Rocker's cat cruelty trial opens with neighbor's howls of neglect

By Nate Giarnese

Busted stairs hung off the red log house on Newman Drew Road in West Ossipee. As usual, a cat was peering out a window as police trudged up the walk on Oct. 12, led by a breathless neighbor. Inside, they found one feline dead on a sofa; another deflated carcass had melted into the leather upholstery of a dark green chair. One orange tabby was keeled over dead in a cage with no food or water. Then maybe the most stomach-churning horror to confront cops raiding the rented home of punk rocker Dale Bozzio: a bloodstained leg bone of another animal police believed had been devoured by its cohorts.The feces-strewn interior was by far the most deplorable conditions I've ever seen, Ossipee police officer Bob King said on day one of Bozzio's animal cruelty trial Monday.Bozzio, 53, was once the scantily-clad lead singer for Missing Persons, a platinum blond Playboy bunny who collaborated with bright pop lights of her age, including sub-culture rock hero Frank Zappa. She has fervently denied guilt, vowing to fight 12 misdemeanor animal cruelty charges filed against her by Ossipee Police Department in District Court for Southern Carroll County. The trial in the Ossipee courthouse was put on hold until March 9, at 9 a.m., allowing county prosecutor Stephen Murray to consider dropping some of the charges. Bozzio's lawyer Dennis O'Connor attacked the wording of the charges, saying nearly identical charges failed to single out each cat that had to be put down, leaving Bozzio unable to target a defense to specifics.It's a clear double jeopardy violation, the Conway lawyer said Monday. It's the same as telling Ms. Bozzio, 'You can come to trial, but it's going to be a moving target. You'll find out as we go along.'King said police got into the house after neighbor Jaqueline Wright complained of an overpowering smell. They could stand the ammonia stench only a minute at at time, and had to step outside for breaks as 20 to 30 cats scrambled to escape, he said.In court, nearly empty save lawyers and witnesses, the one-time Hustler Magazine pinup wore a checkered jacket, black pants and boots. Her multicolored hair, laced with purple, was drawn back in black and blonde braids under a beige hair band. She was visibly upset and at times verbally contradicted a witness.Bozzio has claimed a woman had promised to watch her cats so the still-touring rocker could move to Massachusetts to care for her elderly mother, who was in the courtroom Monday.But the self-professed animal lover says the cat sitter failed to show, leaving her brood feral strays Bozzio claimed to have rescued from the woods decimated, and her a victim of circumstance.Bozzio's agent Joe Nelson in October identified the woman only as Deborah. (Dale's) totally pissed. This woman promised her, he then told The Conway Daily Sun. She's not even talking to her anymore.Outside the courtroom Monday, O'Connor and Bozzio did not identify the woman. She doesn't work for me anymore, Bozzio said.Wright, breaking up on the stand, recalled a feeding frenzy ensued when she finally carted in food for the survivors.Everywhere I looked was cat, she said.King photographed the disaster, replete with piles and piles of feces and three overflowing litter boxes, he said.He recalled the heat was turned off, the furniture was a mess and neighbors said Bozzio was gone. Absolutely not livable, he said. It was very, very cold.O'Connor said police could not identify the leg bone or glean whether it was even part of a cat.You didn't see any other animal legs, he said to King. No skull, no ribs, no other leg parts.You don't know how this particular leg bone got into the house, he demanded. O'Connor said police could not account for the origins of the droves of cats King said fled.You don't know if any of them came in out of the woods, he said.He also said King failed to follow up on Bozzio's claim about the errant cat sitter, opting not to press Bozzio for her name.You made no effort to locate this person, he said.O'Connor also said Bozzio's case, catapulted into the national spotlight because of her celebrity, was singled out by police for a publicity boost.I'm talking about a press release, you don't do that in every case, O'Connor said.Her eyes welling up with tears, Wright recalled one dead cat was physically one with a dark green leather chair. It was beyond the point of a physical dead body, bloating and de-bloating; it had become one with this chair.She said tables, chairs and floors were coated in cat feces, from four inches deep to two to three in the lowest spots.Bozzio appeared shocked by the emotion-drenched proceedings.Excuse me, Bozzio interrupted at one point as O'Connor grilled Wright. I don't even know her.Rising tensions prompted Judge Robert Varney to counsel, This is a trial, this is not a neighborhood dispute.Wright also testified somebody had apparently ferreted away cat remains pieces, parts that were in the kitchen, she said.Many things were taken out of house and thrown onto the front lawn, she said.Wright said Bozzio at a chance encounter at Wal-Mart had told her she was having a rough time and had to get out of the house by Oct. 9. She said Bozzio planned to move to Eidelweiss near Conway.Lakes Region Humane Society veterinary technician Linda Warner, who treated survivors, said she knew the cats were not wild because they did not bite and scratch rescuers.The cats weren't exactly socialized. They ran from us; they hid, she testified.Lakes Region coordinator Donna Ward said the cats had the worst case of dried blood built up as a result of flea bits she's ever seen.They were really nice cats, she added of the hungry herd.Outside the courtroom, Bozzio apologized to police who had been kept waiting for hours to testify but never got the chance. O'Connor, who had words with police chief Don Grow, warned her not to talk about the case.I'm 5 feet tall, the distraught woman said, pledging to call on Duran Duran and other rock-world associates for backup at the next hearing. I wouldn't hurt anything.