Owner of cat killed in Longmont disappointed after no arrests were made

LONGMONT, Colo. – When Denver7 first shared Holly Mathews’ story last September, she was still reeling from finding one of her cats, Basil, shot and stuffed in a bag.

The cat’s GPS collar led them directly to the scene of the accident.

“She’s traveling in what looks like a car and watching the speed she’s going down the road,” Matthews described of seeing the data from her cat’s GPS collar driving straight down a road in Longmont.

The owners got into a car that evening and followed the live GPS feed along the road until it stopped at Saint Vrain Creek.

“He pulled her out of a garbage bag. Her body was still warm at that point,” Matthews said of the moment her friend found Basil’s body after they began searching the creek bed.

After six months of investigation, Longmont police closed the case without any arrests. It’s an unsatisfying ending for the cat’s owner, who believes the case points to a possible suspect.

“The evidence is quite compelling,” says Matthews.

The GPS data shows that just before the cat appeared to be driven toward the creek, it was in a specific area for four hours.

The Longmont police report shows that shortly after GPS showed the cat had been dumped in the creek, traffic cameras caught a truck driving through an intersection a few blocks away.

The police report shows that the truck closely resembles that of the owner of the property where GPS showed Basil was present that afternoon. Because police have not filed criminal charges, Denver7 will not identify that person or their address.

Body camera video shows the moments when a Longmont police officer (an officer other than the lead investigator on the case) questions the owner of that property. The person is heard telling the officer that he owns the property, but does not live there.

The officer asks about the truck captured on camera at the intersection near the crime scene.

“Is that your truck around that time?” It seems like it, huh?” “I think so,” the person said.

“Right around the time that the people who own the cat, because they follow their cat all the way to the river, they saw your car, your truck driving through the intersection,” the officer said.

The person answers that he drives that truck around all the time for work.

“Are you the only one driving the truck or is someone else driving it?” the officer finally asks.

“I’m the only one driving that truck,” the person said.

“Okay, no kids or anything, grandkids or anyone?” said the officer.

“No,” the person replied.

Basil’s owner applauds the Longmont Police Department for building the case they built, but feels more could have been done to potentially charge someone with a crime.

“There is a tremendous amount of circumstantial evidence,” says Matthews.

Longmont police sent all evidence collected to the 20th Judicial District Attorney’s Office for review.

“Cases of animal abuse are often very difficult from the start because even if the animal survives, the animal obviously cannot explain to you what happened or make you accountable for it. So you are already dealing with a circumstantial case,” explains prosecutor Michael Dougherty.

Basil’s case, like other animal abuse cases without witnesses, can be challenging to end in an arrest. Investigators say the type of evidence collected can sway a case.

“Officer Carter (the investigating officer on this case) put a lot of work into this. Just obtaining the search warrant for telephone records and some of the data about them takes time. There is a lot of data that needs to be collected and processed,” said Longmont Police Chief Michael Carter. “We can’t just rely on our feelings, we can’t do that. We need to have probable cause. We need to have enough information to possibly bring this to court, but we are not there yet.”

The chief pointed out that the investigation included cell phone records that placed the property owner away from the creek that night. The department adds that there is never a situation where killing a cat is an acceptable response if a stray cat is on your property.

The prosecutor agreed there just isn’t enough evidence.

“The family of the animal killed is probably thinking to themselves, ‘We know who did it,’ and maybe they’re right. But we have to be able to prove it. We need proof that that person was the only person who had access to the animal and that the animal was killed. So it’s an absolute tragedy and if we learn of any new evidence, we would certainly file charges,” Doughtery said.

The district attorney said she has prosecuted anyone suspected of animal cruelty and absolutely would do so if there was enough evidence to require it.

“Our laws reflect who we are as a people and who we want to be as a society. Part of that is that in this situation we want our animals to be protected, that we love them, that we recognize that they have no voice and that sometimes they are even more vulnerable than humans could be, and we have to do everything what we can do under the law to hold those who break these laws accountable,” he said.

Matthew acknowledges that there may be people who may not support so many resources dedicated to the investigation of one dead cat, but she hopes to one day see the arrest of the person who killed Basil.

“I think I’m drawing a hard line in the sand and saying, ‘We as a society are not okay with this. “We are not okay with someone bothering us and taking something from us that ultimately ends in death, no matter what kind of life it is, it’s okay,” Matthews said. “It really brings humanity back. It exposes a level of cruelty that I don’t think any of us should have to put up with.”

GPS data shows the shooting likely occurred just after 9:00 PM on August 27, 2023. The tracker left the area and headed south on Martin St. before passing along East County Line Rd. was driving, making a quick stop at the St. Vrain Greenway parking lot, then a final stop at the bridge over St. Vrain Creek, just south of E. County Ln. and Zlaten Dr.

If you have any information regarding this case, please contact Longmont Police at 303-651-8555 with reference report number #23-7880.