Cat Serial Killer

from the Columbus Dispatch

Investigators say that a woman who confessed to killing 650 cats and dogs is expected to return to Columbus to face criminal charges. Maureen McLaughlin, 56, apparently had checked herself into a mental-health facility in the Mansfield area by the time authorities went to her apartment. Social workers have diagnosed her with bipolar disorder.

Investigators say that McLaughlin has described drowning hundreds of cats in a large trash can filled with water. She told investigators that she got the cats from neighborhood animal shelters and killed them because she didn't want them to languish in the animal-welfare system.

McLaughlin has been charged so far with one count of animal cruelty.