A historic haunted house became a gruesome scene Sunday when a man killed a dog with a sword.
Tooele Police Lt. Steve Swartzfager said Daniel Painter killed the chow-Labrador mix to seek revenge against his landlord at the Kirk Hotel.
Painter, 30, is in the Tooele County jail on $50,000 cash-only bail. Prosecutors charged him Tuesday with aggravated assault with a weapon, a third-degree felony, and aggravated cruelty to animals, a class A misdemeanor.
At 5:15 a.m. Sunday, Garth Jones woke to the yelping cries of his dog, Kabu.
Witnesses say Painter repeatedly stabbed Kabu in the chest area with a sword and then dragged him nearly 100 feet and placed the dog in a Dumpster, Swartzfager said. Painter was reportedly angry with Jones for evicting him.
The dog died instantly.
"Pretty bizarre, isn't it?" Swartzfager said.
Jones jumped out of bed and confronted Painter. Words were exchanged, Swartzfager said, and Painter turned the sword toward Jones.
Jones ran to his office to get away. He went into the office and slammed the door. Painter then shattered the glass with the sword, Swartzfager said.
Police arrived at the scene shortly after.
Swartzfager said he has never seen such a terrible act of animal cruelty in his years at the Tooele City Police Department.
"Here's a very upset young man and he was being evicted," Swartzfager said. "The sad thing was the dog was not aggressive at all."
Jones served Painter an eviction notice in August for failing to pay rent in July. Swartzfager said Painter was still living in the hotel the night the dog died.
The Kirk Hotel has long been rumored as the host of ghostly visitors. Curious school-age children and teams from Paranormal Ghost Research and Investigative Services have staked out the building with video cameras and electronic-field detectors.
E-mail: ldethman@desnews.com