A Chico man has been sentenced for killing his father’s cat while his father was in the hospital. In February, a neighbor who was watching the house while the homeowner was away saw that 39-year-old Matthew Boyle-Dahl was there. Knowing he didn’t have permission, the neighbor called Chico Police. When officers arrived, Boyle-Dahl was gone but they found a Tabby Cat dead in a pool of urine. A few minutes later officers found Boyle-Dahl walking away and they stopped him and asked if he had killed the cat. He said he was a Satanist and had choked the cat to death as part of a Satanic ritual. He also admitted he had been stealing things from the house, and that he had been staying there for a few days because he needed a place to sell drugs. Boyle-Dahl has been sentenced to 4 years 8 months in state prison.
-Steve Gibson