The Story Of ‘The Butcher of Tompkins Square Park,’ Daniel Rakowitz

Details about Monica Beerle's murder, age 26, remain unclear. People say Daniel Rakowitz and others killed her.Daniel Rakowitz and possibly other people killed Monica Beerle.On August 19, 1989, Beerle and Rakowitz fought. Rakowitz punched Beerle in the throat with a metal rod, a blow hard enough to kill her. Afterward, they mutilated her, cutting her into pieces, and boiled her remains in her Lower East Side apartment kitchen.

Rakowitz openly discussed his actions when neighbors asked about Beerle's disappearance. Everyone in the neighborhood seemed to know about Beerle's death. No one contacted the police. An arrest took nearly a month after this.

A gruesome rumor about the Beerle murder claims Rakowitz did this.Rakowitz cooked her remains in a pot of soup.Rakowitz allegedly cooked Beerle's remains in soup and fed them to the homeless in Tompkins Square Park. A Rakowitz associate confirmed this with police. The associate said Rakowitz bragged about making soup from her head and that "it tasted pretty good." Rakowitz was known for cooking chicken and potatoes for squatters. One homeless person testified at Rakowitz's trial. That person found a human fingertip in a bowl of soup Rakowitz served him. Rakowitz admitted to dismembering her, but he denied feeding Beerle's remains to anyone else.

Rakowitz, aged 28, and Beerle first met in early August 1989.Rakowitz and Beerle shared a joint in Tompkins Square Park. Rakowitz dealt drugs and worked as a dishwasher, sleeping on friends' couches without a place. The 26-year-old Beerle moved to New York from the Swiss Alps. She studied at the Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance and earned money dancing in a topless bar. They started dating, and Rakowitz quickly moved into Beerle's Lower East Side apartment, where she shared it with others.

Rakowitz and Beerle lived together as roommates and lovers for a few weeks until Beerle wanted Rakowitz to leave. The talk turned into a fight. Police reported that Rakowitz struck Beerle in the throat and took her to his bathtub, stabbing her over 30 times with a carving knife.

Daniel Rakowitz killed his girlfriend, cooked her, and then ate her. He told a friend, "I made soup out of her brains".pic.twitter.com/kKuoq7vAK8

Weeks after the murder, Rakowitz allegedly spoke about Beerle's death to anyone who would listen in Tompkins Square Park. Eventually, someone contacted the police about the murder, and they began an investigation.The police started the investigation on September 8, 1989.On September 13, police entered the Brooklyn restaurant where Rakowitz worked. A woman came forward, claiming to see Beerle's body. Police arrested Rakowitz. Rakowitz later led officers to the Port Authority Bus Terminal storage lockers. Inside, he stored Beerle's skull and other bones in a bucket of kitty litter.

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In 2004, while Rakowitz sought release from psychiatric custody, his ex-wife spoke about their relationship. A psychiatrist detailed this in court. Rakowitz's ex-wife claimed she was 14 when they married. She said a controlling Rakowitz would chain her to the refrigerator when he worked. The woman also stated Rakowitz bragged about decapitating a dog, strangling a prostitute, and removing a woman's eye with a screwdriver.

The acting director of the Kirby Forensic Psychiatric Center described Rakowitz's controlling habits in that testimony. The director claimed Rakowitz kept newspapers and only gave them to patients he thought deserved reading.

Over the years,Rakowitz changed his storyof the murder many times. During his first arrest, Rakowitz admitted to Beerle's death. He detailed gruesome steps: he used kitchen skills to cut off her head, drain blood, and boil the flesh from her bones in a large pot.

Later, he changed his story, claiming he only disposed of the body. After his arrest, Rakowitz tried to say he got help froma pair of former roommatesPolice questioned the two roommates. Both pleaded the fifth, and neither faced charges. Rakowitz even claimed he was innocent, only taking the blame for "bad elements."

Kaka psikopat ya ?@adrianahadi: I killed her and boiled her head. Then I made soup out of her -Daniel Rakowitzpic.twitter.com/ofpNP9EPCE"

After nine days of trial, Rakowitz was foundnot guilty by reason of insanityon February 22, 1991. After the verdict, Rakowitz told the jury:

I hope we can share a joint someday. I won't fault you all for this. The prosecution had a strong case against me. But I'll get out soon; I'll sell a lot of marijuana to bring to justice the people who actually committed this crime.

Rakowitz offered the judge a joint. The judge dismissed him with a wave and smile, calling the trial a "lulu." Rakowitz asked to avoid medication by going to prison instead of a mental hospital. The judge ordered him to stay at the Kirby Forensic Psychiatric Center.

In 1992, police reopened the Beerle murder case. They received reports.Cult members may have helped Rakowitz.The Church of the Realized Fantasy, a cult, operated from an East Village storefront. A known drug dealer ran it.Michael Cesar.One cult member called themselves a "communal marijuana sex church." Members used drugs together and had sex.

Law enforcement claims the cult aided Rakowitz in the murder. This happened as part of a satanic ritual, possibly inspired by Aleister Crowley, an occult philosopher who promoted Satanism and human sacrifice. Law enforcement arrested Randy Eastherday, a cult member, two years later and charged him with helping the crime.

In 1995, Rakowitz went through a sanity trial. The jury felt Rakowitz remained insane even though he stopped using cannabis. Rakowitz got another chance at freedom, or at least access to a less secure facility, in 2004.

An assistant to the state attorney general testified in court, stating:

He is a pathological liar, a trait of anti-social pathology. While at the [maximum-security] hospital facility, he showed no regret for what happened to Monika Beerle. This person has no grasp of what led to the murder. His only phrase is "denial, denial, denial."

The jury decided Rakowitz wasno longer a danger, they felt he was mentally ill and needed to stay at the Kirby Forensic Psychiatric Center on New York City's Wards Island.

Rakowitz grew up in Rockport, TX. His father raised him.His father was a deputy sheriff.Rakowitz was a peculiar character known to East Village residents. He left Texas at 24 and moved to the East Village in 1985. He openly sold cannabis and methamphetamines in the park. He also had eccentricities, like a pet rooster always perched on his shoulder or sticking out of his knapsack.

He had a strong Texas accent. People knew him for long speeches about the power of Satan and crucifixion. Chris Karma, a man who clashed with Rakowitz, claimed Rakowitzthought he was God.Karma also said Rakowitz started his own religion, the Church of the 966. "He talked a lot about animal sacrifice," Karma stated. Karma added that Rakowitz wrote 966 on walls in chicken blood as a calling card. Rakowitz believed the number 666 represented Satan in the Bible, but Satan had changed over generations, now shown by 966.