Actor Joseph Petcka had jealous rage toward cat: Ex-Girlfriend

By Cloe Ellison
18 September 2008 @ 01:11 pm EDT

Actor Joseph Petcka's ex-girlfriend Lisa Altobelli gave her testimony at a Manhattan court yesterday, about the incident a year ago that charged Petcka with felony aggravated cruelty to animals after he stabbed her cat until death.


Petcka Trial
This undated photo provided by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals shows Lisa Altobelli`s orange tabby Norman. A New York City prosecutor says Altobelli`s former boyfriend, baseball player-turned-actor Joseph Petcka, brutally killed the cat during a jealous rage. Petcka, who`s trial began Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2008, claims he killed the 7-pound feline out of self-defense. (AP Photo/American Society for the Prevention of ...
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On Wednesday, Altobelli, the owner of the cat which name was "Norman" testified about Petcka's jealous rage toward the creature, the New York Daily News reported today.

She told in the court that previous to the attack something was happening between the actor and the cat and declared a situation when she found the cat "hissing [at Petcka]," Altobelli said.

Altobelli also testified that Petcka - a former minor league baseball player for the Mets, who appeared in the TV Show "Sex and the City" and in Brawny paper towel ads- had been drinking heavily and the couple began quarreling.

"You love Norman more than me!" Petcka told her, according to Altobelli's testimony yesterday, the source notes.

"What kind of monster could kill an innocent cat?" Altobelli declared at the court, as she remembered herself talking on the phone to Petcka the night she found the cat dead at a Manhattan apartment on March 27, 2007, the Daily News notes.

According to reports, Altobelli took the cat to an animal hospital where vets determined it suffered a lingering agonizing death, the New York Post reported on April 13, 2007.

Petcka's lawyer had declared a year ago, that his client defended from the cat's bite and the injuries to the animal were in response to being bit, the New York Post reported a year ago.

Petcka is expected to appear at the court to testify too. If found guilty he could face up to two years in prison.

This article is copyrighted by International Business Times.

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