Man who killed zoo monkey now accused of violating parole

BOISE – An Idaho man convicted for breaking into a Boise zoo in 2012 and brutally beating to death a Patas monkey is accused of violating his parole.

KTVB-TV reported that 25-year-old Michael Watkins was sentenced in 2013 to seven years in prison for killing the monkey but was released on parole in September.

He was arrested Tuesday for possession of drug paraphernalia. He pleaded guilty Wednesday and was sentenced to 90 days in jail with all but three days suspended.

The parole commission will now decide whether to revoke Watkins’ parole and send him back to prison to serve the remaining three years of his sentence in the 2012 case.

Prosecutors say Watkins was extremely intoxicated when he entered Zoo Boise after hours Nov. 18, 2012. Defense attorneys argued he never planned to hurt the monkey, and called it a drunken prank gone wrong. Watkins eventually pleaded guilty to attempted grand theft and cruelty to animals.