KNOXVILLE CANNIBAL GUILTY IN BLOODY BAR SLAYING

HERBERT MERRITT clearly wanted Anthony Laymond 'Tony' Ford dead. So, on a warm night in June 2008 the Knoxville man killed him at Friends Sports Bar & Grill. Merritt shot Ford six times, slashed and stabbed him and then "carved into his chest cavity, plucked out a piece of lung he thought was Ford's heart, and by his account, ate part of it."
Merritt was found guilty of first-degree murder in Knoxville but not before trying the old insanity defence. He was sentenced to life but can apply for parole after 51 years. The defence made some VERY good points on the insanity point.
“He cuts down through his chest,” lawyer Phil Lomonaco said. “What? He chews on (Ford’s lung). … Who does that? What he had that night was a psychotic episode. This guy’s a basket case.”


Assistant District Attorney General Leslie Nassios countered that Merritt chose to reject anti-psychotic medications in favor of opiate-based painkillers, muscle relaxers and cocaine.
The whole sordid episode was triggered when Ford asked Merritt to honor a barkeep's request to leave.

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