LONDON – An American cage fighter accused of ripping out the heart of his training partner while he was still alive will be charged with murder and torture, though his lawyer blamed the killing on a psychotic fit.
Jarrod Wyatt (picture), also cut out his friend’s tongue and tore off most of his face in a brutal assault in Klamath, California, that police said looked like a scene from a horror film.
They found the 26 year old standing naked over his friend’s body with body parts, including an eyeball, strewn around the blood splattered room.
Wyatt told police he had drunk a cup of tea spiked with hallucinogenic mushrooms and became convinced his close friend Taylor Powell was possessed.
According to an autopsy, Mr Powell, 21, bled to death after his heart was ripped out. The coroner said he was still alive when his chest was sliced open with a knife.
Wyatt told the police he had thrown the heart into a fire along with other organs that he had removed from the body. He told investigators he cooked the body parts because he was fearful Mr Powell was still alive and he “needed to stop the devil”.
Police had been called to the grisly scene after a third friend had witnessed a sudden mood change in Wyatt after they had all ingested the wild mushroom tea.
Mr Justin Davis told police he returned to the flat to find Wyatt naked and covered from head to toe in blood. He also saw Mr Powell’s mutilated body.
Lawyer James Fallman, who represents Wyatt, has claimed the wild mushrooms caused his client to act in such a violent way and he had no control over his actions.
“My client was trying to silence the devil,” he said. “I think he was having a psychotic fit based on the mushrooms he had.”
In an attempt to get the charges lowered, the lawyer also tried to argue that Wyatt believed Mr Powell was threatening his ex-girlfriend and overreacted trying to defend her. AGENCIES
[From TODAYonline | World | Cage fighter who ripped out partner’s heart charged]