Austin Harrouff: Charges, Insanity Ruling, and Current Status

Austin Harrouff is the Florida State University student who, at 19, fatally stabbed a Martin County couple in their open garage in August 2016 and was found biting one victim’s face when deputies arrived. On November 28, 2022, a circuit judge found him not guilty by reason of insanity and committed him indefinitely to a secure state mental health facility, where he remains.¹

The August 2016 Attack

On the evening of August 15, 2016, John Stevens III, 59, a retired landscaping business owner, and his wife Michelle Mishcon, 53, retired from the financial industry, were sitting in the open garage of their home on Southeast Kokomo Lane near Tequesta, Florida. Around 9:20 p.m., Harrouff, who had no connection to the couple, attacked them with a knife.²³

Mishcon died inside the garage. Stevens struggled with Harrouff into the driveway, where Harrouff stabbed him repeatedly and bit off portions of his face. An autopsy found Stevens died from multiple stab wounds and blunt trauma. A neighbor, Jeffrey Fisher, heard screams and came out to help; Harrouff slashed his face and body before Fisher retreated and hid in his backyard.⁴

The first Martin County deputy on scene found Harrouff on top of Stevens, biting his face. A Taser had no effect. Deputies described Harrouff as showing “abnormal levels of strength,” and it took multiple officers and a police K-9 to pull him off.² Harrouff himself was critically injured after ingesting a chemical substance from the victims’ garage during the attack.¹

Sheriff William Snyder later described the randomness: “We have two people — middle-age people — sitting on their couch enjoying the night and out of nowhere for reasons we may never know, they are attacked by a man with a knife who overcomes them both and kills them.”⁵

The Hours Before the Killings

Harrouff was a sophomore at Florida State University studying pre-exercise science and a graduate of Suncoast High School. His father, Wade Harrouff, is a Jupiter-area dentist.⁶ Family members later said he had spent weeks claiming he was “immortal,” possessed “superpowers,” and had a “special gift” to unlock doors; his sister had begun locking her bedroom.⁷ His internet history included searches for “Am I crazy?” and “Schizophrenia.”⁸

The attack came shortly after a family dinner at Duffy’s on Indiantown Road in Jupiter. Harrouff arrived at 7:46 p.m., left and returned to the table multiple times, came back in different clothes, and lunged at his father, shoving him in the chest and face before walking away. Investigative files show his father told his sister they needed to “Baker Act” him under Florida’s involuntary commitment law. His mother reported him missing to police shortly before 9:00 p.m. Less than half an hour later, he attacked the Stevens home.⁹

Charges and the Death Penalty Decision

A Martin County grand jury indicted Harrouff on two counts of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder with a weapon for the attack on Fisher, and armed burglary of a dwelling.¹⁰ He pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.

In August 2017, prosecutors announced they would not seek the death penalty. Assistant State Attorney Jeff Hendriks said the decision came “after careful review of the case and applying the statute that controls the seeking of the death penalty.”¹¹

What Toxicology Showed

Early public speculation focused on flakka or bath salts. Testing did not support it. An FBI toxicology report released in November 2016 found no hallucinogens, bath salts, flakka, cocaine, opioids, or synthetic cannabinoids in Harrouff’s system. The only substances detected were a trace amount of marijuana, ethanol, and medications administered at the hospital during his treatment.¹² Defense attorney Nellie King said samples had been tested at two laboratories on three separate occasions, all returning negative results.¹³

The Mental Illness Findings

Dr. Phillip Resnick, a forensic psychiatrist from University Hospitals of Cleveland, interviewed Harrouff for more than six hours and produced a 38-page report. He diagnosed bipolar disorder and concluded Harrouff was in an acute manic episode with psychotic features at the time of the killings, and identified a rare condition called clinical lycanthropy, in which a person believes they are transforming into a non-human animal.¹⁴

Harrouff told Resnick he had felt “half dog, half man,” believed he could run at superhuman speed, and thought other dogs’ hair was attaching to his face. He also said he believed he was Jesus and that a demonic force was pursuing him. On the day of the attack, he put on a Michael Vick jersey because he believed “dog spirits” told him to, which he said made him feel “invincible.”¹⁵ Journal entries going back to his mid-teens documented long-standing anxiety, depression, and struggles with social acceptance, and by summer 2016 he reported hearing God’s voice and seeing “demonic things.”

