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As I walked up to the apartment building where a man threw a 6-month-old kitten against a wall during a fight with his girlfriend, I couldn't shake the feeling that I had been there before. The address didn't seem familiar, but when you've covered as many crime stories as I have over the years, sometimes they start to blend together.

When I approached the man's girlfriend for an interview,  she told me she couldn't talk to us in the apartment, because the caretaker didn't want any more negative publicity. 

She went on to say that the woman who used to rent her apartment had gotten in trouble for locking her kids in their room at night...  using a bungee chord.

"THAT'S why I remember this apartment building! I HAD been here before!"

The story in question happened back in January, when the caretaker found the previous tennant's 4-year-old daughter wandering around the parking lot in sub zero weather -not wearing any shoes or a coat.  Inside, police found a bungee chord tying the children's bedroom door shut and  the bedroom walls smeared with feces and the girl's 2-year-old brother crying in a urine soaked diaper.

I remember the story not only because of the horrific details, but also because some of my friends wondered how I could keep doing this job when I have to report such disturbing stories.

I remember being contacted by the children's foster father in Blue Earth County who told me the boy and girl had been neglected practically since they were born but that the mother had fought to regain custody of them, only to do this.

I remember thinking that the kids seemed to have no chance at a decent life being shuffled between foster homes and a mother who cared more about her own wellbeing than her kids.

The woman who now lives in the apartment told me that the bedroom in question had a new tile floor because the carpet that was there before had to be ripped out. She also said she was going to move out soon because she thinks the apartment is cursed.

And given that she's 6 months pregnant and seems prepared to take the Kitten Killer back into her life.. I might have to agree.

Maury Glover, reporter