Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Face-biting suspect says killings a ‘blur’
Interview with TV’s Dr. Phil released by court
Austin Harrouff wept over the brutal face-biting killings of a Jupiter couple last year. He apologized to the victims’ families on camera, expressing shame and regret.
A recording of an emotional 22 minutes between Harrouff and TV show host Dr. Phil was released Tuesday, for the first time revealing Harrouff’s account of events on camera.
Dr. Phil spoke with Harrouff via video conference while he was in the hospital in October, just days before authorities moved Harrouff to a jail on murder charges.
“Is it hard for you to imagine that you did this to these two people?” asked Phil McGraw, the psychologist who appears on syndicated television.
“Yea. It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever gone through, er, I never imag-
ined that this would ever happen,” Harrouff, then 19, said.
The interview never aired. A judge last week allowed for its release to the news media, and an appeals court agreed.
During the interview, Harrouff had a hard time recalling many details of the killings, describing it as a “blur.”
McGraw asked Harrouff what the teen would tell the families of John Stevens, 59, and his wife, Michelle Mishcon, 53. Harrouff sobbed.
“I’m so sorry and I never wanted this to happen,” Harrouff said. “I’m so sorry.”
The Florida State University student was visiting family and friends on summer break last year when he got in an argument with his father and ran away from a family dinner at a sports bar in Jupiter, records show.
After walking several miles, he randomly killed the couple at their Jupiter home, authorities said.
Harrouff has pleaded not guilty to second- and first-degree murder with a weapon, as well as attempted first-degree murder and burglary.
Family members told investigators Harrouff was acting erratically in the days leading up to the arrest.
On the day of the killings, Harrouff told his sister and a friend he was “immortal” and a “halfhuman, half-horse,” according to court records.
He told McGraw he has a faint memory of stripping off his clothes, drinking something that burned his throat and grabbing a weapon from the garage of the Jupiter couple he is accused of murdering.
While crime scene pics showed a pocketknife with a 3-inch blade covered in blood and hair, Harrouff told McGraw he thinks he grabbed a machete from the corner of the garage. He said he doesn’t remember why.
He also said he has no memory of attacking a neighbor who intervened after hearing the screams from across the street.
“I don’t remember fighting or stabbing him. I don’t remember how my hands got like this,” he said.
Harrouff said most of what happened is a “blur.”
“When you saw that picture and realized that these were the people that this has happened to, how did you feel?” asked McGraw.
“I felt terrible and I really don’t have words to explain how I feel. It’s like, it’s like a nightmare,” Harrouff said.
At one point in the interview, Harrouff said there was no plan behind the attacks.
“And I’m deeply sorry to the family that was affected and I hope that something like this never happens again,” Harrouff said. “I didn’t ever want to consciously do something like this, er, I never planned it. I didn’t want to do it.”
At the time, authorities questioned whether Harrouff was under the influence of drugs such as flakka, bath salts or steroids. However, tests later showed there was no trace of such substances.
Of the 53 videos posted to Harrouff ’s YouTube account throughout 2016, a handful show him focusing on fitness tips and sometimes expressing his distaste for steroids.
He reiterated those sentiments to McGraw, saying he “never, never tried it once. Never.”
He also denied taking any flakka or bath salts, or being drugged. “I drank some tea at [the sports bar], so I was told, so I don’t think they would poison me or anyone would poison me,” he said.
McGraw also asked Harrouff about drinking something from the garage that burned his esophagus.
Harrouff said he “didn’t want to talk about that” but said whatever he drank caused him to go into a coma, leading to his hospitalization.
He talked with McGraw with his father, Wade Harrouff, at his side. Wade Harrouff had appeared the month before on McGraw’s show to talk about the case in a separate interview. Harrouff’s attorney said it’s unclear how the interview happened while Harrouff was under guard by Martin County Sheriff’s deputies and without his lawyers’ knowledge.
“Sensationalizing the details of this case pre-trial does nothing to advance justice in the courtroom,” his attorney, Nellie King, said in a statement.
Regardless, King said the video demonstrates the deterioration of Harrouff ’s mental health.
Toward the video’s end, Harrouff agreed with McGraw that he has lost touch with reality for weeks at a time. He also affirmed feelings of grandiosity and paranoia.
The family of the victims couldn’t be reached for comment Tuesday. John Stevens IV, the victims’ son, has called on prosecutors to seek the death penalty.
Paul Petruzzi, a South Florida criminal defense attorney, said the video could impact Harrouff’s chances to get an impartial jury.
“Certainly the public has a right to know, but you also have to balance that with a young man’s right to a fair trial,” Petruzzi said.
Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Lawrence Mirman, who decided the video would be released, said he didn’t think exposing jurors to the video will affect Harrouff ’s ability to get a fair trial, records show.
He said the interview doesn’t amount to a confession to first-degree murder or any other charged crime, according to court documents.