Cannibal Found Not Guilty Of Murder

A cannibal, who allegedly hacked a homeless man to death in December 2011, has been found not guilty of murder.

Tyree Lincoln Smith, 35, was branded a cannibal following the brutal death of a homeless man in Connecticut, Angel Gonzalez.

Smith allegedly murdered Gonzalez and ate his eye and brain. The decomposed body was later found on the third floor of an abandoned building where the man had been squatting – Smith’s former home.

Smith was suspected in the murder of the homeless man after relatives came forward, describing how he’d been seen covered in blood. According to an affidavit, Smith’s hands and clothing were bloody and he had a hatchet in his possession, reports the CT Post.

The cannibal killer allegedly told his cousin, who testified in court, how he murdered the homeless man in order to satiate his craving – hacking away at the man’s face and head until the victim died.

Smith collected the eyeball and brain and fled to a nearby cemetery where he devoured them – describing the eye as tasting like an oyster, according to the Daily Mail.

Shortly after the killing he would later be found not guilty for, Smith was treated and released from St. Vincent’s Medical Center’s Behavioral Health Services in Westport, Connecticut. He was discovered inside a pharmacy, bleeding from a box-cutter slashed wrist.

On January 23, 2012, Smith was detained and indicted on murder charges.

Although a three-judge panel found the cannibal not guilty of murder, Smith will likely spend the rest of his life in a mental hospital as he was deemed not guilty by reasons of insanity, reports the News-Herald.

Smith’s defense, led by Joseph Bruckmann, managed to successfully argue his plea of insanity during the murder trial, sparing him life in prison or the death penalty.

The Bridgeport cannibal couldn’t have committed murder, per se, because he was mentally ill – persistently plagued and tortured by voices, his defense argued.

Either way, the victim’s family appeared satisfied with the judgment, finding justice was still served.

Now that the cannibal has been found not guilty of murder, he will be taken to the Whiting Forensic Institute, a mental health facility in Middletown, Connecticut until his next hearing date. Smith will return to court on September 9, where psychiatrist testimony will be heard.

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