Warrant issued for man accused of throwing puppy to its death from St. Paul apartment window
A Twin Cities man is accused of significantly damaging a St. Paul apartment and throwing a French bulldog puppy out a window to its death in November, according to new criminal charges.
Prosecutors in Ramsey County charged Jake W. Scandrett, 27, of Blaine, last week with animal torture and 1st-degree property damage, both felonies, in connection with the Nov. 30 incident at an apartment on George Street.
A warrant has been issued for Scandrett's arrest.
According to the criminal complaint, a woman told police Scandrett was staying at her apartment to care for the unit and her pets while she was out of town.
Police were called to the unit on Nov. 30 after the upstairs neighbor reported a dog was thrown out of the window.
The woman, who allegedly saw the incident on her Ring camera, then found a dead French bulldog puppy in a pile of leaves.
Police reviewed the footage and saw a small dog thrown through the window, the complaint reads.
Inside the apartment where Scandrett was staying, police allegedly found blood stains and fecal matter on the walls and other surfaces. There was also damage to the door, window and miscellaneous items inside the apartment.
The woman who allowed Scandrett to stay at her apartment told investigators the French bulldog was not hers, but a dog Scandrett had recently obtained.
She told police she was only aware that Scandrett had a small poodle.
The woman also said an audio-only camera in her daughter's room captured sounds like a "dog being tortured," the complaint reads. The upstairs neighbor also told police she heard loud noises and the sounds of things breaking and being thrown into walls.
A few days after the Nov. 30 incident, a miniature poodle was found dead and frozen solid in the trash outside the apartment.
Police obtained records showing Scandrett had taken his poodle to the vet on Nov. 29, with the dog tentatively diagnoses with bronchitis and prescribed medication.
If convicted of both charges, Scandrett faces up to seven years in prison.
Note: The details provided in this story are based on law enforcement's latest version of events, and may be subject to change.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
23 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Shipwreck over a mile deep has centuries' old artifacts—and modern garbage
A shipwreck accidentally discovered off France's southeastern coast near Saint-Tropez appears to be a striking well-preserved 16th-century Italian merchant ship. At 8,422 feet below sea level, the vessel is likely the deepest of its kind ever found in French waters, according to the official announcement. But next to scattered ceramics, metal bars, and rigging rests what appear to be jarring reminders of modern life. Earlier this year, French military personnel noticed an odd ping while guiding an underwater drone along a routine surveying expedition. Although intended to monitor potential oceanic resources and deepsea cable routes, the equipment flagged something sizable already laying over 1.5 miles below the surface of the Mediterranean Sea. 'The sonar detected something quite big, so we went back with the device's camera, then [again] with an underwater robot to snap high-quality images,' deputy prefect Thierry de la Burgade told CBS News on June 12. What the officers found appears to be a largely intact 16th-century Italian merchant ship measuring roughly 98-by-23 feet. The vessel was loaded with cargo on its final voyage, including around 200 jugs with pinched spouts. Some of the relics feature the monogram 'IHS,' the first three letters in the Greek name of Jesus. Meanwhile, others are covered in geometric or plant-inspired patterns. These details suggest the jugs originated in the Liguria region of present-day northern Italy. Additional finds included piles of roughly 100 yellow plates, a pair of cauldrons, an anchor, and six cannons. Archeologist Marine Sadania called the wreck an 'exceptional' find.'[T]he site—thanks to its depth which prevented any recovery or looting—has remained intact, as if time froze, which is exceptional,' she added. Other more recent artifacts appear to have also joined the vessel at its final resting place. Photos released by French authorities depict at least two objects that look suspiciously similar to aluminum drink cans. It's difficult to glean more information about the potential trash due to the image resolution. However, explorers have identified plastic bags at some of the deepest points in the world's oceans, so it's not a stretch to conclude that soda cans lay amid this roughly 500 year-old Italian shipwreck. The mystery objects may be identified in the near future. Sadania and colleagues are planning to create a 3D digital model of the vessel over the next two years while also retrieving site samples for further analysis. '[The wreck] is a remarkable discovery for its depth, unprecedented character and the opportunity it offers to study an almost intact 16th-century wreck,' France's Department of Underwater and Submarine Archeological Research said on June 11.
