A North Carolina man has been arrested and jailed for the disturbing killing of a family’s dog after allegedly stabbing it repeatedly while its owner was playing pickleball.
Liesbeth Mackie had left her dog, 11-year-old Beignet, on a leash in the shade a few feet away from where she was playing the popular game at Weaver Park.
She’d heard a man yelling angrily to himself earlier but ignored it until minutes later when she saw him attacking her pooch.
James Wesley Henry, 43, walked up to the dog, grabbed it by the throat and used a knife to stab her several times, according to police.
‘The guy killed the dog with a knife, basically eviscerating it,’ Asheville Police Capt. Michael Lamb said.
James Wesley Henry, a North Carolina man, has been arrested and jailed for the disturbing killing of a nearby family’s dog by stabbing it repeatedly while its’ owner was playing pickleball
Liesbeth Mackie brought her dog, 11-year-old Beignet (pictured), with her and put her on a leash in the shade a few feet away from where she was playing the popular game at Weaver Park
Mackie’s pickleball partner Eric Hulin described the brutal killing.
‘All of a sudden, I noticed that there was some commotion happening with her dog,’ he said.
‘I saw the attacker, definitely with all of his strength – with what I thought at the time was a closed fist – slamming on the dog, really.’
Hulin said Beignet was ‘covered in blood’ as he watched the poor dog’s last movements.
Henry dropped the knife and tried to walk away without being noticed, Hulin said. The pickleball players were attempting to follow him safely.
Eventually, police arrived and Henry immediately surrendered, according to the Asheville Watchdog.
Mackie said that the family is still grieving heavily over the senseless death of their beloved pet.
‘My three children, husband and I are devastated,’ she told News 13. ‘This happened in broad daylight at Weaver Park.’
She had heard a man yelling angrily to himself but ignored it until minutes later when she saw him attacking the pooch
Mackie said that the family is still grieving heavily over the senseless death of their beloved pet
Henry, 43, had walked up to the dog and used a knife to stab her several times, according to police
‘My fellow players were just a few feet away, which apparently didn’t scare off Beignet’s assailant.’
She and her husband Tom Mackie believe their dog’s murder is a sign that Asheville has a crime problem.
‘Asheville is no longer safe,’ Tom said. ‘The way our dog was savagely murdered, it could have been my wife. It could have been a kid. The crime in Asheville is spreading out like a cancer.’
‘It’s so random — that’s when it becomes scary,’ Liesbeth Mackie added. ‘Are we still safe to bring our dogs to pickleball?’
Henry has been detained in the Buncombe County Detention Facility on $10,000 bond.
