A Burien man accused of killing cats and making death threats against his father has been charged with four felonies in King County Superior Court.
According to charging documents, Devon Winslow Detweiler, 31, faces three counts of first-degree animal cruelty and one count of felony harassment domestic violence.
The charges detail the following allegations:
- On July 21, Detweiler allegedly killed a cat named Moose by drowning.
- On Aug. 21, he allegedly killed another cat named Lucky by drowning.
- Between July 21 and Aug. 21, he allegedly killed an unnamed tabby cat by drowning.
- In addition, he allegedly threatened to kill his father, telling corrections officers he would “rip his father’s head off” for contacting police.
In court filings, Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Emmanuelle Dinca wrote that Detweiler “boasted about enjoying killing several cats in a short time period, wanting to continue killing cats and puppies, and wanting to then move on to killing humans, including his own father.”
Detweiler pleaded not guilty at his arraignment. His next court date is set for Sept. 25 at 1 p.m. for a routine pretrial hearing.
At first appearance, bail was set at $100,000, though prosecutors had asked for $500,000, citing public safety concerns.
“The State sees no reason why the Court should not take his word at face value when determining the risk he poses for future violent behavior and believes that $100,000 is grossly insufficient to guarantee the safety of the community,” Dinca wrote.
Court records also state that Detweiler admitted to killing four cats during an interview with investigators.
Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Detectives say Devon Detweiler admitted to torturing and killing four kittens and told a friend he wanted to kill a human next. https://t.co/f80br2rVyd
— FOX 13 Seattle (@fox13seattle) September 12, 2025
31 is a bit late to start on sociopathic behavior, but the fact that he HAS committed these animal cruelty actions rather than just bragging about wanting to do them means that he IS very dangerous to the community. If he had killed his father he wouldn’t have stopped there.
This is one of the biggest problems of our justice system…ignoring patterns of behavior. We believe that everyone is innocent until proven guilty, but when it comes to pattern behavior like sociopathy and schizophrenia, you just CAN’T treat them the same way.