Michelle Mishcon Stevens and John Stevens III were attacked and killed in 2016. 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. John Stevens III and 53-year-old Michelle Mishcon (WPEC). Harrouff, now 25, butchered John Stevens and Michelle Mischon in their Jupiter, Florida, garage with a machete in 2016, and was found by police gnawing on Stevens face as he lay dying. 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. This should have gone to trial, said Jodi Bruce, another sister of Mishcon. "It's like a nightmare. Wade Harrouff appears on Dr. Phil McGraw's TV show. State witness Gamache did not believe that Harrouff met the legal standard of insanity during the crime. Oct. 3, 2016: After weeks in recovery, Austin Harrouff leaves the hospital and is booked into the Martin County jail on two counts of first-degree murder, attempted murder and burglary. Harrouf has been jailed since the incident. Authorities said Austin Harrouff, . The Sun website is regulated by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), Our journalists strive for accuracy but on occasion we make mistakes. 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. Michelle Mishcons sisters said prosecutors told them Austin Harrouff could get out of a mental rehabilitation hospital in a matter of months after Mondays controversial plea deal was announced on the same day his trial was supposed to start. We all know this would not be the outcome if he were not who he is.. He cared a lot about people. Citing jailhouse phone calls, Michelles sister Cindy Mishconasserted that he did not care about committing the murders. Two psychologists concluded Harrouff was not sane at the time of the crime. [emailprotected]. ProsecutorBrandon Whitevoiced sympathy for the families. According to police reports, the former college footballer had been acting strangely in the run up to the attack. Find out more about our policy and your choices, including how to opt-out. I didnt know you could brutally murder two people, attempt to murder another and not even have a trial. Eventually, after another fight with his father, he leaves and finds himself wandering the streets near Southeast Kokomo Lane. Police have told how when they arrived at the tragic couples home, they found the accused sitting in his underwear making animal noises and biting Mr Stevens face. Gamache's conclusions contradicts the findings of two other mental health experts who issued reports in 2020. Court documents revealed that one officer ordered the frat boy to get off at gunpoint, while another used a stun gun on him but Harrouff would not let go. To date, it's unknown what Harrouff ingested. Investigators said his Google searches consisted of questions about needing sleep, white magic, "How to know if you're going crazy" and several other topics. Frat boy Austin Harrouff stands accused of brutally murdering John Stevens, 59, and Michelle Mishcon, 53, at their home Jupiter, Florida, on August 15 this year. The now 25-year-old former-frat boy is still awaiting trial as his lawyers have claimed he is mentally ill and the FBI found no evidence of illicit drugs in his. He will not go to prison. Where is Austin Harrouff now? In the summer of 2016, "Harrouff reported he began to feel 'go go go' and experienced some grandiosity and heighten self-importance. Dr Landrum's findings said: "He recalls having a machete in his hand and stabbing her 'and it was like she was covered in darkness'. 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. Frat boy and American football player Austin Harrouff was born on December 21, 1996. Austin Harrouff, now 25, was born in Palm Beach Gardens and grew up in northern Palm Beach County. Harrouff ""had the delusion that he could run 'super fast' because he was 'half-man, half dog.' . Seeing demonic hallucinations, feeling like he was God, and believing he was half-dog, half-man were among the findings detailed in a psychological exam. Investigators said his Google searches consisted of questions about needing sleep, white magic, "How to know if you're going crazy" and several other topics. Deputies said Harrouff was walking to his father's home in the neighborhood when he targeted Stevens III and Mishcon. Ron DeSantis might also support the measure. I hope you never find happiness for the rest of your life, she said. denies Austin Harrouff's defense attorneys' motion to find Florida's insanity defense law unconstitutional. 2023 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. A trial for double murder suspect Austin Harrouff is likely still months away, a judge said Tuesday during a hearing that mostly centered on what experts will be allowed to testify about the night hes accused of killing a Tequesta couple in 2016. Where was the advocate then?. 00:04 00:30 A cannibalistic double-murderer from Florida could end up walking the streets again without ever going to trial. Jodi Bruce, one of Michelles sisters, said she learned from the news not from prosecutors or the victim advocate about the death penalty not being an option in this case. After being removed from the body, Harrouff was taken to hospital for two months, suffering from a burned oesophagus. What's next for killer Austin Harrouff after being found not guilty by reason of insanity? Austin's Story. Harrouff Reportedly Behaved Erratically Before Alleged 'Random' Attack. We would have had our hands tied behind our back, he said, asserting that he rued the final outcome of the case and hopes to have certain laws changed surrounding insanity defenses. Judge Bauer in court defended the Harrouffs team, prosecutors, and the expert witnesses from criticism voiced in court. The prosecutors in this case just didnt have what it took to handle it.. But here we are, opening the prison doors for a double murderer. A judge accepted a "face biter" murder defendant's insanity plea the morning his bench trial was scheduled to start. Harrouff is conscious at St. Mary's Medical Center, but remains in the hospital for several more weeks as he recovers. Aug. 23, 2016: Austin Harrouff's father, Wade, tells The Palm Beach Post his son remains in the hospital and his organs are failing. ", That night, Harrouff was out to dinner with his father where "he felt as if time was standing still and like he was the 'grim reaper.'