Sunny Hostin is revealing she was the lone holdout juror in the trial of an infamous New York City killer 35 years ago
The attorney and "View" cohost, 57, identified herself as the sole holdout in the 1991 trial of Daniel Rakowitz, known as the "Butcher of Tompkins Square Park," during the Tuesday, Sept. 22 episode of "The View." The revelation came as the cohosts discussed Lindsay Clancy's controversial mistrial, which ended after one juror could not agree to a not guilty by reason of insanity verdict.
"I thought absolutely that she was not criminally responsible by reason of insanity, and the reason I felt that, [and] I feel so strongly about this holdout juror, is because I was a holdout juror in a case," Hostin said. "The Daniel Rakowitz case.
I don't know if people remember it – the 'Butcher of Tompkins Square Park.'"
The trial made headlines in the early '90s when Rakowitz was charged with the death of Monika Beerle, whose body he dismembered, boiled, ate and fed to homeless people in New York City’s Tompkins Square Park. He was ultimately found not guilty by reason of insanity, but Hostin said that wasn't the way the jury was swaying at first.
To prove her story, the author referred to an old New York Times article, which featured interviews from other jurors on the case who told the newspaper at the time, "One holdout juror was principally responsible from preventing them from returning a guilty verdict.”
"That was me," Hostin said. "And it was because I saw clearly that he was psychotic. He was in a psychosis. He did not mean to kill her, and once he killed her, he panicked. He chopped up her body parts, yes, boiled her body parts, tried to commit the perfect crime... and he fed her body parts to the unhoused.”
When the cohosts questioned how "you got this guy off," Hostin replied, "That's how much I believe the insanity defense." She explained they were sequestered for nine days and one juror even "threw a chair at me."
"They were so angry at me, but one-by-one I picked them off," she added. "And we ended up, all 12 of us, unanimously voting that he was not criminally responsible by reason of insanity. But he is still in a mental institution being treated. That’s a different type of prison, and he’s being treated because he’s sick."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Sunny Hostin reveals she was the holdout juror in infamous 'Butcher' murder trial
