Detectives say they caught 19-year-old college student Austin Harrouff biting the face of a man after killing him and his wife outside their outside their home.
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Austin Harrouff told his parents he had “super powers” in the week leading up to when sheriff’s officials said he randomly attacked and killed a local couple, according to a police report released Wednesday.
Stevens said his father and Michelle Mishcon “really loved each other”, and “they were partners and he just loved her to death”. “It’s disgusting”, Stevens says he is grateful for his father’s friends who have come forward and offered to help with the children but “there is no real replacement for a grandfather”.
Martin County Sheriff William Snyder told reporters that Austin Harrouff may have been on hallucinogenic drugs when he attacked Michelle Mishcon, 53, and John Stevens III, 59, at their Tequesta, Florida, home.
Harrouff, who had no criminal record, was listed in stable condition at a hospital Wednesday and was scheduled to undergo surgery on his hand.
The neighbor who tried to help Mischon and Stevens, 47-year-old Jeff Fisher, was stabbed but survived. He was released from the hospital Thursday, the sheriff’s office said. A neighbor tried to intervene, but suffered several stab wounds before fleeing to call police.
The test – which typically takes one to three weeks to complete – will give a more in-depth result of what chemicals were in Harrouff’s system beyond typical street drugs such as marijuana, cocaine and heroin, the sheriff’s office said.
Less than an hour before the Monday night attack, Harrouff was having dinner with his parents at Duffy’s Sports Grill in Jupiter, according to a Jupiter police report. Snyder has said Harrouff left in apparent anger after an argument with his father at their table.
The victim, John Stevens, was pronounced dead at the scene. His mother said he had no prior mental health issues and was not a heavy drug user but had been acting unusual lately and claiming to have superpowers, said CBS News. A neighbor, Jeffrey Fisher, was also injured trying to stop the incident. She told Officer Luis Rocha her son had no history of mental illness nor heavy drug use.
When the first deputy arrived at the couples’ home, she used her Taser on Harrouff, but it didn’t faze him, Snyder said.
His attorney, Robert Watson, did not immediately return a call and email seeking comment.
According to a Jupiter police incident report, the suspect’s mother, Mina Harrouff, called 911 after her son walked away from the restaurant and said that he “was acting odd the last week or so”.
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The illegal drug flakka continues to be in the news as another user is accused of a heinous crime while under the influence of the drug. His family in a statement said “Jeff is doing as well as can be expected but he has a long healing process to go through”. “We love our son and know that he is not the person some are making him out to be”. It took a multiple deputies, a stun gun, and a police dog to pry the zombie attacker off his victim’s body.
