Father
Of Florida Teen Tells Dr. Phil That Mental Illness, Not Flakka Caused Murder
Spree
By Dr.Fourkan Ali
“This
is the biggest nightmare I could ever dream of. I’m deeply sorry for what my
son did to those people.”
Dr. Phil fittingly grabbed the first interview with the father
of the Florida "face-biting" college student who murdered two people
in August. Wade Harrouff, the father of 19-year-old Austin Harrouff, insisted
that mental illness—and not drugs—was the cause of the gruesome attack.
The evening of August 15, Austin Harrouff reportedly beat
53-year-old Michelle Mishcon to death, then stabbed and killed her husband,
59-year-old John Stevens. Martin County Sheriff William Snyder said police found Harrouff "on top of [Stevens], clutching him
in a bear hug and biting him in the face." It took three officers, a
police dog and several tasings to finally pry the teenager off of Stevens.
In an interview set to air September 7, Wade Harrouff told
Dr. Phil that his son suffers from schizophrenia, and is convinced the
murders were “not flakka-induced.” He said Austin is “a good person” and “would never knowingly do something” as
heinous as his alleged crimes.
"This is the biggest nightmare I could ever dream of. I’m
deeply sorry for what my son did to those people," he said.
According to a gym buddy of Austin's, only identified as
"Logan," Harrouff’s family had informed him that “he started hearing voices
in his head a week before it
happened and wasn't able to sleep.”
Logan also ruled out drugs being a factor in the
murders. “He wasn’t on flakka, at least I'm confident he wasn't,"
Logan told local news outlet WPBF. "He never smoked weed or drank alcohol
until college and never liked doing drugs so it's hard to believe that he would
jump straight to that."
But despite the beliefs of his family and friends, Sheriff
Snyder says Austin exhibited many of the symptoms commonly found in flakka
users. Marijuana, methamphetamine and cocaine were ruled out as possible
substances involved in the attack.
Austin awoke from an 11-day
coma last week. Even while
completely unresponsive, he was monitored by authorities at St. Mary’s Medical
Center in West Palm Beach. Martin County officials said he is now “awake and
responsive,” but still unable to provide a statement.
Austin will be charged with two counts of first-degree
murder and one of first-degree attempted murder as soon as he’s in a position
to face them.
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