NEWS: Man Hires "Hit Man" To Kill Wife's Horse!

[ChocoMare]

:eek:

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_609640.html

A Scottdale man will spend up to a year in jail for trying to hire a hitman to kill his estranged wife's two horses.

Joseph J. Mendicino pleaded guilty Friday to charges that he took out a contract on his estranged wife's horses and tried to have her run off the road for testifying against him during a hearing in November. The hit was arranged from Westmoreland County Prison, where Mendicino was an inmate.

Mendicino, 27, was sentenced yesterday to a jail term of six to 12 months and three years of probation by Judge John Blahovec. He was ordered to have no contact with his wife, Erika Mendicino.

Joseph Mendicino pleaded guilty to charges of retaliation against a witness, one count of solicitation to intimidate a witnesses, and attempting to solicit the killing or maiming of a domestic animal.

"It would certainly be intimidating to find an animal you cared for dead. The clear intent is that you're going to be next," said Westmoreland County District Attorney John Peck. "You can't have people in jail threatening people."

According to court records, Mendicino was serving a six-month sentence for violating a protection from abuse order that prohibited him from having contact with his wife.

Mendicino first contacted another inmate about the possibility of harming his wife's new boyfriend and killing her horses. The inmate notified county detectives, who set up a sting operation.

Detective Terry Kuhns posed as a horse hitman and arranged the contract with Mendicino.

The first contact, via telephone from the jail, was on Nov. 13, a few days before Mendicino was scheduled for a court appearance to seek an early release from jail.

"The defendant stated that his ex-wife has three horses, but he only wanted me to put two in the 'glue factory,'" Kuhns said in court documents.

Erika Mendicino testified against her husband at the hearing on Nov. 18, when he was denied early release.

A day later, Joseph Mendicino telephoned Kuhns and offered him $1,000 to have the horses killed. He put up another $500 for Kuhns to run Erika Mendicino off the road.

"We said he would collect when he was released from jail in March 2009," Kuhns said.

[MistyBlue]

Here's hoping Erika Mendicino is packing right now...poor woman. Pack up, take animals and move. No forwarding address.
Sad thing is with domestic violence like this...he isn;t going to stop. And he isn't going to be in jail long enough to cool off. Unfortunately the law doesn;t see a death threat to her animals as a perceived death threat to her...or the "running her off the road." If he had made a direct death threat to her they could keep him in jail a helluva lot longer than 6m-2y.

[Thomas_1]

Sounds like a bitter and twisted violent man and I'm thinking the ex wife must be worried sick having been mightily relieved he was off to jail.

Hopefully the escalation to something like this might get the nut case away for longer and so she can feel safer though.

[Portia]

She absolutely needs to get her and her horses away from there with no forwarding address, change her name, and never be heard from again. It doesn't say if they have children, but if so I should hope this would be enough to get an order cutting him off from them so she would be free to disappear. This guy isn't going to stop with his compulsion to control her and to punish her for getting free of his control.

[King's Ransom]

Well, I tend to disagree with the idea that the victim should disappear off the face of the earth. Having been the victim, and finally stood my ground and quit running ... I think of that Miranda Lambert song, "I'm going home and load up my shotgun, wait by the door and light a cigarette."

If I were Erika, (and at one time I was, or very nearly so), I would get a concealed-carry permit, and take classes in self-defense and marksmanship. And I would hire a security company to patrol my farm. Then, I would make it very well known that I was no longer playing in victim-mode and that anybody who messes with me had better hope they got way way way more than $1,000 for their trouble and that the sum should be made payable-on-death to their estate! 'Cause if they came anywhere near me, they would be in a world of hurt.

[nashfad]

This man will not stop---she needs to "protect herself" (words from a judge here in Nashville)---she is never safe if he is out until he is dead. Maybe he'll be killed in jail---it happens.

[chai]

Bad people do exist. I went head to head with someone who hurt my sister badly. Told him I knew what he did and I would never rest until he was arrested. A week later a strange man showed up at my house with a bag of carrots for my horses. How many 30-something men with tidy goatees, an expensive car and an expensive leather jacket drive up someone's driveway with carrots for their horses and want to know all about them and pat them? A few days later, while mr. chai was away on business, my dogs woke me at 3 AM, barking up a frenzy. I heard car doors slam on the street, and I looked outside, but everything seemed ok. It isn't completely unusual for people to get lost here, so I told myself not to let my imagination and fear get the better of me and I went back to bed.

At 5:30 when I went out to feed, I found my mare in her stall with this.
Sociopaths do exist and they will do anything to hurt people who try to stop them from getting what they want. A word of caution. It is graphic.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y97/eastmeadowfarm/DSCI0004.jpg

[LuvMyTB]

Chai--my god. I'm so sorry that happened to you and your mare....and your sister. :no:

[MunchkinsMom]

OMG - how horrible! Chai, I hope that eventually you did get the man arrested?

