Accused San Jose Cat Killer Arraigned, Police Ask for Tips

San Jose police caught a suspected cat killer but need the public’s help in identifying more victims.

SJPD arrested 24-year-old Robert Farmer last week after a string of cat deaths and disappearances throughout San Jose. On Oct. 8, cops found him asleep in his car with a cat carcass in a Home Depot parking lot.

SJI Catnapper Resized

Robert Farmer

Farmer, the son of a retired San Jose Police Department captain, matched the description of a man recorded on a home security camera stealing a cat named GoGo late last month.

Residents in the Cambrian neighborhood said several cats have gone missing or been found dead.

Farmer was arraigned Tuesday on charges of felony animal cruelty and misdemeanor battery, according to CBS 5.

Residents in the Blossom Valley neighborhood also suspect Farmer may have had a role in recently missing cats.

Anyone with information about the case can call the SJPD assaults unit at 408.277.4161 or contact the Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers at 408.947.7867 or www.svcrimestoppers.org.

Residents in Blossom Valley believe the suspected cat killer

This cat also recently went missing in Blossom Valley.

This cat also recently went missing in Blossom Valley.

46 Comments

  1. There is no excuse for cruelty to animals. That said, assigning one or more of our precious few cops to track down additional incidents by the sick-o Mr. Farmer is a ridiculous waste of limited police resources. They already have the guy on enough charges to put him away for quite a while. We need what few cops we have to track down robbers, rapists, and killers.

    • Precious few cops? That’s the last thing I would expect anyone to whine about. Wow, I’m almost speechless. There’s far too many cops out there killing/abusing people and generally not doing their job. Reality is, there’s way too many cops with nothing better to do than harass law-abiding citizens so they can make their monthly quota. We wouldn’t actually expect them to do anything useful, like solving an actual crime, now would we? That might endanger their ability to bully and commit crimes against hard working people. Cops notoriously shoot animals like they are woth nothing. Killing animals, especially cats, is as bad as killing humans. Period. Go ahead, try and kill my cat. You will not succeed so easily. The cat killer needs the death penalty. Anything less is not justice. You sir, are worth far less than any alley cat on this earth. I would risk my self to save any of their precious lives, far more precious than bottom feeder scum like you.

      • Dude really take your meds please… While youre at it please go to another country where things are so much better and you wont be bothered by the establishment. You dig? Fool

  2. There is no excuse for cruelty to animals. That said, assigning one or more of our precious few cops to track down additional incidents by the sick-o Mr. Farmer is a ridiculous waste of limited police resources. They already have the guy on enough charges to put him away for quite a while. We need what few cops we have to track down robbers, rapists, and killers, not missing cats.

    • No, John, it is not ridiculous. Sadistic animal abuse is a common thread with rapists, arsonists, and sexual crimes against children. It is often their first step down a road leading up to more horrific crimes. The more charges that can be proved, the longer he will be in jail and or prison, and not graduating up from just killing cats.

      • Yeah, and smoking pot inevitably leads to heroin use and watching porn is the first step to becoming a sexual predator. You can waste all the time in the world looking for more counts, but it will all be plead down to a guilty plea on one count by the PD & DA.

        • Your analogy doesn’t work because many people smoke weed and/or view porn, but few (thankfully) violently abuse, mutilate and kill animals. People with a sadistic drive to harm animals like this are not safe to be in the community, because they DO also harm people. As for the resources of our limited police force, they’re not going door to door looking for leads on cats, they’re investigating other crimes until they are given something solid to follow up on.

          • I guess my sarcasm didn’t penetrate the cat dander encasing your brain.

        • John, you are unfortunately ignorant judging by your flippant remarks. Please educate yourself by reading scholarly articles easily available on the internet by the FBI of the connection between those who torture pets and graduate to commit horrific crimes. Although you do not think it is a big deal to kidnap, torture and kill a family pet, it really is. This is just practice. Hopefully you are more educated in whatever field of law you practice.