Yahoo
38 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Reopening a 688-year-old murder case reveals a tangled web of adultery and extortion in medieval England
Sign up for CNN's Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more. The sun was setting on a busy London street on a May evening in 1337 when a group of men approached a priest named John Forde. They surrounded him in front of a church near Old St. Paul's Cathedral, stabbed him in the neck and stomach, and then fled. Witnesses identified his killers, but just one assailant went to prison. And the woman who might have ordered the brazen and shocking hit — Ela Fitzpayne, a wealthy and powerful aristocrat — was never brought to justice, according to historical records describing the case. Nearly 700 years later, new details have come to light about the events leading up to the brutal crime and the noblewoman who was likely behind it. Her criminal dealings included theft and extortion as well as the murder of Forde — who was also her former lover. Forde (his name also appeared in records as 'John de Forde') could have been part of a crime gang led by Fitzpayne, according to a recently discovered document. The group robbed a nearby French-controlled priory, taking advantage of England's deteriorating relationship with France to extort the church, researchers reported in a study published June 6 in the journal Criminal Law Forum. But the wayward priest may have then betrayed Fitzpayne to his religious superiors. The Archbishop of Canterbury penned a letter in 1332 that the new report also linked to Forde's murder. In the letter, the archbishop denounced Fitzpayne and accused her of committing serial adultery 'with knights and others, single and married, and even with clerics in holy orders.' The archbishop's letter named one of Fitzpayne's many paramours: Forde, who was rector of a parish church in a village on the Fitzpayne family's estate in Dorset. In the wake of this damning accusation, the church assigned Fitzpayne humiliating public penance. Years later, she exacted her revenge by having Forde assassinated, according to lead study author Dr. Manuel Eisner, a professor at the UK's University of Cambridge and director of its Institute of Criminology. This 688-year-old murder 'provides us with further evidence about the entanglement of the clergy in secular affairs — and the very active role of women in managing their affairs and their relationships,' Dr. Hannah Skoda, an associate professor of medieval history in St. John's College at the UK's Oxford University, told CNN in an email. 'In this case, events dragged on for a very long time, with grudges being held, vengeance sought and emotions running high,' said Skoda, who was not involved in the research. The new clues about Forde's murder provide a window into the dynamics of medieval revenge killings, and how staging them in prestigious public spaces may have been a display of power, according to Eisner. Eisner is a cocreator and project leader of Medieval Murder Maps, an interactive digital resource that collects cases of homicide and other sudden or suspicious deaths in 14th century London, Oxford and York. Launched by Cambridge in 2018, the project translates reports from coroners' rolls — records written by medieval coroners in Latin noting the details and motives of crimes, based on the deliberation of a local jury. Jurors would listen to witnesses, examine evidence and then name a suspect. In the case of Forde's murder, the coroner's roll stated that Fitzpayne and Forde had quarreled, and that she persuaded four men — her brother, two servants and a chaplain — to kill him. On that fateful evening, as the chaplain approached Forde in the street and distracted him with conversation, his accomplices struck. Fitzpayne's brother slit his throat, and the servants stabbed Forde in the belly. Only one of the assailants, a servant named Hugh Colne, was charged in the case and imprisoned at Newgate in 1342. 'I was initially fascinated by the text in the coroner's record,' Eisner told CNN in an email, describing the events as 'a dream-like scene that we can see through hundreds of years.' The report left Eisner wanting to learn more. 'One would love to know what the members of the investigative jury discussed,' he said. 'One wonders about how and why 'Ela' convinces four men to kill a priest, and what the nature of this old quarrel between her and John Forde might have been. That's what led me to examine this further.' Eisner tracked down the archbishop's letter in a 2013 dissertation by medieval historian and author Helen Matthews. The archbishop's accusation assigned severe punishments and public penance to Fitzpayne, such as donating large sums of money to the poor, abstaining from wearing gold or precious gems, and walking in her bare feet down the length of Salisbury Cathedral toward the altar, carrying a wax candle that weighed about four pounds. She was ordered to perform this so-called walk of shame every fall for seven years. Though she seemingly defied the archbishop and never performed the penance, the humiliation 'may have triggered her thirst for revenge,' the study authors wrote. The second clue that Eisner unearthed was a decade older than the letter: a 1322 investigation of Forde and Fitzpayne by a royal commission, following a complaint filed by a French Benedictine priory near the Fitzpayne castle. The report was translated and published in 1897 but had not yet been connected to Forde's murder at that point. According to the 1322 indictment, Fitzpayne's crew — which included Forde and her husband, Sir Robert, a knight of the realm — smashed gates and buildings at the priory and stole roughly 200 sheep and lambs, 30 pigs and 18 oxen, driving them back to the castle and holding them for ransom. Eisner said he was astonished to find that Fitzpayne, her husband and Forde were mentioned in a case of cattle rustling during a time of rising political tensions with France. 