Accused Athens cat killer released from state custody

Published 11:45 am Wednesday, July 3, 2019

A man arrested on 22 counts of animal cruelty charges in 2013 has been released from state custody and is again a member of society in Limestone County, records show.

Ronald Fraser Golden, 54, of Athens, was released from the Alabama Department of Mental Health custody May 30 after Circuit Judge Robert Baker signed an order. Golden received mental health treatment at Taylor Hardin Secure Medical Facility in Tuscaloosa after pleading not guilty to the charges by reason of mental disease or defect.

Treatment was ordered after the Limestone County District Attorney’s Office declined to prosecute the case in February 2018.

Baker’s order released Golden “on his own recognizance,” but stipulated he must continue follow-up care through the Athens-Limestone Mental Health Center.

“(The state) has deemed him cured,” District Attorney Brian Jones said Wednesday of Golden’s case. “He will be continually monitored by the mental health department and if he fails to do that or we have an issue, then back he goes (to Taylor Hardin).”

Golden was accused of killing 22 cats in 2013, telling Athens police investigators at the time he was mad at the world. He faced 1 to 10 years in jail on each of the Class C felony counts if he had been convicted.

Golden told investigators he bought kittens on Craigslist, the online classified advertising website, named the kittens and then killed them. He told investigators he had a “cat room” where he would throw the kittens against the floor to break their necks, stomp on them or “wring their necks,” Police Chief Floyd Johnson said.

“As far as the general public is concerned, we will always be watching Ronald Golden,” Jones said. “This is not someone who comes into the criminal justice system and then we forget about him.”