New prison documents show that Tyree Smith, who has been dubbed the “Connecticut Cannibal,” exhibited violent behavior behind bars and was a “serious threat to life” in prison before he was granted release, according to a news report.
Smith confessed to the 2011 killing of a homeless man, Angel Gonzalez, in Connecticut, and he admitted to eating the victim’s body parts in a cemetery.
In 2013, a three-judge panel found Smith not guilty by reason of insanity in the death of Gonzalez. However, he was committed to Connecticut Valley Hospital for 60 years.
Smith was granted a conditional release by the Nutmeg State’s Psychiatric Security Review Board in February 2025, which allows him to leave Connecticut Valley Hospital in Middletown. However, Smith will remain under supervision and will continue to receive mental health services, according to WTNH.
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For months, Smith has been staying full-time at a community facility with strict conditions, treatment and around-the-clock supervision, CBS News reported after the release from the hospital was granted.
Smith’s doctor said the cannibal killer has been rehabilitated and is taking medications to help with psychosis and voices in his head, WTNH reported.
“To quote the director there, he is a joy. He is considered a support to the other people there,” forensic psychiatrist Caren Teitelbaum said. “Once he was stable, he was a really calming presence for other patients.”
“He has maintained clinical stability. Adhered to the medications and continued to engage in group and substance abuse treatment,” Teitelbaum added. “He also denied visual hallucinations and a desire to harm others or himself.”
However, new prison documents obtained by WTNH from the Connecticut Department of Correction suggest otherwise.
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The documents, which the outlet described as revealing a more violent and darker side of Smith, outline several altercations he had with other inmates while serving a portion of his sentence.
In April 2013, the report shows, Smith was held at the Garner Correctional Facility when he was first charged with murder, where his anger appeared with no warning, and a fight took place inside the prison, WTNH reported.
Smith had to be separated from the rest of the prison population and admitted to an officer that the other inmate had “talked trash to him,” so Smith hit him in the face and shoved him to ground, according to the report, which noted that the inmate had not fought back.
Talitha Frazier, Gonzalez’s sister-in-law, told WTNH that the fight was more proof that Smith was unhinged and a threat to society.
“It angers me, and it shocks me, because the whole time you’re in jail, you’re pleading insanity but yet you’re still doing something violent to another person,” Frazier told the outlet.
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Authorities determined that Smith was too dangerous to return to the general inmate population following the brawl. As a result, Smith was placed into segregation, and his file was stamped with a warning saying, “The inmate’s presence poses a serious threat to life, property, other inmates, or facility security.”
In January 2012, a month after he had been hacked to death, Gonzalez’s mutilated body was found in a vacant apartment in Bridgeport, Connecticut, 65 miles northeast of New York City, the Associated Press reported. One of Smith’s cousins, Nicole Rabb, testified that Smith had told her he had eaten part of Gonzalez’s brain and an eyeball while drinking sake.
Smith had warned his cousin that he was going to kill someone, hours before Gonzalez was murdered, Rabb previously told police.
“I mean, I’ve heard of Hannibal Lecter, but I never thought I could have someone in my family who would actually eat someone,” Rabb said.
Following the February announcement of Smith’s release, critics, including Republican state Sen. Paul Cicarella, argued that Smith should not be released and should remain under close watch in a hospital.
“Murder and cannibalism and release in the same sentence. That’s a problem. That’s concerning to me,” he told WFSB.
Cicarella and fellow Republican state Senators Henri Martin, Heather Somers and Stephen Harding called the decision “outrageous” and “mind-boggling.”
“This individual killed and ate part of his victim and was found not guilty by reason of insanity,” the lawmakers said in a statement. “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 send to CT violent crime victims and their families. This person should never be out. We are dumbfounded at this injustice. In what universe is this OK?”
The Connecticut Department of Corrections did not respond to a request for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Landon Mion contributed to this report.
Stepheny Price is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. She covers topics including missing persons, homicides, national crime cases, illegal immigration, and more. Story tips and ideas can be sent to stepheny.price@fox.com
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