Austin Harrouff, the 22-year-old man accused of killing a couple in Florida, just got a potential boost for his insanity defense. The judge in the case ruled on April 15 that the defense can show video of Harrouff struggling against his hospital restraints, per the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
The Florida State University student was found at the home of John Stevens and Michelle Mischcon in August 2016, growling and chewing the deceased 59-year-old man’s face, according to police. Harrouf, who was 19 at the time of the murders, was charged with killing the couple.
A mental health assessment by forensic psychiatrist Dr. Phillip Resnick and released in March said that Harrouff believed he was “half-dog, half-man,” showed “clinical signs of lycanthropy delusions” and had “severe mental disease.”
“The fact that Mr. Harrouff persisted in biting the male victim in the presence of police officers, in spite of threats of being shot, being tased and receiving multiple kicks to the head, suggests Mr. Harrouff was actively psychotic,” Resnick, who was hired by Harrouff’s team, also wrote, according to the Sun-Sentinel.
The defense also included in Monday’s motion an email from a deputy who was guarding Harrouff at the hospital. According to CBS 12 News, the guard wrote that the defendant “keeps waking up from full sedation and trying to kick and get his hands loose,” noting that a nurse had said “a normal person should never wake up with the amount of sedation he is on.”
