Ex-KISS Star Busted on Wife-Beating Charge—but What's the Deal With the Dead Dogs?

Vinnie Vincent spends a night in the joint after a domestic dispute that has investigators trying to sort out what exactly transpired at Tennessee home

When he came up with the KISS tune "Creature of the Night," Vinnie Vincent probably wasn't thinking about himself.

The guitarist—who briefly replaced Ace Frehley in the legendary rock band in the early '80s—has been arrested in Tennessee for allegedly beating his wife in an incident that's even more bizarre for the gory scene investigators found at the couple's Tennessee home.

The faint of heart might want to avert their eyes.

According to a spokeswoman for the Rutherford County Sheriff's Department, deputies found four sealed containers with...dead dogs inside.

Zoinks!

Per the incident report, Vincent (real name Vincent Cusano) was charged with one count of aggravated assault on Saturday after his wife, Diane Cusano, turned up at the station intoxicated and covered in blood and told authorities that she and her hubby got into a nasty spat over a woman he had been talking to.

Diane claimed Vinnie told her to "get the [expletive] out of the house," a quote corroborated by a neighbor who overheard them yelling. Diane then alleged Vinnie smacked her in the face, grabbed her by the hair and threw her on the ground. Finally, she told deputies, he dragged her through a pile of glass from a broken plate that was on the floor before the two started arguing.

Cusano was taken to Middle Tennessee Medical Center in Murfreesboro, where she was treated for gashes all over her body, a bloodied nose and badly bruised forehead. She has since been released.

Now about those poor pooches.

Per the incident report, Diane told the cops that the canines "were killed by one of their aggressive dogs."

But deputies still called in Rutherford Animal Welfare officers to Casa Cusano. After investigating, they found no wrongdoing.

Vincent was taken into custody and booked into the Rutherford County Detention Center around 11:30 p.m. Saturday night and was released Sunday after posting $10,000 bond.

The guitarist is best known for his 1982-84 stint in KISS, during which he donned Ankh warrior makeup and cowrote the 1982 album Creatures of the Night, which included such hits as "Killer" and "I Love It Loud," as well as 1983's Lick It Up. He was eventually fired in a dispute over royalties.