Aug. 24, 2016: Wade Harrouff tells The Post he blames mental illness for his son's actions. A former high school wrestler and football player, he was a sophomore at . In the weeks, months and now years that have followed, the case garnered international attention, a couple of first-degree murder charges and a diagnosis of clinical lycanthropy delusions, also known as werewolf syndrome. All times AEDT (GMT +11). Judge Bauer said: This case needs to come to a resolution. View our online Press Pack. austin-harrouff-ap Back in 2017, Harrouff was interviewed by another known psychologist . ", The report concluded: "the manifestation of Mr Harrouff's psychiatric illness resulted in a psychotic episode so acute that two innocent people were killed.". Citing jailhouse phone calls, Michelles sister Cindy Mishconasserted that he did not care about committing the murders. After being removed from the body, Harrouff was taken to hospital for two months, suffering from a burned oesophagus. But, the mind is a powerful thing. But here we are, opening the prison doors for a double murderer. 1:22. The Martin County State Attorneys Office sought a second opinion from another doctor, who concluded that Harrouff was likely on drugs or in withdrawals during the crime, and not simply crazy. Dec. 5, 2017: Austin Harrouff's attorneys, Robert Watson and Nellie King, file a notice of intent to use the insanity defense during his first-degree murder trial. In backhanded fashion, he expressed willingness to forgive Harrouff if the 25-year-old did to himself what he did to Michelle. Thank you, she said, sardonically. Circuit Judge Sherwood Baueraccepted Harrouffs plea, however, on the day trial was set to begin. 0:32. There's a six-month review that's sent by the attending psychiatrist, and then after that there's an annual review that is sent to the judge with a recommendation as to continue treatments, Watson said. When the officers shouted at Harrouff to get off Stevens, he growled like a dog and had to be physically removed. He said he has kept them updated on everything. He lived with his mother and younger sister from the age of 13, when his parents divorced but remained in contact with his father and would visit him regularly. Defense lawyers signaled shortly after Harrouffs arrest they would seek an acquittal by reason of insanity. Specifically, state-hired psychologist Gregory Landrum, who administered a five-hour exam, concluded in a 2020 report that Harrouff was experiencing a decompensated mental state associated with an emerging mood and/or thought disorder resulting in an acute psychiatric episode., Landrums findings appear to confirm a 2019 defense report issued by Dr. Phillip Resnick, a forensic psychiatrist at the University Hospitals of Cleveland in Ohio, who concluded "with reasonable medical certainty that Austin Harrouff, as a result of a severe mental disease, did not know that his conduct was wrong.. August 18, 2021. Not only for myself but for my family. When Martin County Sheriffs Office deputies arrived, they used a Taser on Harrouff, kicked him in the head and used a law-enforcement dog to remove him from Stevens body. Harrouff has pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree murder with a weapon for the deaths of Mishcon and Stevens; one charge of burglary of a dwelling with assault or battery while armed for breaking into their garage; and one charge of attempted first-degree murder with a weapon for attacking and injuring the couple's neighbor, Jeffrey Fisher. Judge rules Austin Harrouff not guilty by reason of insanity in murder of Tequesta couple, Austin Harrouffs parents noticed odd behavior in son before Martin couples fatal stabbing | Photos, video, NPR/Floodlight probe shows Overdorf, Mast victimized by actual 'fake news', Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. "He also remembers seeing a man and 'he was like glowing white'. Now, on the third anniversary of the deaths of Stevens and Mishcon, there is a trial scheduled for Nov. 4, but it remains unclear whether Harrouff, his attorneys and prosecutors will put on their case for a jury before the end of the year. Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way, South Florida Sports Headlines Newsletter. Harrouff purchased hallucinogenic mushrooms a few days before the attack, investigators have said, but they found no traces of the drug in his blood that night, according to CNN affiliate WPLG. He said he convinced his son to put away the knife, which was later found near the victims. He then chewed on one of the victims' face. 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Something went way wrong," Wade Harrouff told 'Dr. Two psychologists concluded Harrouff was not sane at the time of the crime. file a notice of intent to use the insanity defense during his first-degree murder trial. Judge Bauer in court defended the Harrouffs team, prosecutors, and the expert witnesses from criticism voiced in court. Are you ever going to tell us what that means, according to WPLG. Harrouff was involuntarily committed into the custody of the Department of Children and Families to receive mental health treatment at a forensic mental health facility. KILLER Austin Harrouff could have been legally insane when he attacked and chewed the face of his victim. Prosecutors were also hampered by FBI toxicology reports that showed only THC in Harrouffs system. I had special abilities.". Police have said Harouff killed both John and Michelle Mischon Stevens with a machete outside of their Palm Beach County home in August 2016. The grisly images were released after court documents revealed Harrouff spat a chunk of flesh out of his mouth when speaking to officers. A 38-page report by forensic psychologist Dr. Phillip Resnick says Austin Harrouff believed he was "half-dog, half-man". He fatally stabbed a couple, Michelle Mishcon and John Stevens, on the 16th of August 2016. That seems to be the only thing anyone has cared about for the past six years, not the two dead people that he butchered. Mishcon read numerous bizarre conversations Harrouff had via text message leading up to the killings, directing them at Harrouff in court, WPLG reported. Feb. 28, 2017: The 19th Judicial Circuit State Attorney's Office released 22 minutes of unedited video of Austin Harrouff's interview with Dr. Phil McGraw after weeks of court hearings battling over its release. 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Austin Harrouff, the 25-year-old accused of stabbing a Florida couple to death and biting the face of the male victim in 2016, will be sent to a mental hospital instead of prison, according to court documents. Why my two beautiful boys will never have grandparents. Here are five things to know about the case. He will be back home in a matter of months, not years, most likely.. White maintained that prosecutors did everything possible to prove the case, but the facts were not there. He cared a lot about people. Michelle Mishcon Stevens and John Stevens III were attacked and killed in 2016. While attending Florida State University, Harrouff attacked and killed a couple in their garage, during which he claims to have blacked out. "We shouldn't give the keys to the prison, so to speak, to psychologists," White said. He could face the death penalty if convicted. Watson said Gamache didnt take into account a history in Harrouffs family of bipolar disorder. Ivy Stevens, who is Johns daughter and Michelles stepdaughter, described in detail the absence and trauma Harrouff created. What's next for killer Austin Harrouff after being found not guilty by reason of insanity? In the hours and days after the fatal attacks, law-enforcement officers said they believed a reaction to a designer drug such as bath salts or flakka prompted the attacks. The Jupiter resident who was then 19 and attending Florida State University was found biting and chewing on Stevens' face in the driveway of the couples home on Southeast Kokomo Lanein Martin County. He said that prosecutors and the defense agreed that Harrouff had not formulated mental intent in the attack on the couple in their garage; doctors determined he suffered a psychosis during a manic episode of bipolar disorder. Their loved ones were experiencing a lot of pain and hurt. Aug. 15, 2017: John Stevens IV talks to The Post about loss of his father a year after his death, dealing with the international spotlight and raising his children without a grandfather. Harrouf has been jailed since the incident. He sentenced Harrouff to treatment in the custody of the Department of Children and Family Services because it was determined that the defendant was danger to himself and others. The doctor ultimately recommended that Harrouff be involuntarily admitted to a mental hospital, if the court does rule him legally insane. But Gamache had to withdraw from testifying for personal health reasons, and the judge denied the state's request to hire another mental health expert. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. 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