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On Monday, November 28, a Florida judge accepted a plea deal from 25-year-old Austin Harrouff, a former college student accused of killing a married couple in 2016 before eating one of the victim's faces.
The court stated that the former Florida State University student will be placed in a mental health facility until he is no longer considered a threat to society, CBS reported.
The decision not to convict Austin Harrouff to life in prison provoked outrage among not only the victim's family members but also citizens, many of whom expressed that the convicted killer was not insane as he claimed to be.
Austin Harrouff was 19 when he stabbed a couple in an unprovoked attack
According to TC Palm, in 2016, Austin Harrouff carried out a fatal attack on 53-year-old Michelle Mishcon and 59-year-old John Stevens III, a married Tesquesta couple who had a home in southern Martin County.
Deputies reported that on the day of the slayings, Harrouff was walking to his father's home. At one point, he allegedly entered the victim's property before brutally stabbing the pair to death in what has been deemed an unprovoked attack. Harrouff was also accused of attacking and injuring Jeffrey Fisher, a neighbor who attempted to stop the then 19-year-old.
As per the Daily Beast, when authorities arrived at the crime scene, Harrouff appeared to be chewing on Stevens' face. Deputies stated that they later recovered human flesh from his teeth.
Harrouff's defense team said that he had had a mental episode at the time of the attack. CBS reported that Harrouff claimed he was in the process of fleeing a 'demon' when he killed the couple. His parents said that in the weeks leading up to the attack, Harrouff had seemed uncharacteristically troubled.
Responses to the 2016 Florida cannibalism case
While the anger at the Judge's decision to place Harrouff in a mental health facility began in the courtroom, it later spread across social media platforms. Many netizens echoed the sentiments of Cindy Mishcon, Michelle Mishcon's sister, arguing that Harrouff received a light sentence as he is a white male from an affluent family.
Cindy Mishcon said:
“Here we are opening the prison doors for a double murderer. Four words come to mind. White, rich boy justice.”
Other social media users, however, argued that the decision was fair, as it seemed the former college student had legitimately been psychologically disturbed. Many also brought up the fact that he had been assessed by psychologists, who had called the slayings the consequence of an "acute psychotic episode."
Meanwhile, many users argued that due to the circumstances, Harrouff could not be held fully responsible for his actions. Austin Harrouff is currently being held at the Martin County Jail.
