Patrick Zane Thompson (R) told his wife (L) and four children he needed to sacrifice a male - and rather than choose himself or his 6-year-old son, he selected the dog.
When police arrived at the home in Goodyear, Ariz., they found a large barbecue smoker parked outside and a 42-year-old man lying on the sidewalk, a self-inflicted gash marking his arm.
He spoke erratically, according to police, saying he had to "do it for God" and that the "Devil made him do it."
It, authorities soon learned, was an alleged sacrificial burning of the family dog - a small, white poodle - inside his meat smoker after the man became enraged over a t-shirt belonging to his teenage daughter that he felt might be satanic, the Arizona Republic reported.
The man, Patrick Zane Thompson - a former Arizona State University football player, father of four, husband and owner of the Raging Cajun Smoking BBQ business - was arrested on charges of animal cruelty, assault, threats against his family and tampering with evidence, according to the Associated Press.
After allegedly burning his daughter's t-shirt in the smoker while she watched, Thompson grew more erratic, reported KPHO TV, and told his wife and four children he needed to sacrifice a male - and rather than choose himself or his 6-year-old son, he selected the dog.
Though his family pleaded with him not to harm the poodle, the TV station reported, Thompson allegedly snapped the pet's neck and strangled it "until it could not breathe."
Then, documents allege he tossed the dog in the barbecue smoker. Thompson later told police he was compelled to put the dog in a "lake of fire," KPHO TV reported.
Police did not explicitly say what brought on Thompson's alleged bizarre and gruesome behavior, but court documents indicate that the man allegedly told officers he had smoked pot earlier that day and had an "episode." According to the TV station, Thompson told police he had a vision something bad would happen to his family and that the "Lord was going to kill him for what he had done."
After his arrest, several statements from various family members were posted to the barbecue business's Facebook page, then later deleted after outraged commenters lambasted them for standing behind Thompson.
One post asked for the community to give the family space, insinuating that Thompson suffered from a mental break brought on by stress:
"At this time we ask you to please keep the negative comments to yourself in light of his family who are seeing your comments and reviews. Pat is suffering from a deeply mental problem from being over stressed from the business. His family is grieving from this and we ask that you please give his family some peace."
Another post, signed by someone identifying herself as Thompson's "Oldest Daughter," asked people not to judge him from his recent actions. "Don't let this situation change how you feel about him, he's a good man has a caring attitude, good husband, and loving father etc.," the post said. "God has all this in his hands."
Thompson was being held on $20,000 bond at the Maricopa County jail, the Republic reported. There were no media reports that Thompson is represented by a lawyer at this point.
The Arizona man isn't the first to cite marijuana as the cause of an apparent psychotic break that ended in handcuffs. Experts on how weed affects the brain agree the drug can bring on a bout of psychosis in some people, but they're divided on how long those episodes can last and whether marijuana use predisposes people to permanently develop schizophrenia.
"You can have a psychotic episode from the use of marijuana without it turning into schizophrenia," Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute for Drug Abuse at the National Institutes for Health, told NPR last year. "It's very distressing, but you'll get out of it."
Studies have shown there is a possible correlation between early exposure to marijuana and the development of psychosis and psychotic disorders, including schizophrenia.
Where it could matter most, and where it has already appeared, is in court.
The defendant in the "American Sniper" murder trial, Eddie Ray Routh, was found guilty of murder despite his plea of not-guilty by reason of insanity. Prosecutors argued his deadly behavior was brought on not by schizophrenia, but weed. They called it "marijuana psychosis," NPR reported.
Earlier this month, a Colorado family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against a recreational marijuana manufacturer and store that made and sold a weed-laced candy to Richard Kirk, a man awaiting trial on charges he shot his wife to death after consuming the treat. The lawsuit, according to the Denver Post, claims the manufacturer and store failed to properly warn Kirk of the candy's potency and possible side effects, including hallucinations and psychotic episodes.
The Denver Post reported that Kirk changed his plea of not guilty to not guilty by reason of insanity, citing court motions filed in his case that suggested his attorneys would argue "cannabis intoxication" played a role in the shooting.
© 2016 The Washington Post
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)