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Thanksgiving lunch shows appreciation for volunteers at St. Jude’s School

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Judge rejects bid to reverse high school football result

<p>STUART, Fla. (AP) &#8212; The Florida college student accused of randomly killing a couple and chewing on the dead man&#8217;s face had no detectable hallucinogenic drugs in his system, according an FBI toxicology report released Wednesday.</p><p>Austin Harrouff had a trace of amount of marijuana in his system when he allegedly killed John Stevens, 59, and his 53-year-old wife, Michelle Mishcon, outside their Tequesta-area home Aug. 15, according to the report.</p><p>Martin County Sheriff William Snyder had previously speculated that Harrouff may have been on flakka or bath salts, but those drugs were not detected.</p><p>Harrouff, 19, was hospitalized for two months after the killings for a burned esophagus, possibly from ingesting chemicals found in the couple&#8217;s garage.</p><p>Nellie King, Harrouff&#8217;s attorney, said in a statement Wednesday that her client is mentally ill.</p><p>&#8220;The judicial process will bear all of this out in due time,&#8221; King said.</p><p>Prosecutors declined comment.</p><p>Harrouff has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and other charges. He could face the death penalty if convicted.</p><p>Deputies had said that when they arrived at the couple&#8217;s home, they found the then-muscular former high school football player and wrestler in his underwear, making animal noises and biting Stevens&#8217; face as he pinned his victim&#8217;s body to the driveway.</p><p>According to court documents, one deputy ordered Harrouff off Stevens at gunpoint while another used an electric stun gun on him but he wouldn&#8217;t let go. Snyder has said the deputies didn&#8217;t shoot Harrouff because they feared hitting Stevens.</p><p>Finally, a deputy with a dog arrived and its bites enabled deputies to subdue Harrouff. Mishcon&#8217;s body was found in the garage.</p><p>Harrouff, who had no previous arrest record, told deputies, &#8220;Help me, I ate something bad&#8221; and then admitted it was &#8220;humans&#8221; as he spit out a piece of flesh, court documents show. He begged deputies to kill him after they pulled him off Stevens&#8217; body, according to the records.</p><p>&#8220;Shoot me now, I deserve to die,&#8221; Harrouff said.</p><p>Less than an hour before the attack, Harrouff was having dinner with his father, sister and a friend at a restaurant about 4 miles from the victims&#8217; house when he apparently had words with his father. Surveillance video shows him calmly walking out about 45 minutes before the stabbings, and his family was concerned.</p><p>His mother, unaware of the attack, called police to report him missing; she said he had been acting strangely for about a week, claiming to have superpowers and to have been sent here to help people.</p><p>The victims lived a short distance from Harrouff&#8217;s father and were known to sit in their garage with the door open, watching television and chatting with passers-by.</p><p>Harrouff&#8217;s parents issued a statement days after the slayings expressing their condolences to the Stevens family and apologies to neighbor Jeff Fisher, who was stabbed as he tried to rescue the couple.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">FILE - This Oct. 3, 2016, file photo, provided by the Martin County Sheriff&#8217;s Office, shows Austin Harrouff. Public records released Monday, Oct. 31, 2016, show Harrouff, who is accused of killing a couple and chewing on the dead man&#8217;s face told deputies, &#8220;Help me, I ate something bad&#8221; and then admitted it was &#8220;humans.&#8221; (Martin County Sheriff&#8217;s Office via AP, File) </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_AP16306550319155.jpg</photo0><caption0>FILE - This Oct. 3, 2016, file photo, provided by the Martin County Sheriff&#8217;s Office, shows Austin Harrouff. Public records released Monday, Oct. 31, 2016, show Harrouff, who is accused of killing a couple and chewing on the dead man&#8217;s face told deputies, &#8220;Help me, I ate something bad&#8221; and then admitted it was &#8220;humans.&#8221; (Martin County Sheriff&#8217;s Office via AP, File) </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Terry Spencer</p><p>Associated Press</p></bylineMeta></div>

FBI: No hallucinogens found in system of face-biting suspect