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Inquest Opens Into The Death Of 'Cannibal Killer'

Inquest Opens Into The Death Of 'Cannibal Killer'

Matthew Williams was tasered by police and died at the scene.

Claire Reid

Claire Reid

An inquest is about to get under way to determine the cause of death of 'cannibal killer' Matthew Williams, who was found in a hotel eating a young woman's face.

The recently released prisoner Williams was believed to be high on a cocktail of drugs when he killed 22-year-old Cerys Yemm and reportedly ate her eyeball and half her face in a brutal and gruesome attack on 6 November 2014.

Williams also died after being tasered by police on the night of the murder.

Williams was staying in a B&B used to house ex-offenders in Argoed, South Wales. He had recently been released from prison where he had served a sentence for attacking another woman.

Credit: Facebook

The brutal attack shocked local residents. Lyn Beasley, who lived near to the hotel, told the Daily Mail: "He went Hannibal Lecter on the woman - he gouged her eyeball out, ate them and ate half her face.

"He had just been released from prison and was high on coke."

In a report last year, it was found that Williams had been a drug user from the age of nine and he was likely to have had a reaction to 'psychoactive substances' he took. The report, by Healthcare Inspectorate Wales, also stated that he had been offered help for his addiction but had turned it down.

At the time locals spoke about the use of mephedrone - also known as meow meow - being a problem in the area.

An initial inquest found that the cause of Williams' death couldn't be determined until further drug tests were carried out. A post-mortem examination on Miss Yemm's body carried out by the Home Office recorded a provisional cause of death as sharp force trauma to the face and neck.

Mandy Miles, owner of the Sirhowy Arms Hotel in Argoed where the incident took place, walked in to find Williams covered in blood, next to the mutilated body of Miss Yemm.

Credit: BBC

She told the Mirror about the chilling moment she walked in to speak to Williams about breaking his curfew.

"I can still see the amount of blood and the stillness of her - there were no signs of life at that point," she said.

"I said to Matthew: "Do you know what you're doing to that girl?" He said: "That's no girl'."

She called the police who arrived to find Williams still attacking Yemm; he was tasered by a police officer and later pronounced dead.

Paramedics pronounced Miss Yemm dead at the scene.

The mother of killer Williams said that she believes her son should have been in hospital receiving treatment for paranoid schizophrenia. However, the HIW report concluded that the murder would have been 'difficult to predict or be prevented' by health services.

A 'key prosecution witness' told the Sunday Times that Williams had taken a number of different drugs, including mephedrone. He's reported as saying: "He had an ounce of meow meow on him and at some stage during the night he injected himself."

Mephedrone has previously been linked to several extremely violent crimes, including the brutal attack on Ronald Poppo.

Poppo was attacked by 31-year-old Rudy Eugene, who is believed to be have been under the influence of bath salts at the time.

Rudy Eugene and Ronald Poppo. Credit: PA

Police in Miami were called out to reports of an assault and when they arrived they found Eugene naked and eating the face of Poppo. After refusing to surrender, officers shot Eugene several times, killing him.

Poppo lost 75 percent of his face in the attack and was left permanently blind.

The inquest into the deaths of both Yemm and Williams will begin 13 March, and are expected to last between three and four weeks.

Featured Image Credit: Facebook/Wales News Service