35-year-old Tyree Smith from Connecticut did the unthinkable and committed the most heinous crime in December 2011. He murdered his friend and then consumed his body parts. Nicknamed the ‘cannibal killer’, Smith pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity during the proceedings of the case.
He killed his friend Angel ‘Tun Tun’ Gonzalez using a hatchet and then ate his brain and eyeballs. The severely mutilated body of the victim was discovered by the authorities inside an abandoned apartment in Bridgeport, almost a month later, in January. This was the exact place where Tyree Smith had lived as a child.
Adding on to the horrific nature of the barbaric crime, Smith’s cousin Nicole Rabb testified that the culprit had visited her just a day before committing the misdeed. She revealed how Tyree ranted about ‘getting blood on his hand’ and spoke vividly about Greek gods. The next day, after actually killing Gonzalez, he visited his cousin once more. But this time, Nicole was shocked to spot actual blood all over him as he wielded a weapon.
Upon conviction, Tyree confessed to eating the body parts of Gonzalez along with an alcoholic beverage named Sage. Morbidly enough, he further recalled telling his cousin Nicole that he found the eyeballs of the victim ‘tasting like an oyster’. Smith admitted that he dismembered Angel’s body using an axe and then consumed the organs while sitting inside a graveyard.
During a court hearing in 2013, Tyree Smith expressed remorse over the whole cannibal attack. In his words, “I’m really sorry for what I did, that I couldn’t be myself. It really had nothing to do with the other person.”
In February, the Connecticut Psychiatric Security Review Board shocked everyone with their verdict that allowed Tyree to leave the Connecticut Valley Hospital, where he had been sent to serve a 60-year sentence at a maximum-security mental facility.
The PSRB pronounced him ‘stable’ and directed him to be placed in a group home in Waterbury. In reality, a forensic psychiatrist had approached the board to persuade them regarding their decision regarding Smith. The clinical expert was convinced that since Smith’s schizophrenia was manageable, his conditional release would mean that he gets to live in a communal setting under strict supervision while he continues treatment.
However, the verdict by the psychiatric review board has been scrutinized heavily by members of the victim’s own family as well as state senators. Angel’s sister-in-law, Talitha Frazier, expressed uncertainty about him not pulling off another crime like this again. She said, “How do we really know he’s not going to do this again? His grandkids are scared. His daughter is scared she couldn’t come today, her sugar dropped to 52.”
Exclusive: ‘Connecticut Cannibal’ showed aggressive behavior in prison, documents reveal.
THIS IS INSANE! And nothing on him since late April! Is he still among the community? Dude ate brains and an eyeball?! They should’ve left Tyree Smith in prison!! https://t.co/5ql0SD8w6F
— Shaughn_A (@Shaughn_A2) September 26, 2025
Expressing betrayal over the verdict, she added, “You don’t kill someone, eat them, and now you say, ‘Hey, I want to be in remission, I want to be normal again.’ If that’s the case, then he should’ve gone from psychiatric to jail so he can understand what he did was wrong.”
Meanwhile, Senator Paul Cicarella highlighted how releasing a criminal with a history of murder and cannibalism is still a great threat to others. Countering the February ruling, which let Smith walk away freely, he said, “This terrible decision puts public safety in jeopardy and is yet another terrible message to send to CT violent crime victims and their families. This person should never be out.”
Surprisingly, a WFSB report quoted one of the medical experts handling Tyree Smith’s case. Dr. Caren Teitelbaum noted that the convict was surprisingly a joy at the medical facility previously, where he, in fact, helped other patients with his calming presence. Furthermore, the doctor mentioned that Smith denied having any visual hallucinations or even an urge to harm others. But other doctors admitted that if Smith stopped taking medications and strayed from treatment, he could pose a threat again.
