Top LA chef is accused by estranged wife of torturing and killing their two pet cats

A chef at Hollywood hotspot Horses claimed in a recent divorce filing that her husband and co-owner of the restaurant tortured and killed their cats.

Elizabeth ‘Liz’ Johnson filed for a domestic violence restraining order against Will Aghajanian in November 2022, The Los Angeles Times reported. 

She alleged that Aghajanian joked about feeding their kitten to coyotes, then witnessed him ‘violently shaking’ it, and that it died the next day. Aghajanian put the dead cat in the trash and insisted on keeping the corpse in the house,’ she wrote.

Johnson also claimed that Aghajanian’s ‘mental and psychological abuse’ kept her from realizing what he was doing to the animals before it was too late.

Aghajanian denied the horrific claims in the court filings calling them ‘false allegations.’ He then claimed he was the victim in the marriage and said Johnson repeatedly threatened to kill him and burned him at least twice with a metal spatula and a spoon she had first placed into a fryer, according to court filings.

Johnson and Aghajanian’s restaurant Horses opened in September 2021, received rave reviews and was an instant celebrity favorite

Johnson and Aghajanian’s restaurant Horses opened in September 2021, received rave reviews and was an instant celebrity favorite. 

It was on Eater LA’s ‘heatmap’ of ‘hottest new restaurants’ for months and the Los Angeles Times called it ‘a new modern L.A. institution’ and ‘the city’s most exhilarating new dining experience in the last year.’ 

But the co-chefs, who once trained at Noma in Copenhagen, which is widely lauded as the world’s best restaurant, had allegedly been at odds for years. 

Johnson filed her request for the restraining order in November 2022 to keep Aghajanian away from her because she had claimed he had physically assaulted her multiple times while they were together. 

She alleged that in 2019, Aghajanian dragged her by the legs across the floor while she screamed and attempted to resist.

The filing also alleged that Aghajanian been responsible for the deaths of both of their cats. 

‘Will and I have had cats that mysteriously ended up dying, including one in 2017 who I took to a shelter when she became seriously wounded overnight. The shelter told me she had been seriously abused, but Will denied it.’

Horses was on Eater LA’s ‘heatmap’ of ‘hottest new restaurants’ for months and the Los Angeles Times called it ‘a new modern L.A. institution’ and ‘the city’s most exhilarating new dining experience in the last year’

After the filing, both were still allowed to be in Horses after the order was filed, but Aghajanian had to stay 10 feet away from Johnson, it was ordered

Johnson and Aghajanian opened Horses in September 2021

‘I believed him. Then, last month, we were given another kitten,’ she wrote detailing how it wasn’t long before that kitten was dead too, after he had said he didn’t like it.

Johnson has also requested that Aghajanian remain 100 yards away from their dogs, Pancho, Javi and Spud, according to the filing. 

Aghajanian, who claimed he was the victim in the marriage, said in the filings that it was actually Johnson who abused their animals. 

‘She falsely accuses me of things that she has done or that she threatened to do to me and my pets,’ he wrote. ‘My pets are like children to me and I love them dearly.’

‘I am fearful of [Johnson] since I am the victim of [her] long-term abuse that has occurred throughout our relationship,’ he wrote.

The domestic violence restraining order filed by Johnson was approved and reissued it on May 1, according to court documents.

Even so, both were still allowed to be in Horses after the order was filed, but Aghajanian had to stay 10 feet away from Johnson.