Tyree Smith Update: Judges in Conn. find man in murder-cannibalism case not guilty by reason of insanity, report says
(CBS/AP) BRIDGEPORT, Conn. - A three-judge panel has found a man not guilty by reason of insanity in the death of a homeless man he admitted to killing and partially eating.
The Connecticut Post reports the judges deliberated about an hour Tuesday before finding prosecutors had proved that 35-year-old Tyree Lincoln Smith of Lynn Haven, Fla., killed and cannibalized some of Angel Gonzalez's body parts in December 2011, but that Smith was legally insane at the time.
The judges will determine Sept. 9 whether Smith should be committed to a mental hospital. During the same court hearing, psychiatrists will testify about whether he is safe to come back into the community, the paper reports.
However, having Smith return to the community is an unlikely outcome for a man who admitted having appetite for human flesh, according to the Connecticut Post.
During the trial, prosecutors presented a videotaped statement to police in which Smith says he used a hatchet to kill Gonzalez, then took out the man's eyes and part of his brain and ate them.
Police say Smith, who grew up in Connecticut, killed Gonzales, a homeless Bridgeport man, with an ax and ate one of his eyeballs and part of his brain. Gonzalez's body was found in an abandoned home in Bridgeport.