An East Boston man faces sentencing on Monday for stomping a Princeton Street cat to death, then lighting its body on fire and using it to try to burn down a triple decker, the Suffolk County DA's office announced.

Luigi Epifinia, 25, was convicted by a Suffolk Superior Court jury today. He is also awaiting attempted-murder charges for allegedly attacking an acquaintance on Saratoga Street during a botched drug deal. The DA's office says they linked Epifinia to the June 13, 2007 cat killing/arson incident during their investigation of that case, in which he allegedly slashed the man, punched him in the face, then forced him into a shower and threatened him with a hot frying pan:

While in custody, Epifania made statements indicating that he had gone looking for an acquaintance who lived at the Princeton Street address and then fallen asleep on some steps when he was turned away.

Upon waking up, he saw the cat and first began to pet it. He then "lost it," he said, and began to kick and stomp on the cat. When he saw that it was dead, he put it in a bag, doused it with lighter fluid, set it aflame, and threw it into the building before running away.

The cat was named Nunu and was liked by all who knew him.