the initial preliminary hearing.

Thompson, who has been suspended from MSU’s College of Osteopathic Medicine, still faces three charges in East Lansing in connection with the alleged killing of three other dogs there.

According to the State News, Dreyer told the court that Thompson would give newly acquired dogs the same names as his former ones, including two different greyhounds named Chloe, and three who went by Angie or Angelino.

Thompson has been free on $50,000 bond and staying with friends in Okemos, where he is under a curfew and wears a monitor.

The trial of Andrew David Thompson, intially accused of killing 13 Italian greyhounds — now officially charged with only six of those deaths – has been indefinitely postponed.

Judge Paula Manderfield quashed seven of the 13 counts of animal killing and torture against the former Michigan State University medical student on Wednesday, ruling they were based on hearsay testimony.

As a result, prosecutors are regrouping, and the Dec. 5 start date for his trial is up in the air.

The evidence in question regards the number of puppies Thompson owned while living in one of the two residences where he was alleged to have killed the dogs.

Ingham County Animal Cruelty Investigator Jodi LeBombard interviewed Thompson’s former roommate, who told her he knew of seven dogs Thompson had owned while they shared a residence. LeBombard recounted what the roommate said in an earlier hearing.

In a pre-trial motion, Thompson’s attorney argued that — since the roommate was out of town and didn’t appear in court — LeBombard’s testimony was hearsay and shouldn’t have been deemed inadmissable.

Judge Manderfield concurred and quashed seven of the 13 counts Thompson faced.

As of Wednesday evening, Ingham County Prosecutor Stuart Dunnings had not decided whether to appeal the ruling or send the counts back to district court so the roommate can testify, the State News reported.

(Photo: Dogbreedinfo.com)

The attorney for Andrew David Thompson, the former Michigan State University student charged with killing 13 Italian greyhounds, is seeking to suppress incriminating statements Thompson made during questioning by an animal control deputy.

Thompson’s trial is scheduled to begin Dec. 5.

In Ingham County Circuit Court yesterday, Judge Paula Manderfield heard arguments from Stacia Buchanan, who said her client was not read his Miranda rights by the animal control deputy who questioned him.

Prosecutor Jeff Cruz argued that Thompson was not coerced or threatened during the interview and had every opportunity to leave if he wanted, and that the evidence regarding the dogs was allowed in a preliminary hearing.

Animal control deputy Jodi LeBombard testified in a preliminary hearing that Thompson told her during questioning that he killed the dogs out of anger, mostly by throwing them to the ground, against a wall or by grabbing them by the neck and beating them.

He purchased the dogs mostly over the Internet from breeders.

The judge said she would review video of the interview and transcripts from the preliminary hearing before making a decision, according to the Lansing State Journal.

Thompson, 24, who is suspended from MSU’s College of Osteopathic Medicine, faces 13 felony in two counties on charges of animal killing or torture in the deaths of the Italian greyhound puppies from September 2010 to June of 2011.

(Photo: Lansing State Journal)

Accused dog killer Andrew David Thompson — charged with choking, throwing, beating, kicking and killing 13 Italian greyhounds — was released from the Ingham County Jail yesterday after his bail was lowered to $50,000.

He was released after $5,000 was posted on his behalf.

As a condition of his release, Thompson will wear a monitor that will track his location and will have to adhere to a curfew, staying home between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.

He plans to live with friends in an apartment in Okemos, the State News reported.

Thompson, who was suspended from Michigan State University’s College of Osteopathic Medicine after he was charged, had been detained for more than three months.

Thompson is from Arizona, where his family resides.

After Thompson’s bail was reduced last month, the director of Ingham County Animal Control expressed concerns about his release. Jamie McAloon Lampman said he could be a danger both to animals and witnesses who testified against him, as well as a flight risk.

“This guy has more than one red flag,” she said.

(For previous coverage of this case, go here.)

(Photo: State News)

A judge yesterday reduced the bail of an osteopathic medicine student charged with killing a dozen Italian greyhounds, from $1 million to $50,000.

At a hearing in Ingham County Circuit Court, Judge Paula Manderfield granted a motion by Michigan State University student Andrew David Thompson’s attorney.

That means Thompson, 24, who has been suspended from Michigan State University’s College of Osteopathic Medicine, can get of jail by posting $5,000 bond.

Thompson has arranged to live with a friend at an Okemos apartment, his attorney Stacia Buchanan said.

Manderfield ordered Thompson to wear a monitor that can track his exact location, not own pets and remain in his residence from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Thompson is charged in two separate cases in two jurisdictions with killing the dogs between September 2010 and June 2011. All the dogs were purchased from breeder websites. He told investigators he killed them out of anger by throwing them to the ground or against a wall, grabbing them by the neck or beating them.

The felony charges of animal killing and torture are punishable by up to four years in prison each, according to the Lansing State Journal.

Thompson, who is from Arizona, has no adult or juvenile criminal record, Buchanan said. He was seeing a psychiatrist when he was arrested and suffers from bipolar disorder, authorities have said.

For our archived coverage of this case, click here.

Shortly before his arrest, medical student Andrew David Thompson told a friend that killing Italian greyhound puppies became a “vicious cycle,” according to testimony at Thompson’s preliminary hearing.

Thompson said he would get frustrated with the dogs, “punish them, and go too far,” Robert Albers, testified Thursday. “I believe he described it like a vicious cycle he couldn’t get out of.”

Thompson, who has been suspended from Michigan State University’s osteopathic medicine school, killed at least 12 Italian greyhound puppies between September 2010 and June, according to prosecutors.

Also testifying yesteray was Deputy Jodi LeBombard, seen in the Lansing State Journal video above.

She said Thompson told her he killed one of the dogs, Bentley, after he urinated in his bed, by throwing him against the wall. He disposed of Bentley, like the others, by putting him in a trash bag and tossing him in a Dumpster.

Thompson will stand trial in Ingham County Circuit Court on a total of 13 felony counts of animal killing or torture and one misdemeanor count of animal cruelty — ten of them in connection with dogs allegedly killed at his apartment in Okemos.

Thompson also is charged in a separate case with killing or torturing three dogs at an East Lansing condominium, where he lived for about a month last September. A preliminary hearing in that case was held last week.

(To see all our posts about this case, click here.)

Andrew David Thompson, the Michigan State University osteopathic medicine student suspended after he was charged with killing 13 dogs, expects to be reinstated to his school, his attorney said at a hearing yesterday.

Thompson, 24, has admitted killing 13 Italian greyhounds since September 2010, according to law enforcement officials, and said he did it “out of anger.” According to authorities, he said the dogs were disobedient and not housebroken.

Thompson, at yesterday’s hearing, waived his right to have a preliminary hearing within 14 days, according to the Lansing State Journal.

That hearing, now scheduled for Aug. 4, will determine if there is enough evidence for a trial. Thompson, wearing a dark green jail uniform, said he understood the charges against him. His attorney, Kimberly Savage, said Thompson has no adult or juvenile criminal record.

Thompson appeared before Judge Donald Allen in 55th District Court, where he faces 10 felony counts of killing animals at his apartment in Okemos. He also faces three additional counts in East Lansing.

The charges are punishable by up to four years in prison.

Thompson is being held at the Ingham County Jail on a $500,000 bond.

A second-year student at MSU’s College of Osteopathic Medicine, Thompson was suspended June 23 because of the allegations against him. He was charged the next day.

Officials said Thompson owned the Italian greyhounds that he killed, and had purchased them from out of state.

Authorities say 10 dogs were killed at Thompson’s Okemos apartment and three more were killed at an East Lansing complex across the street from MSU’s campus.