Accused puppy killer once found insane

MUSKEGON, Mich. (WOOD) - The man accused of beating his puppy with a hammer and then slitting her throat has been accused of a violent crime before -- one he was deemed not criminally responsible for because of a mental disorder.

Timothy Cregg, 48, was charged and institutionalized after allegedly shooting his father to death in 1983.

His father Emanuel Cregg Sr. was shot twice and bled to death. His body was found in a drainage ditch.

Cregg was originally deemed incompetent for trial. It was almost a year before he went to trial for the murder of his father. In 1984, a judge ruled that Cregg was not guilty of the crime by reason of insanity.

Cregg then spent 19 years in a psychiatric institution and was released in 2003.

He was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia around the time of the crime. He told counselors that he heard voices and occasionally had hallucinations.

Cregg does not otherwise have a criminal record.

The dog he is accused of abusing had to be euthanized because of the severity of its injuries.