A man who killed and ate a man has been released back into public life after ten years.
Tyree Smith, from Bridgeport, Connecticut, killed a homeless man and then ate his brain and eyeballs according to officials.
The horrific case made headline news, with Smith found not guilty of murder by reason of insanity after a July 2013 trial.
In lieu of a stint behind bars, Smith was ordered committed to a state psychiatric hospital for 60 years.
But now, ten years after the grim incident, the state Psychiatric Security Review Board said Smith was ready to be transitioned back into the community.
Smith has been released from the facility, Connecticut’s most secure, as of writing.
He will be living in a Waterbury group home, and is not allowed to associate with anyone involved in criminal activity.
The board stated in its report: “Tyree Smith is an individual with a psychiatric illness requiring care, custody and treatment.
“Since his last hearing Tyree Smith has continued to demonstrate clinical stability.
“Mr. Smith is medication compliant, actively engaged in all recommended forms of treatment, and has been symptom-free for many years.”
During the trial, Smith’s cousin Nicole Rabb claimed he arrived at her Connecticut home in December 2011, talking about Greek gods and ruminating about needing to go out and get blood.
When she saw him the next evening she noticed what appeared to be specks of blood on his pants and that he was carrying chopsticks and a bloody ax.
Smith then allegedly told Rabb he killed a man and ate his brains in the Lakeview Cemetery while drinking sake, and grimly warned he intended to eat more people.
A month later, police found Angel Gonzalez's mutilated body in the vacant apartment on Brooks Street in Bridgeport where Smith had lived as a child.
Police later recovered the bloody ax and an empty bottle of sake in a stream bed near the Boston Avenue cemetery.
The defense's case rested on the testimony of Yale University psychiatrist Dr. Reena Kapoor, who testified that Smith had kept his lust for human flesh after his arrest, even offering to eat her.
Kapoor claimed Smith suffered from psychotic incidents since childhood and heard voices that told him to kill people.
She then said the voices ordered Smith to eat the victim's brain so they would get a better understanding of human behavior and the eyes so that they could see into the "spirit realm."
Kapoor added that Smith went to Subway after eating the man's body parts.
The report on Smith’s release said: “He denied experiencing cravings but stated that if they were to arise, he would reach out to his hospital and community supports and providers.”
Some of y’all really need to figure out the difference between punishment and rehabilitation…
And which one actually works.
Stop stroking your hate boners and start advocating for real solutions. You don’t fix pain with more pain. All that does is exacerbate the cycle.
He ended someone’s life. That alone should remove him from society forever.
Now his entire release hinges on him being compliant with his meds to not end someone else’s life.
So if your brakes stop working and you run someone over tomorrow, you should be removed from society forever?
Accidentally spread COVID to your grandma and she died? Life in prison for you!
Had a stillbirth? Goodbye society, put the wench behind bars.
Obviously that's the dumbest take I've ever heard. How do people have so little empathy they can't even imagine what a mental issue like that could even be like. These people are sick and not in control.
If we have highly educated people who can accurately take measures to cure these people, I'm 100% supporting this. More yet, if the US cared only a tiny bit more about healthcare, cases like this would easily be avoided.
People who voted for those not giving a fuck killed the man, maybe you, the voter should be jailed too, according to your rethoric?
I've said it 3 times in other threads on this same post but I'll make it four since apparently I didn't say it on this one. Manslaughter isn't the same. I'm talking about premeditated, malicious intent to rob someone from their family and loved ones. Those people are beyond redemption. Beyond correction. They should not get a second chance.
You keep using those words… “premeditated” and “malicious intent”…
Do you… understand mental illness at all?
Yes, so the cannibal does not belong in prison as you say. There was no premeditated, malicious intent. How could there be, if you're not in the right mind.
Not seeing that is the big issue here.
If the guy was truly determined by actual professionals (aka: not you) to be fit to return to society, then what’s the issue?
What gain does anyone get from unnecessarily punishing him longer? It’s just a waste of time and resources to inflict pain on an individual because people can’t accept that someone can change.
Punishment does very little in the way of teaching a lesson. Do some actual research.
Edit: furthermore, this was an incident of mental illness and a severe psychological break. You can’t punish that out of someone. That makes no sense. This man needed serious help, got it, and has been compliant with his treatment.
An indicator of a capable society would be permanently excluding the people who do such horrid things that it's considered a niche. Another indicator would be not allowing such truly revolting people the ability to circumvent the minimum 20 years for premeditated murder plus whatever fucking cannibalism adds onto it by pleading insanity and having a board of professionals give a thumbs up.
He robbed someone of their life. Of their future. Not by accident or negligence but intentionally and planned. But hey, I hope someone defends the guy that scoops your brain out of your skull, eats it like a steak dinner, then goes free in a couple years because hey, he's all better now :) Utterly absurd.
Clearly you do not have any grasp on mental illness and what it can do to someone.
Consider yourself lucky, I guess.
There's a wide gulf of distance between someone with antisocial personality disorder or psychopathy who fully intends to murder another person and someone experiencing profound psychosis to the point that they don't even know that their own actions are real. This guy was found not guilty by reason of insanity in the first place because he's the latter and not the former. The latter can be safe in public, if adherent to medication regimens, therapy, and monitoring. The former must be housed away from the public for life.