I agree, the woman either needs to move, or get armed!

[Trevelyan96]

Gad... doesn't it just make you mad as he!! to hear about these nut jobs who think that they can abuse, control, and intimidate other people.

Wife needs to hide her horses then wait for Mr. with a baseball bat the day he gets out of jail. Sometimes the only way to get someone like this out of your life is to make them more scared of you than you are of them.

I'm adopting a new attitude and tag line: "Warning: I've evolved into an alpha mare with a bad attitute. Would you like to rephrase that?"

[Alagirl]

Here's hoping Erika Mendicino is packing right now...poor woman. Pack up, take animals and move. No forwarding address.
Sad thing is with domestic violence like this...he isn;t going to stop. And he isn't going to be in jail long enough to cool off. Unfortunately the law doesn;t see a death threat to her animals as a perceived death threat to her...or the "running her off the road." If he had made a direct death threat to her they could keep him in jail a helluva lot longer than 6m-2y.


The way I read it they turned it into an 'intimidating a witnes' probably the most serious offense they could make stick.

[chai]

Thanks for the kind thoughts. The truth is, I thought I was being an alpha mare, sticking up for my sister and standing up to the man who hurt her. But when you suddenly are on the receiving end of very scary things right in your own home, and one of your animals pays the price for standing up to a sociopath, I can tell you honestly, it changes you.

[Portia]

Chai, did your mare recover? Poor, poor girl. :(

I don't like encouraging anyone to act as a victim, but unless Erika Mendicino is independently wealthy, it would be very difficult to arrange security to make sure her horses are watched 24/7/365. It sounds like, to be safe from someone like this, that's what it would take. I know it's pure arm-chair psychology, but I can't help thinking that her horses became, and will remain, a target of his rage because they took her attention away from the Husband, and because having them helped give her the mental and emotional strength to break free of him.

I'm actually pleased to see that in some areas at least, it is a crime to "attempt to solicit or mame a domestic animal," and they didn't have to rely solely on the intimidation count.

[King's Ransom]

I think I would amend my response somewhat. I likely would send my horses away somewhere, if I could afford it, to keep them safe. But I would not disappear off the planet.

It's impossible to do, by the way. I tried to disappear for six weeks, to no avail. Eventually, you just have to stop running and take a stand. But, if possible, I think you get your "dependents" out of harm's way first. So, if I could afford it, I would send the horses away ... and then I would load up the shotgun, etc.

[JSwan]

Last session there was a Bill introduced (in my state legislature) that would have included animals, both companion and livestock, in protective orders.

Unfortunately, the Bill failed. Too many people thought it was an animal rights Bill.

But it wasn't about granting animals human rights - it was about protecting victims. It's not uncommon for abusers to go after the victim's pets or livestock to "get back" at the victim for leaving them, filing for divorce or custody..... etc.

It would have been nice for a victim of domestic violence (or any victim) to be able to protect their dog or horse, too. :no:

[laskiblue]

There is a growing body of domestic violence research that looks at abuse of companion animals. :(

[pj]

Bad people do exist.
At 5:30 when I went out to feed, I found my mare in her stall with this.
Sociopaths do exist and they will do anything to hurt people who try to stop them from getting what they want. A word of caution. It is graphic.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y97/eastmeadowfarm/DSCI0004.jpg

I do not even know what to say except my heart is hurting for you and for your mare.
I guess some people are born without a soul and whoever did this must be one of them.

[Guilherme]

Granting special protection to animals, companion or livestock, it not the best way to go in these cases. Animals are chattels and anyone who injures or kills an animal is guilty of vandalism, at a minimum. If the damage is large enough it becomes a felony. The advantage is that the prosecutor need not show any special "state of mind" (intimidation of a witness, retaliation for testimony, etc.). They only need show the defendant injured the property. This makes the prosecution's job much easier and prevents any proceeding from degenerating into a "did so" "did not" event. It also means fewer witnesses, little or no extrainious evidence, etc.

Put another way, it's the application of the KISS principle.

In the penalty phase of a trial the prosecution may introduce evidence of external motives of the defendant. That can "bump up" the sentence.

In the original story part of the money was paid to inflict injury upon the person, herself. That should get the miscreant a fairly substantial sentence.

G.

[Trevelyan96]

Thanks for the kind thoughts. The truth is, I thought I was being an alpha mare, sticking up for my sister and standing up to the man who hurt her. But when you suddenly are on the receiving end of very scary things right in your own home, and one of your animals pays the price for standing up to a sociopath, I can tell you honestly, it changes you.