          • When we are so low on cops, I am convinced that spending a lot of cop time just trying to find more counts to charge this sick-o when we already have him is not even nearly as important as spending time investigating battery, rape, robbery, murder, etc. of PEOPLE. It’s a matter of priorities. No matter how many more dead cats they uncover, he’ll end up pleading to one count, with the other counts dismissed. They have enough to convict him, so he’ll plead. Sure, cat lives matter; but not as much as peoples’ lives matter.

    • The next step for a serial cat killer is a serial people killer. He is just testing the waters with cats, but will soon get bored and move on to larger more challenging targets, like us, if he is not stopped. That is why the use of police resources are warranted, and why the case should not be pleaded down.

      Sleeping in a car with a dead cat may soon be sleeping in a car with a dead body in the trunk.

      • Tom,

        I seem to recall that Jeffrey Dahmer was a cat killer. Moved on to killing lots of people. Other serial killers did similar things to animals.

        I hope this guy gets many years behind bars, in a tiny cell with with a 6’4″, 275 lb cat lover.

      • Tom you are so right. A high percent of serial killers start with small animals…especially cats.
        No the cops are not going door to door. Through public media they get tips and have gotten tips that have added to the counts against Farmer.
        I think Mr O’Connor needs to look beyond the end of his nose. Getting enough evidence against this guy will be him away longer. In the long run the cops could be saving human lives. I have to believe if the cops did nothing, as Mr O’Connor thinks, and down the road a person was murdered he would be the first to accuse the cops of not doing their job when the cats were being killed.
        I hope this evil person goes to prison and bunks with a cat lover.

  3. So what was the outcome of the arraignment? Guilty? Not Guilty? No Contest? How can such an important detail be left out? Is he in the protective custody unit at the jail? Have to wonder about this kids upbringing. Sure, sometimes psychopaths are just “Born out of thin air” but more times than not, they’re born out of years of abuse. After years of being made to feel powerless by their abusers, they often time prey on things unable to fight back.

    If he was made into the monster he is, we should all say a prayer for the guy. I own cats, and it makes me sad what he did, but why? What made him this way? I’d say my paragraph above is close to the truth.

  4. R M Cortese,

    To attribute parental mistreatment as the cause of this young man’s bizarre behavior is to suggest abuse of a felonious nature, as mistreatment of a lesser degree is far too commonly experienced to be responsible for producing so uncommon a behavior. Is that really what you want to do? Could such an allegation be, in any way, fair to the young man’s parents? I certainly don’t think so.

    The far-fetched notion that parental abuse causes psychopathic behavior — a notion that has served well the charlatans in the blank slate industry, is in its death throes thanks to advancements in brain imaging, gene research, and other evidence-based disciplines. But not in time to spare generations of loving and caring parents inhumanly duped by arrogant “professionals” into holding themselves responsible for the unpredictable and abnormal behavior of their obviously disturbed offspring.

    Without knowing anything about this young man or his family I feel it is only to fair to assume that his problem is his brain, not his parents, and that if there is, in fact, blame to be shared, it will be revealed during his trial.

    • You’re right, we won’t know until the trial (and even then we might not know), but don’t act surprised if it does come out, and it turns out he’s a product of his environment.

      A lot of times the easiest explanation is the right one.

      • RMC,

        Nonsense. That’s just a convenient excuse. What about the (probably countless) other folks who are just the same — but who control their impulses?

        Your excuse is like giving a bank robber a pass. Maybe I dream about robbing banks, but I don’t, because of the heavy consequences. But if I saw someone rob a bank and then just get a slap on the wrist, I’d probably think about bank robbery a lot more often. And you know what thinking leads to…

        So saying that Mr. Farmer is a product of his environment is just enabling his behavior. Apologizing for it. Excusing it. One of the biggest problems with our society is allowing bad behavior to be explained away. (“Your honor, he may have killed his parents… but have mercy, he’s an orphan!”)

