A 25-year-old Fla. man accused of murdering a random couple — and attempting to eat one of the victims’ faces — has been found not guilty by reason of insanity, multiple outlets report. He will serve no prison time.
Austin Harrouff pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to two charges of first-degree murder. Though a trial was expected to begin on Monday, a judge instead accepted a plea deal for Harrouff. The killer will now be moved to a mental health facility until medical professionals determine he is not a risk to return to society.
The outcome of the high-profile case has reportedly shocked family and friends of the couple, whom Harrouff — then a 19-year-old college sophomore — attacked unprovoked in their Tequesta, Fla., garage in August 2016. After killing Michele Mishcon, 53, and John Stevens III, 59, Harrouff tried to bite chunks from Stevens’ face and body.
On the night of the killings, Harrouff was having dinner at a restaurant with his father when he suddenly got up from the table and left, wandering into the street and eventually walking more than three miles, according to CBS 12.
Harrouff removed his clothes during this time and ended up outside Stevens’ and Mishcon’s garage, which was fashioned as a furnished outdoor hangout space. The garage door was up, and Harrouff entered and stabbed the couple using their own tools, as well as a pocket knife.
Neighbor Jeff Fisher, 47, quickly came over to help the couple and he was also injured by Harrouff. Upon arrival at the house, authorities found the attacker trying to bite pieces from Stevens’ face and abdomen.
“The suspect was on top of our victim, clutching him in a bear hug and biting him in the face,” Sheriff William Synder told PEOPLE in 2016.
“[The deputy] shot him with a taser … that didn’t work,” Synder also said. “Another deputy got there, two deputies, and they engaged the suspect and they said they used every bit of strength they had.”
Sheriff Synder also said at a press conference at the time, “It’s inexplicable. You know one of the first things we try to do at a crime scene is to begin to understand the motive of the offender. ... But in this case, we just can’t establish a motive.”
Though authorities first believed Harrouff may have been under the influence of the drug flakka or another substance, his toxicology reports came back clean. His father said schizophrenia ran in the family. His parents also said he had been acting strangely in the weeks before the attacks.
In an unaired episode of Dr. Phil that was later released, Harrouff cried about what he’d done. “I never imagined this would ever happen and I am deeply sorry to the family that was affected,” Harrouff told host Phil McGraw. “I hope that something like this never happens again. I never wanted, consciously, to do something like this or I never planned it. I didn’t want to do it.”
During the interview, Harrouff also said he suffered from paranoia and delusions of grandeur, and told McGraw he knew he needed help.
“I’m just so sorry,” Harrouff said. When asked why he attacked the married couple, he replied, “I don’t know.”
In a statement to the court on Monday, Mishcon’s sister, Jodi Bruce, reportedly expressed outrage about the judge’s ruling. “I didn’t really know you could brutally murder two people, attempt to kill another, and not even have a trial,” she said in a statement to the court, according to multiple reports. “That was news to me.”
Bruce also brought up extensive text messages that Harrouff allegedly sent to friends before the crimes that documented his extreme drug use leading up to the attacks.
