Connecticut ‘Cannibal Killer’ granted conditional release decade after eating homeless victim’s eye, brain

By Chris Harris

Published Feb. 22, 2025, 1:53 p.m. ET

A confessed killer institutionalized after murdering a homeless man and eating parts of his body in a Connecticut cemetery could soon be walking among us once again — and local politicians are none too happy about it.

Tyree Smith, dubbed the “Cannibal Killer” by local journalists, was granted a “conditional release” Friday by the Nutmeg State’s Psychiatric Security Review Board — meaning he’ll be allowed to leave Connecticut Valley Hospital in Middletown for supervised jaunts, WFSB reported.

The decision was made after doctors who’ve been treating Smith said he’s been fully rehabilitated, thanks to medications that quelled the voices in his head.

https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/99003117.jpg?quality=75&strip=all

“To quote the director there, he is a joy. He is considered a support to the other people there,” forensic psychiatrist Dr. Caren Teitelbaum said.

“Once he was stable, he was a really calming presence for other patients.”

However, Republican state Sen. Paul Cicarella said he doesn’t buy it — and that Smith should not be allowed out into the community.

“Murder and cannibalism and release in the same sentence … that’s a problem,” he said in a statement to WFSB. “That’s concerning to me.”

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In 2013, Smith was committed to Connecticut Valley Hospital for 60 years, after a three-judge panel found him not guilty by reason of insanity in the 2011 killing and cannibalization of Angel Gonzalez, 43.

Smith admitted to killing Gonzalez — who was homeless — with an ax inside an abandoned home in Bridgeport before removing parts of his brain, one of his eyeballs and several organs.

He then consumed the body parts at Lakeview Cemetery, washing them down with sake.

Angel Gonzalez: https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/99003092.jpg?quality=75&strip=all

Gonzalez’s sister-in-law, Talitha Frazier, spoke during Friday’s hearing and urged the board to keep Smith inside the hospital.

“How do we really know he’s not going to do this again?” Frazier asked, according to CTPost. “He had no remorse for killing Angel.”

Smith, who is a diagnosed schizophrenic, will first receive day passes but will be confined to the hospital’s grounds. As he continues to make progress, he’ll receive more privileges, like supervised off-site visits.

Connecticut politicians, like Cicarella and State Sens. Henry Martin, Heather Somers, and Stephen Harding said they fear Smith could pose a public threat should he stop taking his medications.

“This terrible decision puts public safety in jeopardy and is yet another terrible message to send to CT violent crime victims and their families. This person should never be out,” they said in a statement.

“We are dumbfounded at this injustice. In what universe is this OK?”

https://nypost.com/2025/02/22/us-news/conn-cannibal-killer-granted-conditional-release-decade-after-eating-victims-eye-brain/

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5684651&forum_id=2#48686118)

"Why would we ask [Smith] if he wants to get out of prison? Since when do we ask murderers if they want to be released early?"

http://hartfordnews.com/breaking/local/axe-murderer-set-for-early-release.htm

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5684651&forum_id=2#48686139)