        There are always excuses, aren’t there? And the guiltier the perp, the faster the excuses flow out of their mouths (or their lawyer’s mouth). Just look at the Islamists… on second thought; don’t. They’ll scream that you’re discriminating, and it’s all your fault, and the government’s fault. And Israel’s fault, ad nauseum. Everything is someone else’s fault for perps. Is this guy any different? We’ll see if he mans up. But don’t hold your breath.

        If Farmer is convicted the judge needs to set an example for anyone else who might have similar inclinations. A dozen or more years behind bars isn’t too much. This guy is probably hoping and praying for someone like you to be the judge in this case. He’s damn lucky it isn’t me.

        (And for dog lovers, just consider how you would feel if your favorite dog was killed by this jerk.)

    • Who investigatedand ultimately arrested this guy?

      It wasn’t all of the Internet Tough Guys and Gals who are flooding article comment sections with calls to lynch, stone, castrate and otherwise made too suffer in the same.manner that the cats did.

      Think before you ask a question like this !

      • Mr. Weed,

        Umm-m… didn’t read the article, did you? Click on the link.

        He was caught on a security camera, catching the cat. The cat was fine at that point.

        And the guy is the son of a police captain. Ya think he should have known better? You think he should know right from wrong? Or maybe you just don’t have a problem with his behavior.

        No one has ‘flooded the comments’ saying they want this guy ‘lynched, stoned, or castrated’, or for the death penalty, as you clearly implied. No one said any of those things.

        You are the one who isn’t thinking. Why are you apologizing for Mr. Farmer’s rotten behavior? That’s just being an enabler.

        You misrepresented the comments here for some reason. Hey, maybe you fantasize about the same thing, huh?

        • No one has called for or suggested anything I mentioned? Maybe not on SJI but I didn’t say SJI. Check out the comments section on the Merc articles on this subject. …or the Willow Glen Charm Facebook page …. or the Nextdoor site…

          Where did I condone.enable or apologize for farmer? Who is misrepresenting moment here besides you?

          I merely pointed out in a way that wasn’t plainly obvious that SJPD appears to be conducting itself in the fair and impartial manner that it is known for.

          I accept your apology in advance.

          • M. Weed says:

            Maybe not on SJI but I didn’t say SJI.

            I’m not on Facebook. I never heard of “Willow Glen Charm”. I’m not a mind reader, either, and you never said you were referring to those blogs.

            Also, the question was a very good one:

            Is SJPD going to be impartial in this investigation, considering the suspect is the offspring of one of their own?

            But I’ll apologize anyway. I’m sorry for taking you seriously.

        • Well Smokey maybe you should get on Facebook and join the Willow Glen Charm page… based on your comments on this thread where you thoughoughly fabricate and assert views I do not hold and in no way could be divine from my original post… you would fit right in.

          • M. Weed,

            I only commented on the words you wrote, after I copied and pasted them, verbatim.

            Now explain how that can be construed as asserting:

            views I do not hold and in no way could be divine from my original post.

            See? I did it again. ☺

      • Sorry I didn’t answer my own question… SJPD conducted the investigation and made the arrest. It apparently did matter that the kid was the son of a cop now did it?

        • He thinks the video solved the crime. Foolish comments are a dime a dozen…. Its funny how cubicle dwellers arent told how to do their job by cops yet the fluorescent lighting must do something to their reasoning. Yes SJPD had to conduct surveillance and even dedicated extra detectives to this case, in light of the other heavy case loads currently working. Some of these clowns need a tour up in SAIU and see where the really sick individuals cases are worked. I would say that the PD went all out to catch this guy. His dad being retired is beyond irrelevant but as we all know dirty laundry sells news, makes ratings and stirs the emotions of the uneducated under thinking masses…. Basically the voting populous of Sam Jose

      • Here is some required reading on the investigation that the professionals at SJPD.

        http://www.sjpd.org/BOI/DetectiveDiaries/

        It’s interesting to note that an anonymous person went to the news media with pertinent information that resurrected the case. It is also interesting to note that people who had their cats victimized by Farmer or witnessed cats victimized by Farmer or had a hunch that Farmer was involved were so fearful of him that they refused to name themselves or actively assist the case further other than to provide anonymous tips…

        It’s a good thing that the police where not deterred by any fear of Farmer real or imagined and it sure doesn’t sound like Farmers parentage was a factor in the police decision to follow up and make an arrest.