'That moment was quite exciting,' he said. 'I would never have expected to see these three as members of a group involved in low-level warfare against a French Priory.' During this time in British history, city dwellers were no strangers to violence. In Oxford alone, homicide rates during the late medieval period were about 60 to 75 deaths per 100,000 people, a rate about 50 times higher than what is currently seen in English cities. One Oxford record describes 'scholars on a rampage with bows, swords, bucklers, slings and stones.' Another mentions an altercation that began as an argument in a tavern, then escalated to a mass street brawl involving blades and battle-axes. But even though medieval England was a violent period, 'this absolutely does NOT mean that people did not care about violence,' Skoda said. 'In a legal context, in a political context, and in communities more widely, people were really concerned and distressed about high levels of violence.' The Medieval Murder Maps project 'provides fascinating insights into the ways in which people carried out violence, but also into the ways in which people worried about it,' Skoda said. 'They reported, investigated and prosecuted, and really relied on law.' Fitzpayne's tangled web of adultery, extortion and assassination also reveals that despite social constraints, some women in late medieval London still had agency — especially where murder was concerned. 'Ela was not the only woman who would recruit men to kill, to help her protect her reputation,' Eisner said. 'We see a violent event that arises from a world where members of the upper classes were violence experts, willing and able to kill as a way to maintain power.' Mindy Weisberger is a science writer and media producer whose work has appeared in Live Science, Scientific American and How It Works magazine. She is the author of 'Rise of the Zombie Bugs: The Surprising Science of Parasitic Mind-Control' (Hopkins Press).
New York Post
2 hours ago
- New York Post
Gold coin collection discovered behind a wall after owner's death sells — for nearly $4 million
All in all, it was hiding behind just another brick in the wall. A collection of rare gold coins nearly lost to history after its owner passed away has fetched nearly $4 million at auction. The gilded stash had been amassed over a lifetime by numismatist Paul Narce, who lived in Castillonnès, France, until his death last year at 89, the Times of London reported. Unknown collector Paul Narce managed to amass a top-notch cache of gold coins that was only discovered after his death. Beaussant Lefèvre and Associates 'I have never seen such a major collection go on sale from the point of view of quantity and quality,' coin expert Thierry Parsy said in a statement ahead of the sale, which went down at the Beaussant Lefèvre auction house in Paris, CNN reported. 'Narce, who lived a modest life and didn't see a lot of the world, spent all of his money on his collection,' said Parsy. His rare prizes were meticulously labeled — the collection reportedly numbered more than a thousand pieces, some dating back centuries. These included pieces from the Kingdom of Macedonia, dating to 336-323 BC, and nearly complete sets of coins exchanged during the reigns of French Kings Louis XIV, Louis XV and Louis XVI — including some minted just before the latter's execution by guillotine in 1793. 'Narce, who lived a modest life and didn't see a lot of the world, spent all of his money on his collection,' said Thierry Parsy. Beaussant Lefèvre and Associates Parsy said that Narce clearly 'knew what he was buying,' which seemed unusual given that he was an unknown. In fact, the coin expert said that the treasure trove 'could have remained undiscovered forever' — had the notary in charge of the deceased's estate not heard of Narce's unique hobby from local villagers. The elderly collector had no children or heirs and had moved to a nursing home after his sister Claudette, with whom he collected the coins, passed away a year prior. Along with the aforementioned collection, they found 'masterpieces of gothic art' and ten cloth pouches, each containing 172 'Napoléons' (golden 20 franc coins) — amounting to an ingot of gold. After an extensive search of the property, the notary finally located the treasure chest — hidden behind the picture on the wall of a storage room. The coin collection went under the gavel for an eye-popping $3.8 million, far exceeding the pre-auction estimate of around $2.3 million. Meanwhile, the francs, valued at around $115,650, will be auctioned off separately. The money will reportedly go to distant cousins of Narce. Pierre Sicaud, mayor of Castillonnès, couldn't believe that the senior and his sister had amassed such an incredible collection under the radar. 'They were very polite, very modest people who lived in an ordinary house,' he explained.
