Former Union County Man Who Killed 19 Cats May be Doing It Again, Terrified Neighbors Say

By Carly Baldwin (Patch Staff)

CLARK, NJ — A former Union County man who confessed to torturing and killing 19 cats when he lived in Aberdeen Township may be doing it again now that he moved to Dover, Delaware, terrified neighbors are telling NJ.com in this special report.

In 2008, Anthony Appolonia, then 50, was sentenced to five years in prison for killing 19 cats. He would get most of the kittens and cats off Craigslist or from newspaper ads, answering "free to a good home" ads. Once he had the cats, he would stomp on them, or throw them against walls, Monmouth County prosecutors said. He would make them suffer for hours with head injuries and broken bones before drowning them in the toilet or bathtub.

Appolonia — who confessed in 2007 to torturing the cats and said he did it because he was out of work for a month, had no social life, and was fighting with his brother, Colts Neck resident Stephen Appolonia — was sentenced to five years in prison, the harshest animal cruelty punishment in New Jersey history. He was released in November 2012, having spent four years in prison and a year in the Monmouth County jail prior to his sentencing. After his release, Appolonia was forbidden from owning any animals and cannot be in the presence of kittens or cats without being supervised.

He has previously lived in Union Township, Berkeley Heights, Chatham, Clark, Colts Neck and Lavallette, an NJ.com reporter learned.

But now that Appolonia has relocated to Dover, Delaware, four people in that state say they think he might be back to killing cats again. Using his own name and various aliases, Appolonia is again going on Craiglist and responding to "free to a good home" ads; he took in five cats in the past 10 months, those who unwittingly gave him their pets told NJ Advance Media. After Googling Appolonia, and learning what he confessed to in New Jersey, those people said they tried to call him repeatedly and get the animals back. The cats are nowhere to be found.

They are likely dead, the owners said.

"I texted him and said I heard all this stuff about you. I just wanted to make sure our cat was OK, and he started yelling at me in a text back. He said, 'I don't know who you think you're talking to. Don't text me or call me again!'" said Heather White, 25, who gave Appolonia her two-year-old cat last year because he was acting aggressive towards her new baby.

Appolonia was interviewed by NJ.com and told the reporter he's being framed by animal activists who are making up lies about him. He also said it's been hard to date in Delaware, as many women are cat lovers.

"I'm not doing it anymore," he reportedly said.

However, the people who gave him their cats don't know each other. Mark Tobin, chief of the Delaware Office of Animal Welfare enforcement bureau, confirmed that Appolonia has been under investigation since January of 2016, when the agency started receiving "a ton" of complaints about him. But he also said the investigation has been slowed down because the chief investigator was seriously injured on the job, and has been out for several months.

"We are actively trying to collect evidence — evidence that will result in a conviction in this case," Tobin told NJ.com. "We are doing everything possible to get this accomplished."

Read NJ.com's full story on Anthony Appolonia.