UPDATED: Accused Athens cat killer released from state custody

Published 6:30 am Thursday, July 4, 2019

A man arrested on 22 counts of animal cruelty 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. Last May, the DA’s office conceded Golden’s plea.

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

“Based upon ADMH’s findings, Ronald Golden was ordered to be released from Taylor Hardin and was ordered to continue his regimen of mental health treatment until such time as the matter can be set for a hearing on (his) final disposition,” Jones said in a statement.

A hearing is set for 9 a.m. Sept. 10, at which time experts from the ADMH will be present to offer testimony as to Golden’s treatment options.

“Unfortunately in our society, mental health and mental illness have gotten a lot of negative attention because of other people’s acts of random violence. This attention has created fear and distrust in our community and across our country,” Jones said. “The State of Alabama has cut the funding for mental health treatment and many mentally ill individuals within our community end up in our jails, which are not equipped to treat or manage mental illness. Ronald Golden’s case is a reminder of the problem law enforcement faces when dealing with the mentally ill. Ronald Golden’s case is also a reminder that with proper treatment, people suffering from mental illness can get better and live productive and full lives.”

About the case

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.

In a statement released Wednesday, Jones said law enforcement was unable to establish that pertinent portions of Golden’s confessions were true. Specifically, Jones said, there was no evidence of Craigslist purchases, no evidence of a torture room and no evidence of the remains of 22 cats.

Jones also explained that an expert witness called by the state was unable to positively identify any remains found were that of a cat. “Blood-like material found in the home” could also not be identified as blood from cats, Golden or “whether it was blood at all.”

Jones explained that the only evidence Golden bought the 22 cats on Craigslist and killed them in a torture room was from an unrecorded statement Golden made to an Athens police investigator. Jones added Golden made the statement after his arrest and on the day the Probate Court of Limestone County found him to be “mentally ill.”