Man kills, eats ex-girlfriend's rabbit

A Southern California man accused of killing, skinning and eating his ex-girlfriend's pet rabbit and saying he would do the same to her has been charged with cruelty to an animal and making criminal threats, prosecutors said on Wednesday.

Dimitri Diatchenko, 46, killed the rabbit belonging to his former girlfriend on Sunday after she said that they should no longer be roommates, Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Lou Holtz said in a written statement.

Diatchenko then skinned the animal, cooked it and sent step-by-step pictures of the process to his former lover and roommate, Holtz said, adding that when she returned home the defendant threatened to do the same to her.

Diatchenko, of the North Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, was charged on Tuesday with one felony count each of cruelty to an animal with a use of knife and criminal threats.

He was scheduled for an initial court appearance later this month and faces a maximum sentence of four years and eight months in prison if convicted at trial.

Prosecutors have asked that Diatchenko be held on $90,000 bail and said the case remains under investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department.

Authorities did not identify the victim.

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