Tyree Smith was granted a conditional release by the Nutmeg State’s Psychiatric Security Review Board.
HARTFORD, CT- Only in a blue state. A board in Connecticut decided on Friday to release a man after serving only 20% of a 60-year psychiatric committal for murdering a man with an axe and then cannibalizing the corpse, according to the Hartford Courant.
The decision came down from the Connecticut Psychiatric Security Review Board after a hearing earlier in the day where a team of psychiatric doctors and clinical professionals who have worked with the man, Tyree Smith, testified.
The insane lunatic who committed the horrifying crime did not appear at the hearing based on his attorney’s advice, who noted the media attention the case has gotten and safety concerns. Instead, he attended the hearing virtually. Smith has been referred to as the “Cannibal Killer” by local journalists. Under the release, Smith will be able to leave the Connecticut Valley Hospital in Middletown, CT. for supervised releases, WFSB in Hartford reported.
“To quote the director there [Connecticut Valley Hospital], 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.”
That didn’t sit well with Republican State Sen. Paul Cicarella, who said that Smith should not be allowed 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.”
According to The New York Post, Smith was committed to Connecticut Valley Hospital for 60 years after a three-judge judicial panel found him not guilty by reason of insanity for the brutal murder in 2011 of Angel Gonzalez, 43.
“The board previously determined that Mr. Smith has demonstrated long-term stability, remained engaged in all recommended treatments, and consistently followed his care plan,” Vanessa Cardella, a spokesperson for the Board, said in a statement. “His release will be conditional, ensuring that he remains under structured supervision and continues receiving the necessary mental health services.
“Before being considered for conditional release, individuals first go through a temporary leave process, where they remain under hospital supervision while gradually increasing their time in the community,” Cardella continued. “This phased approach ensures stability before conditional release, allowing individuals to build relationships with outpatient providers while maintaining high levels of oversight. Conditional release continues this supervision with strict conditions to prioritize both public safety and the individual’s ongoing treatment. Rehabilitation, not punishment, is the goal for all individuals found not guilty by reason of insanity.”
The grizzly case came about when Gonzales’s decomposing body was discovered in an abandoned building on Jan. 20, 2012, in Bridgeport, CT. He had severe wounds to his face and head, the Courant said.
Smith’s cousin, Nicole Rabb, told police that Smith had arrived at her house in mid-December 2011 and told her he had “to get blood on his hands,” according to an arrest warrant affidavit. He said he was going to Beardsley Park and his former home. The next day, he returned to her home with blood on his pants and was carrying an ax. He told Rabb he wanted to take a bath.
Rabb told investigators that Smith told her he was asleep on the second-floor porch at 216 Brooks St. when a man invited him to come up to the third floor to get out of the cold. Smith then said he beat the man with an ax, noting he had done it so severely that he removed one of the man’s eyes from Gonzalez, as long as pieces of his skull and brain matter, the Courant reported.
Smith then said he went to Lakeview Cemetery, where he admitted “he ate they eyeball, which tasted like an oyster, and the brain matter,” the arrest warrant affidavit read.
After being ruled not guilty due to insanity, he spent 10 years at the Whiting Forensic Hospital. In 2023, the review board granted him temporary leave privileges.
During the hearing on Friday, Teitelbaum testified that in November 2023, Smith was granted his first overnight stay away from Whiting. By April 2024, he was spending seven days a week away from Whiting. She told the panel that Smith had spent the past nine months “full time” in the community at a facility and was under 24/7 supervision.
She further said that in the past seven years, Smith has not had any periods of psychosis, delusions, paranoia, or desires to hurt anyone, all of which she said led up to the brutal murder of Gonzalez. She also said Smith was abusing substances at the time of the crime, including alcohol, opioids, and cannabis.
“He has a lot of remorse about what has happened,” she said.
Gonzalez’s family was clearly unhappy about the release. Talitha Frazier, his sister-in-law, told the board she was there on behalf of the entire family. She said the family was not aware of any previous hearings when restrictions against Smith were loosened, and had they known, they would have opposed it.
She further said she continually called Whiting and was, at one point, told to stop, with the secretary telling her Smith “was not going anywhere.” She admitted she let her “guard down” and stopped calling when she learned Smith was no longer being held at the hospital after seeing a social media post about his release.
Frazier said the Gonzalez family is highly concerned about their safety and has sought protective orders against Smith. Frazier also said the family believes the “voices” in Smith’s head could be telling him to lie to doctors about their presence in order to get released.
“How do we really know he’s not going to do this again?” Frazier asked.
The family does not believe they received justice for what happened to Gonzalez.
“I don’t want to see anything bad happen to this man, but I don’t want anything bad to happen to another person either,” she said.
She asked Smith be returned to Whiting, where he won’t be able to hurt others.
Meanwhile, Republicans in the state Senate slammed the decision by the review board.
“Outrageous. Mind-boggling,” said Sens Heather Somers, Paul Cicarella, Henri Martin, and Stephen Harding. “This individual killed and ate part of his victim and was found not guilty by reason of insanity,” they wrote. “His victim’s family raised objections about his release. What about them? Where is the justice for them?
“This terrible decision puts public safety in
jeopardy and is yet another terrible message to sent to CT violent
crime victims and their families. This person should never be out,” the
senators added. “We are dumbfounded at this injustice."
"In what universe is this ok?”
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