Real-life Hannibal Lecter who ate face of naked homeless man identified as Rudy Eugene, 31
Cannibal was gunned down by cops during grisly crime
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By Helen Kennedy / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
This is the face of the naked homeless man who was gunned down by a Miami cop while eating the face of another nude man.
Rudy Eugene, 31, appears smug and defiant in an old police mug shot shown on a TV news station Monday night.
The real-life Hannibal Lecter was shot to death Saturday in one of Florida’s most bizarre crimes.
MAN FIGHTS TO LIVE AFTER FACE IS EATEN BY NAKED ATTACKER IN MIAMI
His victim, an unidentified homeless man, was clinging to life at a Miami hospital Monday.
His face was reported to be barely identifiable as that of a human.
Eugene's criminal record showed he was arrested several times in the last few years, but none involved a violent crime. The only exception was when he was 16, when he was slapped with a battery charge.
© Miami Herald
The two men are visible in surveillance camera video.
His ex-wife, however, told Local 10 News she ended her two-year marriage to Eugene because he became increasingly hostile.
"I wouldn't say he had (a) mental problem but he always felt like people was against him," Jenny Ductant said. "No one was for him, everyone was against him."
Several homeless people who live around the area where the gruesome attack occurred said they knew Eugene, and said he often looked confused.
"I was actually talking to him the other day," an unidentified homeless man told Local 10 News. "It's pretty weird."
Eugene, who was growling like an animal as he swallowed pieces of flesh, had to be shot at least six times before he died on Saturday.
Daniela Guzman
The attacker was shot dead by a police officer, described as a ‘hero,’ after refusing to stop eating his victim’s face, authorities say.
The initial rounds that hit him had little effect, as the cannibal kept chomping on the man’s ears, nose and cheeks — and even tried to gouge out his eyeballs.
What prompted the hideous attack — and what kind of drugs, if any, Eugene was on — remained a mystery Monday.
Cops said it might be a case that involved a new type of synthetic stimulant called “bath salts” or “plant food,” which can cause users to become paranoid and aggressive.
Former New Yorker Larry Vega, a recent transplant to Miami who witnessed the mauling, said he was thinking of moving his family out of Florida.
“I lived my whole life in New York and never experienced something this crazy,” he told WPLG TV in Miami.
Vega was riding his bike on a highway overpass Saturday when he saw two men below him. Both were naked and both were covered with blood.
“The guy — he was like a zombie, blood dripping; it was intense,” Vega told reporters in Florida.
“The closest thing I’ve seen to it? ‘The Walking Dead,’ ” he said, referring to AMC’s gruesome zombie show.
“I never thought I would see someone eating someone. It was really, really horrific.”
hkennedy@nydailynews.com
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