LJ your not the only person that has been forced to deal with cat muderers. A few years ago we had a kitty murderer living on our property, a stray little female cat started hanging around our house and I fed her and she stayed, but only outside. Then maybe about a year later I noticed she was pregnate, well she had 4 kittens in the garage, then after a couple days 1 by 1 they started disappearing. I couldn't figure it out, then when there was only one left I came home, the little kitty was gone and I noticed the mother cat was swollen and sick. I started looking for rattlesnakes and found a big diamondback under the bar-b-que. he had eaten the kittys and bit the mother. I took her to the vet and she lived. The diamondback, I got my rake and raked him into a bucket and drove a couple miles and released him. Also 2 years ago I remodeled my bathroom in Rocky Point and when we removed the vanity, we had a sidewinder hibernating under it. I have no idea how he got into the house. He wasn't so lucky.