Chai, I am so sorry about your mare, and I hope she's recovered. You deserve so much credit for sticking up for your sister!

Its unfortunate that these beasts can strike at anyone with impunity, and hurt the ones that are stong enough to fight back through their innocent and vulnerable loved ones, both 2 legged and 4. And even more disgusting are the 'hired thugs' who have no connection at all to the victims, just doing it for the money. There's a special place in he!! for them all, and frankly I 'd like to be the one to dispatch them straight there.

[RedMare01]

I feel bad for the lady in that situation. Unfortunately, the 6 months to 1 year sentence was probably for threatening her and hiring someone to do it. If it were just about the horses, he wouldn't have gotten that much time in jail even if he'd actually killed them :sadsmile:.

Caitlin

[JSwan]

I disagree.

The purpose of a protective order is to keep someone from attempting to commit the acts in the first place. It gives law enforcement the ability to intervene in situations they'd be compelled to ignore as "civil" matters.

In domestic disputes, the threat of harm to beloved animals is often used to instill fear into human victims, and to continue to exert control and continue to mentally or emotionally abuse victims. The perpetrator can be certain that law enforcement won't take a threat against an animal seriously - and so the threat is not only easily made - it's easily carried out at minimal risk to the perpetrator. A 911 call to report a violation of a protective order is serious business. A threat to kill the dog is not. And yet - that threat is a horrifying and fear inducing to the owner of the dog. That's why the threats are made - to cause fear, and to retain control over the abused party.

The lack of law enforcement response to threats to harm animals creates and even greater fear and feeling of loss of control to a victim. Again - this is what the abuser wants. To instill fear and exert control over his victim.

The ability to "punish" a defendant for knifing a pet dog to death is lost upon the 10 year old kid weeping over a bleeding body. And prosecutors, busy with other and more serious cases filling the prison system, are unlikely to pay serious attention to such incidents.

What results is victims living in fear, hiding animals, staying in abusive situations because they are afraid to leave their animals behind, or again - weeping over a dead body.

That's not good public policy.

Granting special protection to animals, companion or livestock, it not the best way to go in these cases. Animals are chattels and anyone who injures or kills an animal is guilty of vandalism, at a minimum. If the damage is large enough it becomes a felony. The advantage is that the prosecutor need not show any special "state of mind" (intimidation of a witness, retaliation for testimony, etc.). They only need show the defendant injured the property. This makes the prosecution's job much easier and prevents any proceeding from degenerating into a "did so" "did not" event. It also means fewer witnesses, little or no extrainious evidence, etc.

Put another way, it's the application of the KISS principle.

In the penalty phase of a trial the prosecution may introduce evidence of external motives of the defendant. That can "bump up" the sentence.

In the original story part of the money was paid to inflict injury upon the person, herself. That should get the miscreant a fairly substantial sentence.

G.

[Erika Mendicino]

I'll just say i am Erika Mendicino & just to let everyone know i am doing very well these days. I have since this crazy event in my life turned things around for my family & my animals. He (Joseph) will never see our child ever again & my horses are watched all the time I have since that event changed how my fence is & have dogs on watch & now have security cameras all over the property to keep all angles of my land watched 24-7-365. I also have random things around the property that trip alarms if they have movement at any height over a set level & under that also many friends helped with the finances in doing all. I am a now single mom of 4 wonderful kids & we moved but my horses stayed on the original property. It is my parents home place so they still live there & will never leave it! I am now trained in many self defense things & can protect my home & family & animals also! I will not let Joseph turn my life upside down again EVER!

[Alagirl]

Ah, good to hear you are doing well!
Dealing with such vindictiveness is pretty trying!

[MistyBlue]

Happy to hear you, your family and your horses are all well, healthy and happy. :D

[shea'smom]

Good to hear! Good luck to you.

[Sonesta]

Maybe it's just me. But I tend to be proactive - and, although a lawyer, I'd be willing to let that all go if my animals or my family were threatened. I'd become the hunter, not the hunted.......

Bottom line: DON'T MESS WITH ME OR MINE.

[Chardavej]

Good for you!! Sounds like you are well prepared! Please be careful.

[ChocoMare]

So glad to hear you're doing well. Welcome to COTH!!! :)

[carolprudm]

Erika:

Welcome, however please consider removing the specifics of your location from your post, which I intentionally did not quote.

Try googeling your name

[ladybugred]

Erika- Glad to know all are well, and well wishes for the future.

LBR

[hollyhorse2000]

Isn't paying someone to run someone "off the road" soliciting murder???????

[PiaffePlease]

Erika, glad you are doing well and all is safe!