Daniel Rakowitz
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Daniel Paul Rakowitz, AKA The Butcher of Tompkins Square Park is a mentally ill American man who murdered and cannibalised his girlfriend Monika Beerle. He was reportedly a known drug dealer and user, and was the leader of a religious sect/cult known as the Church of 966.
Murder and investigation[edit]
On August 19th, 1989, Rakowitz got into an argument with his girlfriend and roommate Monike Beerle after Beerle reportedly told Rakowitz that he needed to move out. Infuriated, Rakowitz punched her in the throat before throwing her into the bathtub and stabbing her 30 times. He then dismembered her corpse and reportedly boiled and ate her brain before going down to Tompkins Square Park and distributing food containing parts of Beerle's body to the homeless. Several days later, Rakowitz told several of his disciples in Tompkins Square Park that he had killed and eaten Beerle, although it was about a week before on of them went to the police. After an investigation, police eventually determined that Rakowitz had been telling the truth after they interviewed a woman who revealed she had seen his body, and arrested Rakowitz for murder.
When Rakowitz stood trial, his former wife came forward and claimed that they had married when she was only fourteen, and that Rakowitz had regularly beat and raped her, and that he used to chain her up when he left for work. She also testified that he was dangerously unstable, and had once decapitated a dog, and claimed to have strangled a prostitute and removed a woman's eye with a screwdriver. He was ultimately found to be insane, and confined in the Kirby Forensic Psychiatric Centre. In 2004, Rakowitz had the opportunity to be transferred to a less secure facility, but was denied after his psychiatrist testified that he still felt no remorse for the crime and was a pathological liar, a trait of anti-social pathology. As of May 1st, 2020, Rakowitz remains in care at Kirby Psychiatric Centre.