Tyree Lincoln Smith, a Florida man who allegedly beat a homeless Connecticut man to death with an axe, and then ate his eyeball and parts of his brain, is having his fate decided by a three-judge panel starting this week.

At the time of his arrest in January 2012, Smith told police the man's eyeball tasted like an oyster and his brain tasted like "women's come."

The panel is trying to decide whether the man that's been dubbed the "Bridgeport Hannibal Lecter" by Connecticut papers is guilty of murder, or is insane.

In December of 2012, Smith had visited his cousin's home in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and told her he needed to get blood on his hands, according to police reports.

The very next day, Smith returned to her house holding an axe, and covered in blood.

Smith then confessed to having killed a homeless man named Angel Gonzalez with the axe.

Gonzalez, Smith said, had been squatting in a home that used to belong to Smith. The homeless man invited him in, where Smith bludgeoned him with the axe, before taking pieces of the body to a graveyard. There, Smith ate the man's body parts with some wine.

A building inspector discovered Gonzalez's body more than a month after the murder. Days after that, Smith's cousin went to the police and told them about the night he came to her home covered in another man's blood.

Smith's cousin helped cops track him down with a cellphone, and found him living in Florida, where he was eventually arrested.

He had apparently boarded a bus the very same day Gonzalez's body had been discovered.

Now the "Bridgeport Hannibal Lecter" is facing up to 60 years in prison, should he be convicted of murder.

He might also be released if he's found not guilty by reason of insanity, and the judges deem him not to be a threat to himself or others. Smith could also be committed to a mental hospital for the remainder of his life.

Follow Chris Joseph on Twitter

Follow @NewTimesBroward