Resnick concluded with “reasonable medical certainty” that Harrouff suffered from a severe mental disease and did not know his conduct was wrong, meeting Florida’s legal definition of insanity. He pointed to Harrouff’s continuing to bite the victim even as officers deployed a Taser, threatened lethal force, and kicked him in the head. He explicitly ruled out drug-induced psychosis and rejected the possibility Harrouff was faking, citing journal entries, text messages, and witness accounts from the days beforehand.¹⁴

The state’s own expert conducted neuropsychological testing and also concluded Harrouff was not exaggerating or feigning. Both sides’ experts ultimately agreed he had experienced an acute psychotic episode and could not distinguish right from wrong at the time of the attack.¹³

The 2022 Insanity Ruling

The case spent more than six years in the system, delayed by Harrouff’s recovery from his critical injuries, extensive psychiatric evaluations, and the COVID-19 pandemic. A bench trial was scheduled to begin November 28, 2022, with Harrouff having waived his right to a jury.¹⁶ With the experts on both sides in agreement, Circuit Judge Sherwood Bauer accepted an insanity plea that day and found Harrouff not guilty by reason of insanity. The court found the defense had met the “clear and convincing” evidence standard Florida law requires.¹⁷

Assistant State Attorney Brandon White said the state was “bound by” the facts and the law, noted that its own evaluation had reached the same conclusion, and suggested legislators revisit Florida’s insanity statute.¹⁸

Reactions From the Victims’ Families

Family and friends of the Stevens couple gave impact statements. Cindy Mishcon, Michelle’s sister and an attorney, told Harrouff in court, “Is it really so hard for you to understand that you are a cold-blooded murderer and not a victim?”¹⁹ She said jailhouse phone calls and text messages showed a pattern of drug and alcohol use in the year before the killings and called the verdict “white, rich boy justice.”⁵ Ivy Stevens, John Stevens’s daughter, told Harrouff, “The death of my parents could not have been possible without you.” Defense attorney Nellie King acknowledged the ruling “fails to bring comfort to the families of the victims.”¹⁸

Where Harrouff Is Now

Harrouff was committed to the custody of the Florida Department of Children and Families and transferred from the Martin County Jail to the Florida State Hospital in Chattahoochee on January 26, 2023.²⁰ His commitment is indefinite, and he cannot leave without a court order.

Under Florida law, his attending psychiatrist must file a status report with the court after six months and annually thereafter, recommending whether treatment should continue. If the facility administrator concludes he no longer meets criteria for commitment, the court must hold a hearing within 30 days at which both the state and Harrouff may present evidence and he is entitled to counsel.²⁰ University of Miami law professor Craig Trocino told NBC News the notoriety of the case makes it “highly unlikely” a facility would risk recommending release, effectively making the commitment a life sentence in practical terms.¹

1
NBC News. Judge Accepts Insanity Plea Deal in Florida Face-Biting Case
2
TCPalm. Austin Harrouff Arrested in August Double Slayings
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Tallahassee Democrat. Who Were John Stevens and Michelle Mishcon
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WPTV. Jeff Fisher, Surviving Victim of Austin Harrouff Attacks, Gives His Story to Investigators
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CNN. Florida Killings Face Biting
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CBS12. Who Is Austin Harrouff
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WPBF. Exclusive Video Shows Austin Harrouff Fighting on Night of Attack
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People. Austin Harrouff Florida State Insanity
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Palm Beach Post. Investigative Files Speak to Harrouff
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TCPalm. FBI Returns Blood Tests for Austin Harrouff
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WPTV. State Will Not Pursue Death Penalty for Austin Harrouff
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Fox 32 Chicago. FBI: No Hallucinogens Found in System of Face-Biting Suspect
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WPTV. Austin Harrouff Found Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity
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Sun-Sentinel. Face-Biting Murder Suspect Believed He Was Half-Dog, Half-Man, Doctor Says
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CBS News. Austin Harrouff Forensic Psychological Evaluation Report
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WPTV. Austin Harrouff Murder Trial Starts Monday in Martin County
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WQCS. Austin Harrouff Found Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity
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WPBF. Florida Austin Harrouff Trial Face-Biting Attack
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CBS News. Austin Harrouff Insanity Plea Deal Accepted
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TCPalm. Ruled Insane, Killer Austin Harrouff Moved From Jail to State Hospital