Inset: Jake Thomas Canestrini (Sweetwater County Sheriff's Office). Background: The Sweetwater County Detention Center in Rock Springs, Wyo. (Google Maps).
A Montana man is behind bars and facing substantial prison time after inflicting several days of torture on his girlfriend at her parents' house, according to law enforcement in the Cowboy State.
Jake Thomas Canestrini, 24, stands accused of one count each of kidnapping, strangulation of a household member, interference with a peace officer, and cruelty to animals, as well as three counts each of aggravated assault and battery and domestic battery, according to Sweetwater County arrest records reviewed by Law&Crime.
The ordeal began on May 30 and spanned the five days that followed, law enforcement says.
The defendant and the victim had been in a relationship for around three years when the woman's parents went out of town and left the pair alone at the parents' house in Rock Springs, a medium-sized city located roughly 260 miles west of Cheyenne.
Soon after the younger couple was alone, Canestrini repeatedly threw his girlfriend to the ground and prevented her from leaving the residence, according to an affidavit obtained by Cowboy State Daily.
"Canestrini held her on the ground for several hours and continued to hit her on the head," the affidavit reads.
The victim tried to get up and run away multiple times, but for naught, because the defendant "would yank her by the hair to keep her down," according to the charging document.
On June 2, Canestrini allegedly called his girlfriend's place of employment and told them she would not be coming to work.
As the days went by, the violence became more intense — and Canestrini issued a series of macabre threats, police said.
"I will f—ing murder you," Canestrini allegedly said while holding a knife to her throat. "I will murder your cat. I will murder your f—ing family if you get the cops involved. I will wait 20 years so I can kill you."
During one incident, the defendant allegedly used a razor blade to make cuts on his girlfriend's thighs, hips, stomach, and arm. The victim also said she was stabbed in the back and "butt cheek" with a fork.
Canestrini also repeatedly strangled the woman, police allege. Often during the strangling episodes, the woman told police she could not breathe and feared for her life.
The woman told law enforcement her attacker even once said something along the lines of how he "did not want to do this but because she was being a b— to him, she deserved the punishment," according to the affidavit.
A medical examiner's report showed the victim suffered a concussion. Other trauma noted by investigators included bruising on much of the woman's body, injuries to her face, arms, shoulders, legs, and knees, and dried blood on her lips, according to the charging document.
As for the victim's cat, Canestrini was particularly brutal, police said. The woman said Canestrini picked up the beloved pet and was "squeezing the f— out of him."
As the cat cried out in pain, the woman begged the man to stop, but instead, the defendant responded by "picking the cat up by the throat and slamming it to the floor," the affidavit alleges.
"I will treat this cat however the f— I want," the man allegedly told the woman.
Eventually, the woman escaped. The defendant was arrested on June 16.
Last week, Canestrini pleaded not guilty, Cowboy State Daily reports.
His trial is slated to begin on Nov. 2.