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Judge orders cannibalism suspect transferred for competency evaluation
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June 28, 2012
Baltimore, Maryland: Cannibalism suspect Alexander Kinyua, of Joppatowne, has been ordered by a judge to be transferred to a maximum security psychiatric hospital for a evaluation of his competency.[1]
Kinyua, a 21-year-old United States citizen originally from Kenya, has also been indicted on charges of first-degree murder, as well as carrying a weapon with intent to injure in the death of Ghanaian man Kujoe Bonsafo Agyei-Kodie, who had been staying with his family.[1]
Kinyua told police that he killed 37-year-old Kujoe Bonsafo Agyei-Kodie, and then ate his heart and part of his brain.[1]
Kinyua's indictment was followed by a hearing where his public defenders put in the request for the evaluation, and District Court Judge Susan H. Hazlett ordered Kinyua transferred to Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center, Maryland's only maximum security psychiatric hospital.
Kinyua has now been indicted by a Baltimore grand jury for attempted murder, as well as other charges from a separate attack that happened May 19, 2012, at his apartment in Morgan State University. The slaying of Kujoe Bonsafo Agyei-Kodie took place on May 25, 2012 at the Kinyua's family home in Harford County.
Others have raised questions as to whether or not the Morgan State University should have looked more closely at Kinyua after his outbursts in December, where he punched a wall in the ROTC computer lab seven times, in addition to a January incident, which included Kinyua making cryptic comments about "blood sacrifice." Kinyua was consequently removed from the ROTC program, with an ROTC instructor describing Kinyua as, "an unusually angry person," and "a Virginia Tech waiting to happen."
Kinyua stated that he punched that walls because he was financially and personally stressed beyond his control.
School spokesman for Morgan State University, Clinton Coleman, reported that the university is doing a top-to-botton review, but it appears that all university procedures had been followed.
Kujoe Bonsafo Agyei-Kodie was knocked out when Kinyua struck him in the head with a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire. A blood trail was found by friends who followed the trail to a back room where Kinyua was discovered standing over Agyei-Kodie's body with a knife. Kinyua fled upon seeing the friends and was stopped and detained by officers ninety minutes later. Kinyua was carrying brass knuckles and had stashed the bat in the woods, where it was found three days later, and just one day before Kinyua was released on bail.
After police learned the details of Agyei-Kodie's killing, they now think that Kinyua planned to kill and then mutilate the body.
Police felt that Kinyua didn't display behavior needing of psychological evaluation, but after attempts to contact the counseling center failed, Kinyua was released to his father, who is a physics professor at Morgan State University. No further comments were obtained, other than that Kinyua was evaluated.
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