E-FILED 2020 NOV 16 10:01 AM POLK - CLERK OF DISTRICT COURT

IN THE IOWA DISTRICT COURT FOR POLK COUNTY

STATE OF IOWA,

Plaintiff, CASE NO. AGCR338527

v.
FINDINGS OF FACT,
ROSEMARY KAY BUELOW, CONCLUSIONS OF LAW AND
VERDICT
Defendant.

The court presided over the trial on November 9-10, 2020. Thomas Tolbert, assistant

Polk County attorney represented the plaintiff, State of Iowa. Corbin Gardner represented the

defendant, Rosemary Kay Buelow. Ms. Buelow personally attended the trial. The court having

considered all of the testimony and other evidence and having heard arguments of counsel makes

the following findings of fact, conclusions and law and issues its verdict.

PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Rosemary Kay Buelow was charged in an amended trial information on September 9,

2020 with animal torture in violation of Iowa Code sections 717B.3A(1) and 717B.3A(3)(a)(1).

The charge arose out of an incident that occurred on May 24, 2020. Section 717B.3A(1)

provides:

A person is guilty of animal torture, regardless of whether the person is the owner
of the animal, if the person inflicts upon the animal severe physical pain with a
depraved or sadistic intent to cause prolonged suffering or death.

Section 717B.3A(3)(a)(1) makes the crime an aggravated misdemeanor if it is the defendant’s

first conviction.

On September 23, 2020, Buelow waived her right to a jury trial. The court on the record

accepted her waiver on September 25, 2020. On November 4, 2020 defendant filed her notice
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indicating her intent to rely on the defense of diminished responsibility. In the stipulated case

status report filed on August 21, 2020 she asserted this defense and her proposed jury

instructions filed on September 9, 2020 indicated she sought this defense.

FINDINGS OF FACT

In making the fact-findings, the court has carefully considered all of the testimony and

evidence. However, the fact-findings are not an abstract of the testimony and evidence. Thus, the

court does not discuss all of the evidence in detail, including evidence that would support a finding

that is contrary to a finding made by the court.

In finding the facts, the court reconciled the conflicting evidence. To the extent, the court

makes a fact finding about which there is conflicting evidence, the court’s finding represents either

the court’s reconciliation of the conflicting evidence or the court’s conclusion that the evidence

supporting its finding is more credible than the evidence supporting a contrary finding. It is

impossible for the court to explain every detail of its thought process and analyses of each piece

of evidence and how all of the pieces fit together to form a clear picture of the truth. However,

after the court’s consideration of all the evidence a very clear picture emerges.

On May 24, 2020, Rosemary Buelow was 21 years of age. She resided with Ryan

Johnson, her fiancé, at 2742 Fleur Drive, Des Moines, Iowa. Johnson was 38 years old at the

time. Buelow recently moved into Johnson’s apartment on April 8, 2020. At that time, Johnson

had two cats a male and the female known as Sophie. Shortly after Buelow moved in, she

brought a female cat to the residence. After Buelow introduced her female cat, Sophie became

aggressive. Her aggression was against both Buelow and Johnson but primarily directed towards

Buelow. Because of the aggression, Buelow and Johnson discussed in early May getting rid of

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Sophie. This discussion occurred in early May. While Johnson sought, a humane method of

getting Sophie out, Buelow indicated a desire to kill Sophie.

On the evening of May 23, 2020 at approximately 11:00 p.m. Buelow was bitten on the

hand or arm by Sophie in the couple’s bedroom. Johnson did not witness the attack. The attack

occurred at approximately 11:00 p.m. After the attack, Buelow indicated she wanted to kill

Sophie by stabbing her. To carry out this desire Buelow obtained a large knife from the kitchen

and told Johnson she was going to kill her. Buelow took Sophie into the bathroom and stabbed

her three times in the back, cut her shoulder causing a fractured humerus that led to surgical

intervention. She also cut the cat in her cervical area. All of the wounds required surgical

intervention by a veterinarian. Johnson was in the hallway of the apartment building when this

occurred.

Buelow came out of the bathroom and informed Johnson she had not been successful in

killing Sophie. At that time, Buelow decided to drown Sophie in the bathroom’s tub. She filled

the bathtub with about a foot of water, grabbed Sophie and attempted to drown her. When those

efforts were unsuccessful, Buelow decided to call the police and attempt to have Sophie removed

from the apartment as an aggressive animal. Prior to law enforcement’s arrival, she asked

Johnson to adopt her version of the facts.

Buelow called 911 dispatch at approximately 1:50 a.m. She informed the dispatch

operator she was attacked by a cat while in the shower. When the officers arrived, she conveyed

the same story to the officers. The officers questioned Buelow’s account that the knife was in the

bathroom prior to Sophie attacking her because she claimed she kept knives throughout the

apartment for protection. They also found Buelow’s story suspicious when she claimed the cat

attacked her in the shower when Buelow’s hair was dry and the cat was wet. It was after the

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officers separated Buelow and Johnson from each other they learned Buelow intended to kill

Sophie first by stabbing her and then by drowning her. The evidence at trial showed Buelow did

not have knives stored in various rooms of the apartment for protection and she never took a

shower that evening.

Buelow presented evidence, which demonstrated she suffered panic attacks because of

Sophie’s aggression. This occurred approximately a half dozen times prior to May 23-24.

