FORT MYERS, Fla. (July 28, 2026) — Robert James Luther III of Bonita Springs has been sentenced to serve the maximum sentence for beheading two cats and putting their heads in a cardboard box on a mailbox. Luther was convicted on two counts of aggravated animal cruelty and two counts of aggravated stalking following a three-day jury trial in May. On July 27, Judge Nicholas R. Thompson handed him four consecutive 5-year prison terms, with credit for 500 days served, and additionally ordered no contact with animals and to provide a DNA sample.

In Defense of Animals applauds Judge Thompson’s sentencing and the handling of the case by State Attorney Amira Fox and Assistant State Attorneys Erin Hughes and Lisney Agramonte who prosecuted. The animal advocacy nonprofit organized a petition supporting Luther’s prosecution and incarceration, which received 13,445 signatures. It was delivered to Fox’s office for presentation to the presiding judge ahead of the sentencing.

On March 13, 2025, a Bonita Springs man discovered a cardboard box on top of his mailbox containing two severed cat heads. The box was wet and smelled of gasoline. He contacted the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, which began an investigation. The homeowner and his wife had been threatened by Luther for more than a year.

The Lee County Sheriff’s Office Animal Cruelty Task Force canvassed the neighborhood. Investigators placed Luther’s van near the crime scene the morning of the discovery and identified him on car wash surveillance video, where he spent approximately three hours scrubbing his van, with a red gas can visible on top of it. The homeowner positively identified Luther from a still image of the car wash footage and his driver’s license photo.

Luther was found fishing behind a nearby business. Despite his invoking his rights and refusal to cooperate with the detectives, investigators executed search warrants on his van and phone.

Inside the van were multiple firearms including two rifles, a shotgun, a safe containing two more firearms, a pellet gun, a machete, a saw blade, dark clothing and two rolls of duct tape.

A forensic download of his phone revealed video of Luther shooting two cats in the woods the day before the crime, making graphic comments about the animals. The cats in the video matched the heads found in the box, and a firearm in the video matched one recovered from his van.

Luther was charged with two counts of aggravated animal cruelty under Florida Statute 828.12(2) and two counts of aggravated stalking F.S. 784.048(3).

The maximum penalty for each charge of aggravated animal cruelty is a 5-year prison sentence, a $5,000 fine, and/or five years of probation. Luther will serve a 10-year sentence on the animal cruelty charges alone.

In a statement posted to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page at the time of the arrest, Sheriff Carmine Marceno said, “Heinous violent acts, especially toward innocent animals, are beyond unacceptable and any offender will face severe consequences to the fullest extent of the law. The combined efforts of multiple units ensured this sick individual got locked behind bars before he could hurt anyone else.”

“We are grateful to Judge Thompson, State Attorney Fox, and Lee County law enforcement for their coordinated work to bring this animal abuser to justice. Animal abusers are a danger to all of society. Luther killed animals, filmed it and terrorized his neighbors for more than a year. Individuals who take satisfaction in causing terror and show no regard for their victims’ lives must serve strict sentences, and we are grateful that the maximum sentence was given. With Dexter’s Law now in force, Luther should also appear on Florida’s statewide animal cruelty registry, which is an important safeguard for our communities,” said In Defense of Animals Senior Campaigner Doll Stanley.

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Contact: Doll Stanley, doll@idausa.org, (662) 809-4483

In Defense of Animals is an international animal protection organization with over 250,000 supporters defending animals, the environment, and their guardians, through education and campaigns, as well as hands-on rescue facilities in India, South Korea, California, and rural Mississippi, since 1983. www.idausa.org/justice4animals

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