Partner of woman killed by dogs recently saved neighbor wounded in similar attack: court records

Florida woman mauled in dog attack

Video shows dogs attack Jodi Cowan in Florida on May 19. Cowan died after the attack, and the dogs’ owner, Linda Cutler, was arrested. (Courtesy of Dominica Midkiff)

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New details have emerged about past allegations involving a Florida woman's dogs that police say mauled a neighbor to death.

And in a bizarre twist, a criminal investigation has been opened after three dogs were found dead at the travel trailer where mauling victim Jodi Cowan was living at the time of the fatal attack.

Deputies responded to a call on June 11 about a bad smell at the residence, said Tod Goodyear, public information officer of the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office.

The "case is ongoing awaiting an examination of the dogs to determine the cause of death," Goodyear said. "Charges would depend on the outcome of the necropsies and the cause of death. The residence was under the control of the boyfriend of Cowan."

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Linda Cutler was arrested after her dogs allegedly killed Jodi Cowan. (Brevard County Sheriff's Office; Dominica Midkiff)

Before that, more surprising details were revealed in court documents obtained by Fox News Digital about the May 19 dog attack that led to Cowan’s death.

The year-old littermates caught on camera attacking Cowan had attacked others and had shown aggression toward their owner, Linda Cutler, Brevard County Court records show.

Cutler, 29, has been charged with manslaughter and is held without bond in the Brevard County Jail.

Her arrest came eight days after her 50-year-old neighbor, Cowan, was fatally wounded while walking her own little dog on their street. That dog was not one of the dogs found dead at her residence, Goodyear said.

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It was nearly 2 a.m. on May 19 when Cowan’s partner of 30 years heard her cries for help outside their home.

He sprinted through the dark to save her. And wielding a knife at the still-attacking dogs, Donnell Smith frantically called 911 and tried to stop the bleeding from Cowan’s neck, court records show.

The dogs snarled and snapped as Smith begged for help during the eight-minute call. Cowan could be heard in the background saying, "I’m dying. Can’t breathe."

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Smith told the 911 operator that the dogs had "ripped out" her throat.

A medical helicopter raced Cowan to a trauma center. Her wounds included a severed carotid artery and jugular vein, court records show.

But the brutal attack on his girlfriend wasn’t the first time Smith had tried to stop the two pit-bull-and-Catahoua-leopard-mix dogs from savaging someone, according to an affidavit for an arrest warrant filed with the court.

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On April 14, before the attack on Cowan, the same two dogs, Max and Mako, attacked fellow neighbor John Argila, according to the affidavit.

Florida pit bulls Mako and Max mauled Jodi Cowan to death, the Brevard County Sheriff's Office said. (Brevard County Sheriff's Office)

During the investigation into Cowan’s death, Smith told deputies that he "helped get the dogs off" Argila. Later, he said, he told Cutler about her dogs’ behavior, the affidavit shows.

Argila told investigators he’d been walking down the road near Blue Bonnet Drive a little after 10 p.m., talking on the phone and pushing his bike that had a flat tire, when he saw Max and Mako.

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He yelled at them to go home. Usually, he told deputies with the Brevard County Sheriff ’s Office, yelling at them was enough to send the dogs—who escaped their yard daily—back within their four-foot, chain-link fence, the report shows.

But this time, they charged.

Argila said he tried to use his bike as a barrier, but the dogs managed to bite him on his arms. Three other dogs raced up, but didn’t bite him, he told deputies.

Then, a passing driver pulled up and yelled at him to get into the vehicle, allowing him to escape, Argila told deputies. An ambulance took him to a local hospital for treatment for dog bites, the affidavit shows.

Deputies noted seeing healing puncture wounds on Argila’s arms.

Exactly five weeks later, the same two dogs attacked Cowan. Her cause of death according to the medical examiner: multiple dog bites .

Linda Cutler was arrested after her pit bulls allegedly ran from her Cocoa, Florida, home and mauled a neighbor to death. (Brevard County Sheriff's Office)

History of aggression

After the deadly attack, a veterinarian at the sheriff’s office Animal Care Center examined Max and Mako. She found no signs of abuse or neglect, the affidavit shows.

Both dogs exhibited "Littermate Syndrome," which "occurs when two pu…