        I wonder how many of those anonymous tipsters were persons I was referring to in the original post defending SJPD? The ones calling for all cat people to unit and extract their vision of justice from Farmer once SJPD had done it’s job …. following up on anonymous tips… zooming in on Farmer… arresting him on unrelated charges… and then digging deeper into his activities and living quarters and finding evidence that he was more than a person of interest.

        That’s what police do. That’s what SJPD does… undeterred like the anonymous tipsters who were so many “afraid of Farmer and his bizarre behavior…”
        It’s WHT the police do when your peace is interrupted by your neighbors loud TV and you’re too afraid to ask you neighbor to turn it down… it’s what police do when you call and say you’re crazy landlords ex lover is over at the house shooting his gun looking for the landlords hubby… it’s what the police do when planes fly into buildings… it’s who will respond first when you are cowering and ISIS is killing your wife, kids and cats and your next!

        Some of you talk tough…the police are tough. Deal with it.

  5. I wonder, given that this is a sanctuary city, in a sanctuary county, in a sanctuary state, would this story even made
    page 10 if Mr Farmer had skidded in from some third world hell hole were cats and dogs a on the menu.

    Yet how many of you still have a copy of “101 Things to do with a Dead Cat”? Or given away “Road Kill Cook Book”?

    Shall we wait for Mr Obama to tell us “this could be my son”?
    40 people shot every other weekend in Chicago doesn’t raise an eyebrow on CNN.

    Given the nature of a no morals, no religion, no judgement, progressive society,why would we be surprised at all?

    Oh he’s a white kid!……………………….. Sorry start the inquisition!

  6. It appears Mr. Cortese intends to try and convict the parents of this deranged young man based on nothing more than the father’s profession and a selection of behavioral studies that allegedly support his asinine conclusion. Well, a brief examination of the references provided reveals Mr. Cortese to be as sloppy in his compiling of corroborative evidence as he is in his reasoning.

    Far from providing anything approaching evidence, his first link takes us to that stalwart of objectivity, The National Center for Women and Policing, a division of the Feminist Majority Foundation (“works for social, political and economic equality for women by using research and education to improve women’s lives”). There we find quoted not scientific, testable data, but one reference to testimony offered at a political inquiry and another to a “preliminary investigation.”

    And guess what? The “supportive evidence” of his second, fourth, and fifth links consists of nothing more than articles quoting the dubious statistics offered by the first link. As for the third link, well, let’s use the author’s own words to gauge its corroborative value: “It is not known whether police officers have a higher or lower rate of domestic violence than the general public… ”

    The very idea that 40% of police families experience domestic abuse is absurd; every bit as absurd as suggesting that this cat-killer’s actions are the result of parental abuse. Mr. Cortese has shown his true colors here: shoot from the hip without regard for fairness or accuracy, and, when challenged, offer up additional inaccuracies behind which to hide. My lord, this man is a natural for public office.

    • his first link takes us to that stalwart of objectivity, The National Center for Women and Policing, a division of the Feminist Majority Foundation

      Looks like SJI has deleted the comment.

      As far as other, personal anecdotal evidence, I can say 100% of the cops my father dated beat him up. He once dated a sheriff who’d get drunk on wine, then split his eye open with her class ring.

    • Hey I got a question for you finfan.. How is it you were able to see my comment before it was released from the moderation queue? How is it you were able to reply to it even before it hit the page?

      I think you have access to the moderation queue, and I think you’re a writer for the metro. Was a pretty blatent mistake on your part, but I took plenty of screenshots this morning for documentation. About time one of you metro writers slipped up like this. Thanks.. I had a hunch most of the “Commenters” here are just paid metro writers. You just validated my hunch. Again, thanks.

