The day before police said that African-American Tyree Lincoln Smith hacked to death a homeless man in an East Side apartment and then cannibalized the body, he told his cousin he had a lust for blood

"He said he had gotten a rare steak at a restaurant in Florida and when he had tasted the blood it had given him a sexual sensation," recalled Nicole Rabb, who helped police get a confession from Smith to the crime. Police said that Smith killed 43-year-old Angel "Tun Tun" Gonzalez with an ax on December 15, 2011. The 35-year-old Smith, who grew up in Ansonia, has been arrested at a friend's home in Lynn Haven, Florida and charged with murder in Gonzalez's death. He is being held in lieu of $1 million bond pending extradition to Connecticut. Rabb, who grew up with Smith, has been acknowledged by police as their main witness against her cousin. Gonzalez's body was found in a vacant third-floor apartment on Brooks Street. Police said that he was found lying across a mattress fully clothed with severe facial and head injuries. An autopsy has determined that Gonzalez died from blunt head trauma.