Judge accepts insanity plea deal for man in face-biting case

By FREIDA FRISARO
Associated Press

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A judge has accepted a plea deal for a man who randomly killed a Florida couple in their garage six years ago and then chewed on one victim’s face. Twenty-five-year-old Austin Harrouff pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to two counts of first-degree murder and other charges for the 2016 slayings of 59-year-old John Stevens and his wife, 53-year-old Michelle Mishcon Stevens. The agreement avoids a trial that had been scheduled to start Monday. Harrouff will be committed to a secure mental health facility until doctors and a judge agree that he is no longer dangerous. He could have faced life in prison. A number of family members of the slain couple expressed anger at the decision.