      • Of course if this was true SJI would never have published your comment so they could hide their secret, so your accusation makes little sense.

      • What? FINFAN works for the Metro? And here this whole time I thought he was Batman transmitting commentary from deep within the Bat Cave. In any event, both contentions are equally true and one is as believable as the other.

  7. The whole thing is DISGUSTING and UNACCEPTABLE!!! I dont give a crap WHAT the father did for a living EXCEPT THAT THIS DIDNT just start yesterday!! A person doesnt just start doing this, there HAD TO BE RED FLAGS BIG TIME!! Where is the accountability from the parents? They need to COWBOY UP and help their boy AND FAST!!

    • Of course the behavior is disgusting and unacceptable. And, as others have commented, these actions are often precursors and warning signs indicating a potential propensity for committing far worse crimes. However, I take issue with the comments posted by Catman2015, specifically his assertion that killing cats is exactly the same as killing humans. To my way of thinking, CM2015’s comments reflect the opposite side of the coin of moral bankruptcy that the 24 year old Farmer likely possesses. At what point in time did all animals becomes so noble and elevated that people are willing to ascribe to them the moral equivalence of a human being. Animals can be trained, but not reasoned with. They can be smart, but not intellectual. And, their primary drive in life is survival and the ongoing ability to pass on their genetic code, possessing limited capacity for true sacrifice. One example of this is that a mother polar bear, for instance, when faced with a male polar bear (much larger and more powerful) will fight to protect her cubs, but only up to a point. If she believes that she is overmatched and vulnerable, she will abandon her cubs to the male, who will eat them. Herd animals will protect their elderly and young in certain situations, but will abandon them to predators when it becomes more expedient to do so. Even the greater primates (chimps, gorillas, etc), which, arguably form sophisticated communities, will abandon their elderly (especially) and young (on occasion) when threatened by predators. Male lions, upon taking over a pride of juvenile and female lions will often drive off all the younger males sired by the previous male and kill the nursing or young cubs sired by the previous male in order to force the females into estrus, enabling him to mate with them all and pass on HIS and ONLY HIS genetics.

      In virtually every human culture, and, indeed, every first world culture, these sorts of behaviors are deemed to be immoral. We have a name for killing our children: infanticide. Arguably, the vast majority of human cultures agree that infanticide is bad. We have a name for the killing of the elderly: senicide. We form communities for mutual benefit, but we also try to set up functional systems for the protection of the vulnerable. Animals do not have the equivalent social structures, although some come somewhat close.

      As to the comments by Sheila and others, I have the following thoughts. At what point did we start holding parents accountable for the actions of children not in their physical custody at the time or who are adults committing horrific acts. How is it that so many are so willing to crucify parents for the actions of their adult (or near adult) children, or, worse, redirect culpability and guilt from the criminal or delinquent to a third party who was either uninvolved with the criminal acts or responsible for the (unenviable) task of having to deal with the criminal acts or their outcomes. Officer Darren Wilson was the victim of criminal acts, not Michael Brown. Where were the clamoring masses taking the only morally defensible positions that Michael Brown was a criminal committing the crime of assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer. And how is it that you, Sheila, and others are willing to try to hold parents or other authority figures responsible in some way or accountable for the actions of Mr. Farmer and yet so few were willing to do the same with the likes of Michael Brown or Trayvon Martin, and so many others.

      It’s no wonder that. nationally-speaking, it is getting harder and harder to recruit and hire sufficient numbers of quality police officers. As Robert Kennedy said (and, by now, it should be abundantly clear that I’m no democrat and the farthest thing from a modern liberal) “Every society gets the kind of criminal it deserves.” Too many in our society bend over backwards to infantilize the criminal and delinquent classes, rationalize their inexcusable behaviors, taking morally reprehensible and bankrupt positions and holding anyone but the criminal responsible and accountable for their destructive acts. And, more and more, they seem to expect that law enforcement officials perform basically the same thing, pursuing one, more stringent, course of action for white people, the affluent, etc. and applying much lower standards of behavior based on skin color, (lack of) affluence, or the sins of a society committed more so long ago that very comparatively few living people were actually victims of those sins.

