Maryland Man Pleads Guilty But Not Criminally Responsible in Cannibalism Case

A former Maryland college student who told authorities he killed a man and ate his heart and parts of his brain has pleaded guilty but not criminally responsible to murder.

Alex Kinyua, 22, entered the plea Monday morning in Harford County Circuit Court.

He is charged with first-degree murder in the May 2012 death of a family friend who had been staying with Kinyua's family in Joppatowne, a Baltimore suburb.

Kinyua told investigators he had eaten the heart and brain of 37-year-old Kujoe Bonsafo Agyei-Kodie, according to charging documents.

Kinyua, a U.S. citizen originally from Kenya, admitted using a knife to kill and carve up Agyei-Kodie before eating his organs, the Harford County Sheriff's Office said.

He has been committed to the health department.

Judge Stephen Waldron said he had concerns about accepting the plea, but had to accept psychiatrists' determinations that Kinyua could not be held criminally responsible.

Authorities say Kinyua ranted about "human sacrifices" on Facebook before the slaying.

In a separate case, Kinyua pleaded guilty but not criminally responsible in a baseball bat attack at Morgan State University, where he had been a student.

The victim in that case was left blinded by the attack. He said last year that he believed Kinyua may have been planning to eat his organs, too.

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