Brutal Animal Crushing: Mister Ape Cruelty Case

A federal investigation led by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Jacksonville culminated this week with a guilty plea from 35-year-old Nicole Danielle Devilbiss, who admitted her role in a scheme to fund and circulate “animal crush” videos. Under federal statute, “animal crushing” involves the deliberate infliction of serious bodily harm on non-human mammals, birds, reptiles or amphibians—acts that include crushing, burning, drowning or other forms of gratuitous torture.

According to court documents, the probe began in September 2023 when HSI agents received a tip identifying an administrator of a clandestine social media chat group devoted to the abuse and killing of monkeys. Investigators discovered that group members—spread across multiple continents—exchanged hundreds of messages celebrating and arranging acts of violence against both infant and adult monkeys. Their objective: to commission, promote and share graphic videos of animal torture with paying subscribers in the United States.

To conceal their true purpose, the group repeatedly changed its name to innocuous titles, but maintained a private channel where members coordinated payments and video deliveries. Devilbiss was tied to the operation when agents traced her social media handle and online payment activity back to the group’s administrator. Between April 14, 2022, and May 23, 2023, she sent at least three separate payments via a popular online money-transfer app to co-conspirators overseas—funds that were used to stage and film the abuse of monkeys in countries including Indonesia. IP address logs confirmed that each transaction originated from Devilbiss’s home internet network in Jacksonville.

In March 2024, federal agents executed a search warrant at Devilbiss’s residence, seizing multiple electronic devices. Forensic analysis of her phones and computers revealed dozens of videos depicting the deliberate torture and killing of monkeys. These files, along with chat logs and payment records, formed the crux of the government’s evidence.

Devilbiss told investigators a group administrator called "Mister Ape," would collect payments from group members to pay for the production of monkey torture videos, which cost ranged from $100 to $230 per video. According to court documents, Devilbiss said she commented on videos depicting animal crush videos and shared "dozens" of videos showing monkeys being tortured.

Disturbing quote:

"If you're gonna nab an adult rat then get the one with a baby attached. I think most of us like to see the babies. Personally not that into seeing the older rats get messed with."