Miami Zombie Rudy Eugene Loved God; Girlfriend Says He Was Voodoo Cursed
The girlfriend of Rudy Eugene, who has now been dubbed the "Miami Zombie" for eating a man's face, has spoken out for the first time in an interview with Miami Herald. The woman, who did not give her name, said that Eugene was holding a Bible in his hand and gave her a kiss before leaving the house. She recalled that it was strange that he left very early in the morning at 5.30a.m., saying he was going to meet with a "homeboy".
WATCH: Man Eating Face Surveillance Video
She thought it strange that he left so early but didn't question him on it. An hour later, Eugene called her to say that his car broke down. She told the newspaper that he said: "I'll be home, but I'm going to be a little late. Then he said, I'm going to call you right back." However, he never called and that was the last time she was to hear from him.
Eugene had told her that he didn't want to go to South Beach for the Urban Beach Week because of the police presence and was surprised to hear that he had been there before his grisly attack on Ronald Poppo.
Filled with worry after not hearing from him, she called and left messages. Later she saw the news that a nude man had eaten a homeless man. She did not know that it was her boyfriend and just thought that it was crazy.
On Monday morning she heard the news from Eugene's family that Rudy is dead and went "hysterical". Later that afternoon she found out that her boyfriend was the man who was being called the Miami Zombie that terrorized and ate a homeless man's face.
Eugene's shocked girlfriend had said: "That's not Rudy, that's not Rudy." According to her, he never did drugs often, although he was once arrested for possession of marijuana. He was not into hard drugs, and was very sweet and well -mannered.
She now believes that Eugene was drugged without knowing or something supernatural took over him. Like a Voodoo curse. "I don't know how else to explain this," she told Miami Herald.
She had been going out with Eugene since 2007. Their relationship had been on and off. Eugene was an avid reader of the Bible and carried it with him everywhere. He would say verses out loud to his friends and always read in the evenings. She also said he was never violent to her.
"If someone was lost or didn't know God, he would tell them about him. He was a believer of God. Something happened out of the ordinary that day. I don't want him to be labeled the Miami Zombie. He was a person. I don't want him to go down like that."
Eugene's mother says he was a nice kid. "Everybody says that he was a zombie, but I know he's not a zombie; he's my son," she told CBS. "I don't know what they injected in him to turn him into the person who did what he did,"
Eugene attacked Ronald Poppo off a highway in Miami at 2 p.m. Saturday. He was shot by police 12 times after being repeatedly ordered to stop eating the victim. But after simply growling at the officers and continuing the gory feast, police were forced to forcefully bring the attack to an end. Eugene was killed by the multiple gunshot wounds.