I say that as a healthcare professional with experience with both people who have severe psychiatric disorders and also people who are in prison. The original court found this man actually did not have murderous intent and that makes all the difference.
Since I fully agree with what the commenter you're replying to said, I'll assume you're lumping me into that group too.
Sure, call me insane. Call me crazy. Call me fucking nuts and say I need a straight jacket. Whatever floats your boat.
You're not one of the people that can lock me up though and it's pretty clear why. So just remember that "crazy" motherfuckers like me are driving next to you on the freeway, shopping behind you in the grocery store, living down the hall, etc. We could lose it at any point!
Fear of what you don't understand and ignoring expert opinions are destroying society. Which side of that would you like to be on?
Plus, you're talking to another human being, it's just fucking disrespectful.
Better look over your shoulder then, buddy. We’re everywhere
He wasn't punished. He was "found not guilty of murder by reason of insanity" and placed in a state psychiatric hospital. That's not punishment, that is treatment and care. That's also why he is being released - they have determined that he is stable enough to be back in society. (I have my doubts that he will remain stable without being in a psychiatric hospital but I guess we'll all see.)
"What gain does someone get from unnecessarily punishing him longer?" Safety. If you have someone who commits a premeditated murder (insane or not). Then granting them the opportunity to do it again is a serious risk.
Additionally, schizophrenia doesn't just completely go away. Most cases are episodic, the fact that he is fine now does not mean he's "cured". You at the very minimum need to be able to force continuous treatment until his death.
The fact that punishing people serves little utility, doesn't mean that you should release murderers. The fact that protecting society by imprisoning people, "punishes" the people does not mean that you shouldn't protect society by imprisoning people.
You clearly don’t understand any of the psychology behind this. Stop pretending you do.
Your comment was good and all but really I just want to tell you I love your profile picture. Don’t see enough ODST love out there. The Superintendent was such a great idea
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Murder is 20 to life. How did he get half the minimum sentencing? Ah, plead insanity and then wiggled around the system by getting a clean bill of health so long as he stays on his meds.
What happens if he misses a dose? Hell I missed mine today because I got busy. My blood pressure is a little high but he might decide to kill and eat someone.
Why the fuck is that an acceptable risk to you?
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Man murdered another man, consumed his brain, and got out in half the minimum sentencing time. There is no further context or situation that remedies this, despite how desperate you are to do so.
People who had weed on them get more time then this. My last comment got downvoted but when he does it again I will be here to say I told them so.
That’s just an argument for legalizing weed.
Did you read the party where he was sentenced to 60 years? The system was ready to keep him for basically his whole life.
I'm ready to reform criminals and the insane for anything but murder or especially violent crimes. Nobody's life should be gambled on whether or not we have a perfect understanding of mental health. I get that you disagree but I can't comprehend how. I wouldn't want this guy in my city let alone my state.
“I’m for reforming people, but only if I think it’s okay :)”
-you, essentially
Maybe you missed the part of severe mental health issues?
This guy didn’t just wake up one day and decide “hey, I’m going to eat someone :)”
Do everyone a favor and don’t comment on things you clearly know nothing about.
Well then it’s a good thing you don’t make the rules
Naw this dude is damaged goods. What happens when they cut his meds or if he stops taking it? Other peoples brains gonna be looking very tasty in that group home.
No, this a death penalty thing and that's a mercy. You kill a guy and eat his brains there's no coming back, just kill the bastard cheaply and use the resources to rehabilitate someone that can readjust like a drug user.
Planets fucking full anyways to keep a cannibal alive tbh. Make room for good people.
Technically cannibals would be one solution to a full planet.
Lol you ain't wrong. Maybe we can air drop a bunch into a gated community somewhere 🤔
So, resolve a murder with more murder… Yeah, that’s a real great solution
The problem is our justice system only focuses on the punishment part. Rehabilitation is either non-existent for most inmates or completely inadequate. The likelihood of this man being mentally stable enough to be safely reintegrated into public life is extremely small.
He didn't go to prison though, he went to a pysch ward, seems like exactly the kind of thing you'd be advocating for.
So the fault lies with the inadequacy of the justice and healthcare system. But my point still stands - simply locking someone away does nothing to actually help.
maybe not... a high profile case like this may well have attracted the attention of more competent psychiatrists, or motivated his care team/state to seek it out. it also seems possible to me that his psychosis was very treatable with the right meds, but that he had not been able to access that care previously.
so yeah. mental health care is health care, and in this case it's important not only to the well-being of Mr. Smith but to his community as well. i agree with you that, for the american "justice" system, most cases are treated as it punishment is the correct response.
what exactly is the solution to a fucking murdering cannibal?
Serious mental health treatment, rehabilitation, and medication. Extensive monitoring by mental health professionals, routine check-ins… Basically what they’ve done.
I’m not saying just release the dude, wash their hands of him, and say “good luck”…
The US justice system unfortunately runs on emotion and punishment rather than rehabilitation, thanks in no small part to the whole privatized prison system. The average American would rather see someone suffer than get the help they need. This is a particularly strong mindset ironically among the conservative religious, but there are plenty of liberals who think that way too. This country needs reform on so many systems...