The Florida State University student had killed the couple outside their Tequesta home on August 15, and had started biting the face of Stevens.
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“It appeared to one of our deputies that it was like a mixed martial arts, an MMA hold, he was just wrapped around him they were body to body trying to pull them away, pry him off”, said Martin County Sheriff William Snyder. An autopsy showed John Stevens died of stab wounds and Michelle Mishcon Stevens was beaten to death.
Jeff Fisher, 47, was released from the hospital days after the August 15 incident, but he is still on the road to recovery.
“It’s a typical garage, so there solvents”, Snyder said. He has since been released from the hospital.
Blood tests have been sent to the Federal Bureau of Investigation to determine whether Harrouff was under the influence of synthetic drugs like flakka or bath salts.
Harrouff spent last Monday morning with his local fraternity brothers, Snyder said, and he was “somewhat distant, somewhat different, but there was nothing extremely unusual about his behavior”.
“Test me. You won’t find any drugs”, he said.
What investigators do know is that Harrouff was having dinner with family about 4 miles from the couple’s house. Video surveillance from the restaurant shows him calmly walking out about 45 minutes before the attacks. Investigators said he apparently had words with his father.
Harrouff’s mother Mina Harrouff told Jupiter Police that her son had been in an argument with his father at Duffy’s, according to a report.
A desperate call on the police radio gives a closer look at what happened the night a 19-year-old Florida University student is accused of attacking and killing a Tequesta couple in their garage.
Harrouff abruptly left a family dinner at Duffy’s Sports Grill on August 15, walked about three miles and killed John Stevens III, 59, and his wife Michelle Mishcon, 53, according to the Martin County Sheriff’s Office.
Wade Harrouff told the newspaper that there are issues with Austin’s liver, his lungs and his esophagus.
Once he’s released from the hospital, Harrouff will be charged with two counts of first-degree murder as well as attempted first-degree murder for allegedly stabbing the couple’s neighbor, 47-year-old Jeff Fisher, who tried fending off their attacker. Austin’s lawyers also confirmed that his parents acknowledge his behaviour before the murders was weird, but declined to elaborate.
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After visiting Austin at St. Mary’s Medical Center, the Florida dentist confirmed his son was still in a critical, nonresponsive state, and will undergo an MRI on Wednesday.
