ASBURY PARK – A local man was indicted for bludgeoning his girlfriend’s poodle to death, the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office reported.
Nicholas C. Winter, 36, was charged with third-degree Animal Cruelty Resulting in Death. He faces up to five years in state prison.
On June 4, 2022, the Asbury Park Police responded to a Locust Drive home after a woman there said her boyfriend had killed her dog. The 12-year-old dog, Bentley, was found dead. Another dog, 14-year-old Sophia, was missing but was found in the area several hours later.
Text messages from Winter to the girlfriend threatened harm to her dogs while she was at work. The necropsy on Bentley revealed the cause of death to be blunt force trauma to the head, neck, and body, police said.
Charges are merely accusations until proven in a court of law.
