Fort Lauderdale (US), Nov 28 (AP) A judge accepted a plea deal on Monday for a man who randomly killed a Florida couple in their garage six years ago and then chewed on one victim's face that will send him to a mental hospital for treatment.

Austin Harrouff, 25, pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to two counts of first-degree murder and other charges for the 2016 slayings of John Stevens, 59, and his wife, Michelle Mishcon Stevens, 53.

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The agreement worked out between the defense and prosecution avoids a trial that had been scheduled to start Monday before Circuit Judge Sherwood Bauer and had been expected to last three weeks.

Harrouff will be committed to a secure mental hospital until doctors and a judge agree that he is no longer dangerous. If the trial had gone forward, Harrouff could have faced life in prison. (AP)

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(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)