Man carved a chunk of man’s flesh and took a bite

Stupid News-Tennessee - “There wasn’t anything that was going to stop him from getting a beer,” Douglas Statzer testified in Knox County Criminal Court Judge Mary Beth Leibowitz’s courtroom. “He looked like a man determined to do what he had to do to have a beer, like he was on a mission.” Herbert Mike Merritt is standing trial on a first-degree murder charge in the slaying of Anthony Laymon “Tony” Ford, 45, inside the Friends Sports Bar & Grill in Halls. Merritt’s attorney, Phil Lomonaco, contends that his client was in a psychotic state after failing to take his medicine, evidenced by the fact that Merritt carved a chunk of Ford’s chest to eat. Prosecutor Kyle Hixson counters that Merritt was angry after a spat with his girlfriend and spoiling for a fight. More…