MOULDER BROTHERS PLEAD GUILTY TO ANIMAL CRUELTY

Joshua and Justin To Be Sentenced February 9th

Atlanta—Fulton County District Attorney Paul L. Howard, Jr. announces the conviction by guilty plea today of brothers Joshua and Justin Moulder of Atlanta. 17-year-old Joshua and 19-year-old Justin were each charged in an 10 count indictment with one count of aggravated cruelty to animals, 2 counts of burglary, 1 count of criminal damage to property in the second degree, 3 counts of making terroristic threats and 3 counts of cruelty to children in the second degree. The brothers pled guilty to all ten counts. A mistrial was declared in their first trial in December. The second trial was scheduled to begin next week.

Senior Assistant District Attorney Laura Janssen was prepared to again introduce evidence that on August 21, 2006, a police officer dispatched to the Englewood Manor Apartments on Dalton Street found the locked Community Center had been broken into. He found damaged computers, broken glass, paint scattered on walls and floors and holes in the walls of the newly refurbished building. In the kitchen there was a small, dead puppy in an oven that had been turned on. Crime Scene Investigators found scratch marks inside the oven, indicating the puppy had been alive when placed inside. A necropsy on the 3-month-old puppy showed her paws and snout had been duct taped and she had been doused with paint before being placed in the oven. The veterinarian testified she was literally cooked to death.

The cruelty to children and terroristic threat charges stemmed from reports by neighborhood children that Joshua and Justin brought them to the Community Center to see the dead puppy then threatened to kill them if they told anyone what they had seen and who had done it.

District Attorney Howard says the conviction indicates “the seriousness with which our office views animal abuse cases.” “The data are clear that youth who begin with these crimes escalate toward more serious criminal behavior as adults.

Superior Court Judge Thelma Wyatt Cummings Moore has scheduled sentencing for February 9, 2007 at 9:30 a.m. Senior ADA Janssen was assisted in the investigation and prosecution of this case by Deputy District Attorney Ron Dixon and Fulton County DA Investigator M. C. Cox.

CONTACT: Lyn Vaughn, 404.730.6860 (office); 770.597.6963(cell); lyn.vaughn@co.fulton.ga.us