Cloned-Dog Owner Wanted In Tennessee On Burglary Charges

[Miakoda]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,404188,00.html

Cloned-Dog Owner Wanted in Tennessee on Burglary Charge

Thursday, August 14, 2008

AP

Aug. 5: Bernann McKinney holds one of the five puppies cloned from her dead pit bull, Booger, in Seoul, South Korea.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A woman who made headlines by having five pups cloned and was linked to an abduction case in England is also wanted in Tennessee on charges she tried to plan a burglary in 2004, a defense attorney and prosecutors there said.

Joyce Bernann McKinney was charged in 2004 in Carter County with criminal conspiracy to commit aggravated burglary, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and failure to appear in court, said attorney David Crockett, who represented her in the Tennessee case.

Authorities there said she instructed a 15-year-old boy to break into a house. Crockett said she needed the money to buy a false leg for a beloved horse.

Crockett said Thursday he hasn't heard from her since she skipped a court date back in early 2005, but after seeing television coverage of the cloning case, he's certain she's the same person known to the world as dog lover Bernann McKinney.

Prosecutors are reviewing charges against the 58-year-old McKinney to decide whether to pursue the case, said Melanie Widener, a county assistant district attorney.

"It'll depend on where she is now, how important the case is, how much it would cost the taxpayers and whether witnesses are still around," she said.

McKinney declined comment when reached by phone Thursday. It was not clear where McKinney was located, and Widener said she did not know her whereabouts. In a previous telephone conversation with The Associated Press McKinney refused to say where she was.

McKinney was arrested in November 2004 in Tennessee in a van with the 15-year-old, according to a Carter County Sheriff's Department arrest report.
McKinney, then living in neighboring North Carolina, needed money to help her three-legged horse, Crockett said.

"She loved it dearly," Crockett said. "She was a rather bizarre character, and seems to have a strange circumstance now."

He recalled that McKinney had two or three dogs in her car when she conferred with him about her case.

"There was a strong aroma about her, and I told her this needed to be taken care of before I went to court with her," Crockett said.

McKinney made news around the world this summer when she had five puppies cloned in South Korea from her beloved pit bull Booger.

She later confirmed she was Joyce McKinney, who in 1977 became a British tabloid sensation over a kidnapping case. She faced charges of unlawful imprisonment after she was accused of abducting a Mormon missionary in England, handcuffing him to a bed and making him her sex slave. She jumped bail and was never brought to justice.

London police have said due to the age of the case they're not seeking McKinney's extradition.

"She is bold to put herself on worldwide television," Crockett said. "She must know she's a fugitive in at least one state."

[Buddy'sParents]

Good God. She is crazy.

[Pam111]

Originally Posted by Buddy'sParents

Good God. She is crazy.

That's pretty much the only thing I can think of to say about this woman

[Gempress]

As I said before...."JERRY! JERRY! JERRY!"

[Buddy'sParents]

No, no, Gem, it's JER-RY, JER-RY! You gotta get the inflection in the middle there.

[Lilavati]

Memo to dog cloning operations:

Make sure your potential client is not wanted for rape and burglry BEFORE you clone a dog. This person will likely make international news with a dumb look on her face holding up a puppy. Not only is the welfare of the animal at stake, your business (and for that matter, dog cloning in general) will forever be associated with the Mormon-sex-knapper-burgler-beauty-queen-crazy-freak-woman.

I am aware that it likely did not occur to your PR staff and your attorneys to warn you about this ahead of time, because it probably did not occur to them that Mormon-sex-knapper-burgler-beauty-queen-crazy-freak-women possessed enough money to have their dog cloned. However, since anyone having their dog cloned, especially if they sell their house to do it, is likely to be, ah-hem, eccentric, perhaps a background check was in order.

[Megansmom]

Wow...this just keeps getting more and more bizarre!!

[Zoom]

And sadly enough, you know what I bet a lot of people will be focusing on besides the sheer nuttiness of the whole thing?

"Lookit at them there types of people who own those Pittbull dawgs..."

[Laurelin]

That woman is ****ing insane! Seriously...

[Boemy]

If this were a movie I'd be saying, "No way, the plot is too unrealistic, who would believe it?"

But it's real life and so I'm speechless.