Family fumes as Florida killer Austin Harrouff, notorious for chewing on face may be released again

Without ever standing trial, a Florida cannibalistic double killer may wind himself strolling the streets once more. Austin Harrouff, 25, a former member of a fraternity at Florida State University, was found not accountable on Monday due to insanity after fatally machete-slashing John Stevens and his wife Michelle Mischon in 2016. Sheriff's deputies claimed to have discovered Harrouff gnawing on Stevens' face while kneeling over him, spitting out pieces of flesh before being taken into custody. [caption id="attachment_66995" align="aligncenter" width="878"] Officials found Harrouff gnawing victim's face[/caption] Friends and family of the murdered couple had been waiting six years for the case to be resolved, so they were shocked to learn that it was closed on Monday. “Here we are opening the prison doors for a double murderer,” said Cindy Mishcon, the shellshocked sister of victim Michelle Mishcon. “Four words come to mind. White, rich boy justice.” Harrouff, who assaulted the couple in their garage, will now be admitted to a mental health facility rather than a jail cell; he may eventually be freed if no longer seen to be a danger to others. [caption id="attachment_67002" align="aligncenter" width="2000"] Harrouf’s father bought him the knife he used in the killings.[/caption] Asserting that he was mentally ill at the time of the occurrence, Harrouff and his parents, including his dentist father, Wade Harouff, entered a not-guilty plea. Families of the victims vehemently disagreed with that characterization, claiming that Harrouff was a heroin addict who was aware of the wrongdoing he had committed. Both Martin County prosecutors and Harrouff's expensive defense team concurred to forego a trial in favor of the plea agreement, Judge Sherwood Bauer informed the court. “I didn’t really know you could brutally murder two people, attempt to kill another, and not even have a trial,” said Jodi Bruce, another sister of Mishcon, in a statement to the court Monday. “That was news to me.” The FBI testing results that revealed Harrouff had no drugs in his blood at the time of the crime and the conclusions of three doctors that he had experienced a serious psychotic break were the main components of his insanity defense. [caption id="attachment_67008" align="aligncenter" width="2000"] John Stevens and Michelle Mishcon were killed in their garage in 2016.[/caption] On Monday, Cindy Mishcon mocked that story and read aloud a lengthy number of texts that Harrouff had written in the weeks and days prior to the killings. In the correspondence, Harrouff detailed his almost daily drug use and frequent blackouts, telling friends that he consumed copious amounts of alcohol and cocaine as well as methamphetamines, codeine, Adderall, and mushrooms. Mishcon disagreed with the idea that during the murders Harouff was suffering from an organic mental illness and was unable to comprehend his actions. “Why the f–k just not do what you want,” he wrote. “Just do the craziest shit you can. i just want to be great before I die.” In another message, Harrouff said he wondered if he was insane — but concluded otherwise. “I thought i was crazy, but really not,” he wrote. “I just know that for me personally the drugs are taking a toll on me and I can’t handle.” Mishcon also targeted Harrouf's father, who spoke out in support of his son and detailed his mental health issues on "Dr. Phil" in 2018. “He had the symptoms for about two weeks prior,” he said during the appearance. “I just thought he’d snap out of it. He went from a happy person to, he can’t sleep, pacing the floors. He could barely work, he was tired. There’s no question that he had mental problems.” The fact that Harrouff ingested some sort of "caustic" chemical after the murders was further emphasized by his father as proof of his son's instability. Mishcon refuted that framing by pointing out that the day prior to the murders, Harrouff's father had purchased the knife he used in the crimes from a weapons show. “He let you buy a knife when he thought you were crazy?” Mishcon said Monday. “It’s just not believable.” The grieving sister said she was baffled by the reluctance of the state attorney’s office to pursue the case further. [caption id="attachment_67006" align="aligncenter" width="1440"] Harrouff, 25, was found not guilty by reason of insanity for a 2016 double murder.[/caption] “I ask myself, why are we here today?” she said. “Why is there no trial? Why is my family being denied justice?” Bruce mocked the lawyers sitting at the prosecution table Monday after her sibling’s lengthy address to the court. “My sister just put on the case for you,” she said. “That is sad. That is sad.” Amplifying that three reputable doctors deemed Harrouff insane, the judge explained the plea deal to the packed courtroom after the victims’ relatives spoke. “In the end, they do need to follow the law,” Bauer said. “The defense has the obligation to assess the defendant’s mental health for both competency and insanity. They are obligated to do that in every single case.”