Tyree Smith – dubbed the Connecticut Cannibal – carried out the brutal killing of homeless man Angel Gonzalez after saying he wanted to get “blood on his hands”
A cannibal killer slaughtered a man with a hatchet and ate part of his brain along with his eyeball – before being granted conditional release.
Tyree Smith – dubbed the Connecticut Cannibal – carried out the brutal killing of homeless man Angel Gonzalez in 2011 in the US state and ate his victim’s body parts in a cemetery. The day before, he went to cousin Nicole Rabb’s house and ranted about Greek gods, saying he wanted to get “blood on his hands”. He showed up the next day covered in blood and described eating his victim’s organs while drinking Japanese rice wine sake. He told her that Mr Gonzalez’s eye “tasted like an oyster” and that he had bludgeoned his face and head with an axe. The mutilated body was found in a vacant apartment in the city of Bridgeport in January 2012.
Smith – found not guilty of murder by reason of insanity – was confined to Whiting Forensic Hospital for 60 years in 2013. Earlier this year, the state’s Psychiatric Security Review Board granted Smith conditional release from the hospital after hearing from a psychiatrist, who said Smith’s schizophrenia and alcohol and drug disorders were in full remission thanks to medication and other treatment.
He was placed in a community setting under supervision with strict conditions, including continuing treatment. Forensic psychiatrist Caren Teitelbaum previously told US news outlet WTNH: “To quote the director there, he is a joy. He is considered a support to the other people there. Once he was stable, he was a really calming presence for other patients.”
“He has maintained clinical stability. Adhered to the medications and continued to engage in group and substance abuse treatment
However, prison documents obtained by the outlet from the Connecticut Department of Correction point to several altercations Smith had with other inmates. After one alleged flight at the Garner Correctional Facility, he had to be separated from the rest of the population and told an officer that another inmate had “talked trash to him”.
Talitha Frazier, Gonzalez’s sister-in-law, believes he is still a “menace to society”. She said: “It angers me, and it shocks me, because the whole time you’re in jail, you’re pleading insanity but yet you’re still doing something violent to another person.” Smith apologised for Angel’s death in court days before he was found not guilty by reason of insanity.
He said: “I’m really sorry for what I did, that I couldn’t be myself. It really had nothing to do with the other person.” Talitha burst into tears during his court appearance and was taken aback by his remorse. She told the Connecticut Post: “We waited two years to hear Tyree say he was sorry,’ she said to the Connecticut Post. What he said today caught me off-guard, but I feel he meant what he said.”