. STUART - Killer Austin Harrouff, who in November was acquitted of two 2016 murder charges by reason of insanity, has been transferred from jail to a secured state mental health facility,. The doctor also said that Harrouff is a danger to himself or others because of his illness. 0. ", It goes on to say, "He remembers having a machete in his hand and stabbing her 'and it was like she was covered in darkness.' The defense and prosecution each tapped a psychologist to evaluate Harrouff after the killings, and both deemed him insane at the time. After Austin Harrouff was found not guilty by reason of insanity in the attack and killing of a Martin County couple, a friend of the victims said the agreement by defense and prosecution was "shocking" and "disappointing." Harrouff, now 25, randomly attacked and killed John Stevens, 59, and his wife, Michelle Mishcon Stevens, 53, in 2016. 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. He recalled stabbing the man and biting him before waking up in the hospital. "My hope is that one day, when I think of them, I can veer my focus off the brutality of their murders and have happy memories instead," she said in an interview with The Palm Beach Post, the first she has given since their deaths. Austin Harrouff, now 22, of Jupiter, is set to go on trial in November on a number of charges, including first-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder. A neighbor, Jeff Fisher, tried to intervene when he heard the commotion outside, but he was also attacked by Harrouff. Things happened rapidly, with Austin experiencing such severe hallucinations and delusions at the time of the offense that he was incapable of making rational and voluntary choices. Harrouff, then 19-years-old, was having dinner with his family when he stormed off in an agitated state, officials said at the time. Michelle Mischon's family files a wrongful-death lawsuit against Austin Harrouff. On top of that, they sometimes even took his parents to task. / CBS Miami. Law-enforcement officers say they do not know what prompted the attacks, but believe it may been a drug-fueled crime. The court was also told on Wednesday the Florida college student had no detectable hallucinogenic drugs in his system, according an FBI toxicology report. "The weird behavior is coming from schizophrenia in my family.". "And then I think about how I'm going to have to explain this to her one day.". 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. He then admitted it was human.. When authorities arrived at the residence, Harouff was. The move came after Martin County Circuit Judge Sherwood Bauer on Nov. 28 ruled that Harrouff was not guilty by reason of insanity after finding two psychologists concluded he was suffering an acute psychotic episode on Aug. 15, 2016 when he fatally stabbed John Stevens III, 59, and Michelle Mishcon, 53, at their home in southern Martin County during an unprovoked attack. The case is yet to be tried, with Circuit Judge Sherwood Bauer indicating the trial could be months away according to TCPalm. He could be anyones son, brother, neighbor, friend. Frat boy Austin Harrouff stands accused of brutally murdering John Stevens, 59, and Michelle Mishcon, 53, at their home Jupiter, Florida, on August 15 this year. Not his parents. 0:32. Authorities said Austin Harrouff, not only killed a Tequesta couple but bit the face of one of the victims. Harrouff reportedly told officers: "Help me, I ate something bad.". The direction he went in with his opinion was that this was a psychosis caused by either acute or chronic withdrawal from controlled substances, Watson said. He says he does not remember going to his mother's house and drinking vegetable oil, but recalls running to his father's house and hearing voices. Frat boy and American football player Austin Harrouff was born on December 21, 1996. A Florida frat boy who murdered a married couple and chewed the face of one victim could be free in as few as six months after being deemed not guilty by reason of insanity this week. He also believed he was half dog, half-person. Judge Sherwood Bauer. Four words come to mind: white, rich boy justice, Mishcon said, according to WPLG. A judge ruled Monday that Harrouff was not guilty by reason of insanity and ordered him to be admitted into a secure mental health facility. 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.. The now 25-year-old former-frat boy is still awaiting trial as his lawyers have claimed he is mentally ill and the FBI found no evidence of illicit drugs in his system, other than THC. After a meal with his father ended in an argument, Harrouff stormed off, claiming the last thing he remembers is walking home. For other inquiries, Contact Us. Have a tip or story idea? 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