Oak Harbor Man Arrested for Killing Girlfriend's Two Cats

Kristian Rokita told police he woke to the sound of his girlfriend's cats "squealing, gagging and struggling" before finding them dead in the living room of the couple's Larkspur Drive home. A month-long investigation by the Island County Sheriff's Office told a different story.

Rokita, 25, a Navy member living in Oak Harbor, was arrested March 26 and booked into Island County Jail on two counts of first-degree animal cruelty. Deputies were assisted in the arrest by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. He was scheduled to appear in Island County Superior Court on Friday, March 27, with a court date set to determine whether he would be released on bail.

The case began February 19, when Oak Harbor Police were called to Best Friends Veterinary Clinic after two 10-month-old cats named Francisco and Mila arrived dead under suspicious circumstances. The cats belonged to Rokita's live-in girlfriend, who had called the veterinarian to report their mysterious deaths and was asked to bring the bodies in. She told police she had left for work that morning and returned to find the cats dead, and that Rokita had placed their bodies in a shoebox.

An initial veterinary examination found rolled pieces of a foil cat toy lodged in both cats' throats. The examining veterinarian described it as "highly unusual for two healthy cats to choke on the same toy at the same time."

The subsequent necropsy deepened investigators' suspicions considerably. Findings documented by the Island County Sheriff's Office included blood in the abdominal cavity and "fractures and lacerations to the liver, hemorrhages on the hearts, spleens, kidneys, lungs, and brains, all indicators of blunt force trauma." The veterinarian who performed the necropsy described the liver damage as injuries that would have had to have been caused by "high velocity or high force and directed at the abdomen, causing significant and severe damage."

Oak Harbor officers, after responding initially to the clinic call, determined the Larkspur Drive residence fell within Island County Sheriff's Office jurisdiction and transferred the case to an ICSO animal control officer. The arrest followed once the sheriff's office received the completed necropsy report. Rokita denied harming the cats when he spoke with investigators.

The Island County Sheriff's Office said the investigation remains ongoing and additional information will be released as it becomes available.