Sophie’s aggression put a strain on the relationship between Buelow and Johnson. Buelow began

treating with Kay Foster, a licensed master social worker, in August 2019. Due to several long

abusive episodes in her life, beginning at the age of four and continuing through age 20, Foster

diagnosed Buelow with major depressive disorder, recurrent episode severe. Foster also learned

Buelow attempted suicide on several occasions. After several sessions, Foster added PTSD and

associate identity disorder to her diagnoses. Her last session with Foster was on August 6, 2020.

She saw Buelow approximately 40 times during this period.

Foster noted that at times during her sessions with Buelow she would disassociate with

her. She noticed her moods could swing from happy to angry if anything upset her. Foster

believed due to her past relationship histories and her mental health diagnoses she tends to want

to maintain relationships. When asked to opine as to how Buelow’s mental health diagnoses

might impact her decision making on May 23rd and 24th Foster indicated she could not speak to

intent but indicated Buelow would be very eager to seek approval and was easily influenced by

people around her. She believed it was likely that if Buelow were in a relationship with someone

she would do what they asked. However, Foster stated she could not speak to the events of May

23rd-24th. Foster believed Buelow’s posttraumatic stress disorder and possibly her dissociative

identity disorder were triggered on May 24th. She thought the events surrounding what to do with

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the cat might trigger a response in her to please Johnson or trying to do what she believes he

wants her to do. She was not sure if her dissociative disorder was triggered. She testified

Buelow’s mental health issues impacted her impulse control or her basic critical thinking. She

believed there was a reasonable possibility that Buelow’s mental health disorders limited her

capacity to form an evil or depraved intent.

CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

The primary issue for the court is whether Buelow when she stabbed and attempted to

drown Sophie did so with a depraved or sadistic intent. It is the State’s burden to establish

beyond a reasonable doubt that she did.

Our court of appeals defined depraved as

(1) corrupt, (2) perverted, (3) heinous/shockingly atrocious (‘extreme wickedness,

brutality or cruelty’), (4) heinous/odious (‘hateful’), and (5) morally
horrendous/moral depravity (‘shameful wickedness’ or ‘an extreme departure
from ordinary good morals as to be shocking to the moral sense of the
community,’ or ‘an act of vileness’).1

The same court defined sadistic intent as “intent to derive pleasure from inflicting physical or

mental pain upon another person or animal.”2

The defense of diminished responsibility is a type of mental condition, which affects the

defendant’s capacity for thinking.3 It is not an absolute defense, “but is a fact which must be

considered by the court in its deliberations as to whether a particular mens rea has been proved.”4

1
State v. Meerdink, 837 N.W.2d 681 (Table), 2013 WL 3457628, *5 (Iowa Ct. App. July 10,
2013). See also State v. Menton, 871 N.W.2d 127 (Table), 2015 WL 4642513, *4 (Iowa Ct. App.
Aug. 5, 2015)
2
State v. Menton, 871 N.W.2d 127 (Table), 2015 WL 4642513, *4
3
State v. Collins, 305 N.W.2d 434, 437 (Iowa 1981) (citing 4 Yeager and Carlson, Iowa Practice
§ 7 (1979))
4
Id.
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The court finds the State proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Buelow attempted to stab

and drown Sophie, which caused severe physical pain on Sophie. In addition, the court concludes

the State established beyond a reasonable doubt that Buelow when she carried out the stabbing

and attempted drowning did so with a depraved intent. The evidence established after bitten by

Sophie she informed Johnson she intended to kill Sophie. She deliberately retrieved a knife from

the kitchen drawer to stab Sophie to death. The knife was not in the bathroom and Buelow did

not act in self-defense to thwart Sophie’s attack as she told law enforcement. Further, when her

repeated stabs of Sophie did not kill her she left the bathroom and informed Johnson she had

been unsuccessful so it was now her intent to drown Sophie. After informing Johnson of her

intentions, she went back to the bathroom and filled the bathtub with approximately a foot of

water. She then grabbed Sophie and attempted to drown her. These actions demonstrate an

extreme departure from ordinary good morals as to be shocking to the moral sense of the

community. They demonstrate extreme brutality.

The court considered Buelow’s mental health issues in its analysis. However, the court

concludes the evidence of her mental health issues does not demonstrate her ability to think and

react to Sophie’s earlier attack was adversely impacted. The actions of Buelow were deliberate

and calculated to bring about Sophie’s demise. Fortunately, for Sophie, Buelow was

unsuccessful in her efforts. The evidence of her mental health issues did not overcome the State’s

proof of Buelow’s depraved intent to inflict serious and severe physical pain on Sophie during

her attempt to kill Sophie.

VERDICT

The court finds Buelow guilty of animal torture in violation of Iowa Code sections

717B.3A(1) and 717B.3A(3)(a)(1).

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IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED sentencing is scheduled for January 7, 2021 at 9:00

a.m. in courtroom 209A of the Polk County Historic Courthouse.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED pursuant to Iowa Code section 901.2(2)(c) that a

presentence investigation report shall be completed and provided to the court by January 4, 2021.

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State of Iowa Courts

Type: OTHER ORDER

Case Number Case Title

AGCR338527 STATE VS ROSEMARY KAY BUELOW

So Ordered

Electronically signed on 2020-11-16 10:01:50 page 8 of 8