      It is my belief that those who would be the best candidates for work in the various fields of law enforcement are less and less interested in those professions precisely because they are quite aware of the culture of moral bankruptcy, hypocrisy and indefensible ethical convolutions which have become increasingly a blight on a society which was fundamentally designed to embrace and defend real equality. And, those same people are unwilling to involve themselves in the kind of system the clamoring hordes seem to demand. Which brings me to the second half of RFK’s assertion. “What is equally true is that every community gets the kind of law enforcement it insists on.” And, more and more, it seems to me and many of those to whom I speak that too many communities – and certainly the clamoring hordes – insist that law enforcement practice the same kind of condition-based morality and indulge the moral bankruptcy hypocrisy and indefensible ethical convolutions these clamoring hordes advocate.

      So much for MLK’s dream of a truly color-blind society, judging people base, on the content of their character and ignoring all other factors.

  8. R M Cortese,

    I should’ve been more careful, especially with keen eyed regulars like you trolling the pages. It is almost scary that you were able to so quickly put two and two together and unmask me as SJI’s hater-for-hire (or racist-for-rent as some of my communist colleagues refer to me). I can only hope I don’t get canned (though the “REVENGE” tattoo on my neck and my crazed obsession with firearms may cause them to think twice about crossing me).

    Who knows if you’ll be seeing any more from me… but right now prudence dictates that I go cash my check.

  9. Unfortunately, this is not the first time we have had a Serial Killer (Human Animal) of cats or other non-human animals on the loose in San Jose. If we want Humane Humans that don’t hurt or kill animals, human and non-human, then we need to teach, expect, and require humane behavior towards all living beings. We are the custodians of this world we call Earth and need to treat all flora, fauna and other natural elements with emotional and intellectual intelligence. That said, I will state the advice I always give. KEEP YOUR CATS INSIDE!
    Contain your other companions appropriately! Do not allow your animals to walk the streets unattended. We don’t yet live in a world that is free of inhumane human animals. My sympathy to the people who have lost their companion animals to this cruel, inhumane, individual. I hope he gets the punishment he deserves. But above all, keep your animals safe by keeping them contained unless under your direct supervision. This is the best you can do for them right now. Please stay safe.

    • Dear Cat Dancer,
      Great advice, I had an indoor cat for 19 years the only time he was put out was if he did something really inhumane.
      I’m sorry about all those times I cut the lawn!

    • Culture shock. One man’s cat is another man’s cuisine. It would matter more the manner in which he killed the cats rather than that he killed them. If he tortured the animals he is a psychopath but if he simply killed cats because he hates cats then he is sick. Either way, his apparent lack of empathy toward small creatures should be evaluated and monitored.

      However, someone who hunts, as long as he eats or utilizes what he shoots, is hardly a larval stage murderer. If someone wants to see animal cruelty, visit a commercial slaughter house and witness what happens to cattle, hogs, chickens and especially veal calves or consider how many dogs and cats are killed everyday by overcrowded animal shelters, some run by the county and even the Humane Society.

      In any event, psych counseling and a “Megan’s law” type registration and tracking system would seem appropriate for this subject. Jeffrey Dahmer, Albert DeSalvo (the “Boston strangler”), David Berkowitz (the “Son of Sam”) and Carroll Edward Cole, a serial killer accused of 35 deaths, all recounted animal torture as their first violent act.

  10. look Robert farmer is a serial killer in the makings we all know that.but since this fucked up county is just that I bet he don’t do much time which is wrong!!he deserves to get the max 5 times over as many times as he killed those innocent cats and I’m sure other animals too hopefully not people.I believe he is the reason my two cats went missing sept.29 I think he was killing cats on the east side too.lots of missing pet signs around late July -sept.Robert farmer shouldnot be out on the streets.

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