The sister-in-law of a ‘cannibal killer’s’ victim is speaking out after she received the devastating news that her relative’s murderer has been freed. 

Tyree Smith, 35, was found not guilty by reason of insanity after he was accused of brutally killing Angel Gonzalez with an axe and eating parts of his body in December 2011. 

Smith admitted to the heinous crimes, but a three-judge panel decided in July 2013 that his history with mental illness qualified for the insanity plea, and he was committed to Whiting Forensic Hospital. 

Gonzalez’s family was left grief-ridden and paralyzed with fear that the killer would one day return. 

So much so that Gonzalez’s sister-in-law, Talitha Frazier said she called the hospital multiple times a month for five years to ensure Smith was still there. 

She was riddled with anxiety, thinking that she saw her brother-in-law’s killer on the street when he was in a psychiatric facility. 

Frazier said a secretary at the facility told her to stop calling and assured her that Smith would be in their care for a long time. 

Then, a few weeks ago Frazier’s worst fears became a reality when Connecticut’s Psychiatric Security Review Board granted Smith conditional release.

Talitha Frazier told WFSB News that her family now lives in fear after her brother-in-law’s killer was released 

Smith was arrested on January 23, 2012, in Lynn Haven, Florida after killing Gonzalez in Bridgeport, Connecticut 

Angel ‘Tun Tun’ Gonzalez died in December 2011, but his mangled body was not found until January 2012. Talitha Frazier holds a photograph of her brother-in-law

‘We got blindsided. We got hit with a big one,’ Frazier told local ABC affiliate WFSB News when recalling her and her family’s reaction to Smith’s release. 

Smith was sentenced to 60 years in a psychiatric hospital, but a review board determined in September 2023 that his auditory and visual hallucinations had stopped. 

Doctors said that Smith was a ‘joy’ to be around and provided support for the other patients. 

They added that the medication had ‘stabilized’ Smith and he was no longer hearing voices in his head that told him to incite violence. 

Dr Caren Teitelbaum, a forensic psychiatrist told the review board that once Smith was stable, he had a ‘calming presence’. 

‘I truly believe the voices in his head that he’s hearing are telling him, “Tell the doctors you don’t hear us, so you can get out,”’ Frazier told the outlet. She added that she and her family feel like Smith, ‘beat the system’. 

Frazier is not accepting an apology from Smith for murdering Gonzalez, a homeless man who had let Smith into the apartment he was squatting in to escape the cold. 

‘It’s not fair. He gets to be in contact with his son, reunite with his son. He now gets to talk to his dad, Frazier told WFSB in her sit-down interview. 

‘Well I don’t get to talk to my brother-in-law… so sorry. I don’t want his apology. He’d have to talk to God about that.’ 

Tyree Smith pictured during his arraignment on murder charges

Smith sat with his attorney, public defender Joseph Bruckmann at the state Superior Court 

Angel ‘Tun Tun’ Gonzalez died at the hands of the cannibal

Smith has been reintegrating into society since September 2023 when he was placed in a group home on ‘temporary leave’ from the hospital. 

‘Tyree Smith is an individual with a psychiatric illness requiring care, custody and treatment,’ the report detailing his leave read. 

‘Since his last hearing, Tyree Smith has continued to demonstrate clinical stability. Mr. Smith is medication compliant, actively engaged in all recommended forms of treatment and has been symptom-free for many years.’

After his stay in the group home, the review board determined on February 21 that Smith was ready for a conditional release. 

Even though Smith will be allowed back into the community, he will have strict limitations. 

Psychiatric Review Board Executive Director Vanessa Cardella told the CT Post that conditional release is not ‘markedly different’ from temporary leave, with the only difference being that the patient has been discharged from the hospital. 

‘The status of Temporary Leave and Conditional Release always involve very high levels of supervision, restrictions and support to ensure both community safety and the well-being of the acquittee, which is the Psychiatric Security Review Board’s mission,’ she clarified. 

However, the doctors did admit at the hearing that it is vital for Smith to stay on his medication, and he could once again become a danger to society if he goes off it.  

The gruesome crime occurred in an abandoned apartment building where Smith used to live 

Smith pictured with his attorney during his arraignment in Connecticut on February 1, 2012 

What to know about the case 

The formal discharge marks a years-long saga in the shocking case of the ‘Connecticut cannibal killer’. 

Police were first alerted of the crime back on December 15, 2011, when he arrived at his cousin Nicole Rabb’s house and told her he wanted to get ‘blood on his hands’. 

He then told her he was planning on going to an abandoned home where he used to live, which was where Gonzalez was currently squatting. 

The following day Rabb saw her cousin with blood on his pants, carrying chopsticks and a bloody axe. He then chillingly admitted that he had ‘gotten his blood’. 

Gonzalez was remembered in a tribute after he was brutally murdered 

Smith admitted to eating the victim’s eyes, saying that they ‘tasked like an oyster’ at a nearby cemetery while drinking sake. 

Over a month later, an inspector for a mortgage company found Gonzalez’s body in the abandoned home. 

Frazier previously said that she remembered seeing Smith on the street, but had no idea that he was her brother-in-law’s killer. 

Smith was arrested on January 23, 2012, and charged with murder. He was found not guilty that following year after Yale University psychiatrist Dr. Reena Kapoor testified that he suffered from psychotic incidents where he heard voices that told him to kill people. 

At the time, Frazier was sat in the courthouse and screamed, ‘Justice has been served! I don’t care where he serves the rest of his life as long as it’s behind locked doors.’ 

Over a decade later, the doors have been unlocked and Smith has now reentered society.