(WSVN) - A Martin County deputy and neighbor relived and described the day a South Florida man killed a couple and mauled their faces.
Deputy Wayne Trocan responded to the crime scene on Aug. 15, 2016 where, investigators said, then 19-year-old Austin Harrouff killed Michelle Mishcon and John Stevens in their Jupiter home.
When deputies arrived, Harrouff was eating Stevens’ face. Officials said Stevens’ face and body were sliced, but Harrouff continued the attack.
“I saw a huge, giant trail of blood,” said Trocan. “He had his legs intertwined. His arm wrapped around the male and he had his fingers like a fish hook in his mouth pulling his face off, trying to pull his cheek apart and he was growling.”
A neighbor, Jeff Fisher, said he heard the commotion and tried to intervene.
“He turned and looked at me and said, ‘You want no part of this, you don’t want no part of me.’ One of the two, and then from his right hand, swung,” said Fisher.
Eventually, deputies used a police dog to try and take Harrouff off the couple, but that also failed.
“Dog grabbed his arm, pulled it off,” said Trocan. “Suspect ripped it out of the dog’s mouth and went in for a deeper hold.”
The deputy said it took repeated kicks to the head — as many as 10 — to finally get Harrouff away from the victims.
“I kicked him in his head,” said Trocan. “His head came off for a second and then he went right back in and took a deeper grapple hold.”
Trocan was able to place a handcuff on Harrouff’s wrist and drag him away. Stevens was hospitalized due to his injuries.
“I got to this general area here, and I was out of breath,” said Fisher. “I could feel some of the pain.”
In a televised interview, Harrouff said he said he was not on drugs and doesn’t know what happened to him that day.
Harrouff is now awaiting trial on first-degree murder charges.. He was also charged with attempted murder for the attack on Fisher.
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