Woman charged in dog's disappearance, death

The jury in the dognapping trial of an Allegheny County woman will resume deliberations Friday morning.

Gisele Paris, 58, of Pittsburgh, is accused of stealing a Siberian husky from a man battling cancer and having it euthanized after police came to her home. She is charged with theft, receiving stolen property, and cruelty to animals.

The dog, Thor, disappeared from the yard of Mark Boehler in November 2013 and was reportedly seen with Paris, who lives nearby, on numerous occasions.

Paris said she found the dog in a vacant lot, cared for it, and took it to Penn Animal Hospital in the Strip District. After learning it would cost more than $600 to remove growths on the dog's hindquarters, Paris called a veterinarian in February to euthanize it in her home.

In closing arguments Tuesday, Assistant District Attorney Matthew Wholey and Paris' defense attorney, Robert Mielnicki, disagreed over whether Paris' actions were malicious or misguided.

"You may find what she did was misguided," Mielnicki told the jury of six men and six women. "You wouldn't have done it. But was it malicious?"

Wholey countered: "Gisele Paris denied care to the dog and killed the dog. She did it intentionally, she did it willfully, and she did it maliciously."