It could probably be described as one of the more grizzly crimes in recent memory when one former mixed martial arts fighter 29 year old Jarrod Wyatt high on mushrooms savaged his 21 year old friend and sparring partner, Taylor Powell by tearing out his tongue, face and whilst still alive tearing out his heart which police officers later found charred in an oven.
According to court documents at the time of arrest, Wyatt was found naked and covered in blood from head to toe, still suffering from the delusional effects of ingesting mushrooms that he and his victim and former friend had consumed earlier.
The responding officer, police Sgt Elwood Lee, said Wyatt told him that he he seen the devil in Powell’s face and that ‘Satan was in that dude.’
Del Norte County District attorney Jon Alexander had wanted to charge Wyatt with premeditated murder whilst Wyatt’s attorney, James Fallman insisted that his client was too high to have planned the murder and that he would succumb to a plea of second degree murder which would have seen Wyatt receive 41 years. A deal that Alexander rejected. Only at the last minute when Wyatt decided he wanted to spare the family of the victim from testifying did his lawyer, James Fallman strike a deal with the DA which saw Wyatt plead guilty to first degree murder which will probably land him a 50 year sentence. There had been fears from the defense that had the jury seen the grizzly photos of the mayhem that had ensued a jury might not be so forthcoming and might have quite possibly had Wyatt face multiple life sentences.
Offered James Fallman:
”He didn’t want to put the mother of the victim through this (trial) and have the photos paraded in front of 12 people.’
Wyatt is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 4 at the Del Norte County Superior Courthouse.
Of course what strikes this author as bizarre and incriminating is why Wyatt after hacking his friend to death then took his heart and attempted to cook it, was this his way of further disempowering his victim, empowering himself or just an amusing after thought now that he had gone the whole mile?
It’s unlikely that mushrooms would do this, most of course have no problems, but it is possible to lose your sense of reality on hallucinogens and do things like this. The kicker is that people really won’t do what they aren’t already capable of… so this guy was already capable of extreme and deranged violence.
this is such bullshit. Is the fucking government paying to you spread these lies? nobody on mushrooms would ever hurt another person. Maybe fall to the ground laughing and give them a hug and tell them you love them. but not eat their heart. I promise.
Very clever calling this crime “grizzly” (whether intentional or not). It was both grisly AND “grizzly”.