By Samantha Murphy
Court TV 

Two women admit guilt in drowning of boyfriend's pet dachshund

One of the pair pleaded guilty Wednesday to animal cruelty and conspiracy to commit burglary charges. Shannon Walters, 34, faces a maximum up to four years in prison when she is sentenced Nov. 20.

Walters admitted to helping her friend, Erin Wylie, 28, plot the demise of Wylie's 2-year-old dog, Dewey. Wylie had complained that her boyfriend, Patrick Collins, paid too much attention to his pet.

"Shannon was close friends with Erin and she did this just to help her out," Walters' defense lawyer, Philip Desfosses, said. "It was Erin's idea. She never met Mr. Collins or the dog."

Wylie was sentenced to 12 months in prison Sept. 28 on the same charges. During her court sentencing, she said her motive was "petty jealousy."

Shannon Walters pleaded guilty in mini-dachshund Dewey's death.

On the night of May 18, 2004, Walters and Wylie broke into Collins' home in Eliot, Maine, and kidnapped the dog. While Walters acted as a lookout, Wylie stole a laptop and video camera to make the break-in look like a common burglary.

The women transported the dog to Wylie's house in Portsmouth, N.H., a border town just a few miles from Maine. According to court documents, Wylie filled her bathtub with water, and Walters held Dewey's head underneath.

The next day, Wylie e-mailed Walters, saying she had helped her boyfriend search for a dog she knew "they would never find."

"I don't feel guilty about yesterday," Wylie wrote.

The women had planned to meet at a Dairy Queen and dispose of the dog's body, but Walters' neighbor intercepted a series of e-mails disclosing details of the killing.

The neighbor, Traci York, often babysat Walters' daughter in exchange for Internet and e-mail access. The women shared an e-mail account and a password until York accused Walters of having an affair with her husband, James.

Although Walters changed her password, York allegedly installed a device on the computer to continue accessing her e-mail. On May 21, 2005, she discovered the e-mails between Wylie and Walters and contacted police.

Det. Jeffery Shisler of Maine's Kittery Police Department waited for Walters in the Dairy Queen parking lot and searched her truck after she arrived.

"The defendant became nervous and asked the detective what he was looking for," court documents state. "He told her he was looking for a dead dog."

Walters then pointed to a white kitchen bag in the back of her truck.

Although Walters initially told Shisler she had found the body on the side of the road, she later admitted the dog belonged to Collins.

Wylie, who joined her friend later that evening, told police she did not like Dewey and had wished the dog were dead.

Erin Wylie was jealous of the attention her boyfriend paid to Dewey.

"Erin was very, very jealous of Dewey," Assistant County Attorney Lisa Cirulli said during Wylie's court hearing, according to The Union Leader newspaper.

At her sentencing, Wylie tearfully apologized to her boyfriend.

"I'm very sorry for what I did. I wish I could go back and undo all the hurt I caused," Wylie told Collins. "I hope there is some way you can find it in your heart to forgive me."

The killing incited outrage among local animal lovers, who petitioned prosecutors for a strict punishment.

"We are outraged by the brutal killing of Dewey, canine companion of Pat Collins," the "Justice for Dewey" campaign wrote in its petition. "We emphatically urge you to prosecute the case against Erin Wylie and Shannon Walters rigorously, and to seek the maximum possible prison sentence against the perpetrators of this vicious crime. Justice for Dewey!"