Saturday, July 10, 2004
Cannibals are such funny cut-ups.
July 10, 2004 -- The notorious Butcher of Tompkins Square was a real cut-up in court yesterday, leaving jurors in stitches with his fond memories of his marijuana-loving menagerie of house pets.
His dog, his cat and even his pet rooster would all come running when he fired up a joint back in the day, East Village murderer and dismemberer Daniel Rakowitz told jurors to their audible laughter.
"Whenever I used to smoke pot, my animals would all gather around me," the long-haired pot piper drawled in his Texan accent. "My rooster would jump on my lap," he said fondly.
"Did they inhale?" deadpanned Manhattan prosecutor Gary Galperin...
"Get some order in the courtroom!" a court officer snapped as the room dissolved in laughter...
The prosecutor and a lawyer for the state attorney general's office are fighting Rakowitz's bid to convince a jury he is no longer crazy and dangerous...
Rakowitz has been locked up since being found not guilty by reason of mental disease of murdering his dancer girlfriend, Monika Beerle, in 1989, dismembering her, then boiling her in pieces on his stove, and feeding some of the resulting soup to the homeless of Tompkins Square park.
NY Post
