11/07/2020
NOTE: NEW TRIAL DATE~~~
In today’s paper.
New trial date. MONDAY, JULY 13TH, 2020
MAN FACES TRIAL IN DOG'S DEATH
Outraged animal lovers offered to adopt stabbed pit bull, locate attacker
OLLIE the pit bull is seen on Oct. 11, 2017, the day after he was rescued by Hollywood police and taken to an animal hospital. Ollie died two days after the attack. (Mike Stocker/Sun Sentinel) By Susannah Bryan
HOLLYWOOD — A pit bull named Ollie was stabbed more than 50 times and crammed inside a suitcase, then left to die.
The man accused of the crime, a personal trainer named Brendan Evans, will go to trial July 6 — nearly three years after a couple found Ollie whimpering inside the suitcase in October 2017. An earlier trial date of Jan. 13 was delayed partly because Evans, 33, has a new attorney. High-profile attorney David Bogenshutz was hired in June after attorney Sarah Anne Mourer was removed from the case. Police who searched Evans’ Hollywood apartment found cat paws and rats with severed heads in his freezer. Blood stains covered a shower curtain and toilet in the bathroom. The oven was covered with dried blood and animal fur. Officers also found an 18-inch machete under the TV stand, another knife covered with blood and fur on a dresser and a third knife with a broken handle and blade in a dog bowl.
There was also a handwritten note saying: “Make the entire pit bull investigation go away. Return all curses placed on Brendan to their sender. Give Brendan peace of mind.”
Bogenshutz said he plans to argue that certain evidence collected by police should not be presented to a jury at trial. That hearing has been set for April 28.
Evans has been charged with 17 counts of animal cruelty, one for allegedly trapping Ollie inside the suitcase and 16 for each of the deep stab wounds inflicted on the dog’s head and torso.
Ollie was rescued after a couple passing by heard a dog’s cries coming from a blue suitcase and called police. Evans was linked to the crime after police found his DNA on the suitcase.
Hundreds of outraged dog lovers the world over offered to adopt Ollie, then donated nearly $60,000 in reward money to help find his attacker when he died two days after being rescued.
As Evans’ attorney, Mourer made several requests for delays, arguing the public hysteria needed to die down to ensure her client a fair trial. Animal activists are still calling for justice for Ollie through posts on social media and letters to the Broward State Attorney’s Office.
Susan Rosemarin, an animal activist from Pompano Beach, says the case still haunts her and so many others all these years later.
“We saw this dog, after being so terribly brutalized and left to just suffer and die a horrible death, wagging his tail and displaying affection toward his caregivers at the hospital,” she said. “We saw this dog’s soul after what he went through and how forgiving he was toward humans. That’s a light that will never dim.”
Dozens of animal activists have vowed to attend the trial.
“I think it’s died down as much as it will,” Rosemarin said of the public furor. “Too many people care about this case. Ollie’s case is not going to die down anymore at this point.”
Susannah Bryan can be reached at [email protected] or 954-356-4554
