Man Fatally Stabs Friend, Drinks His Blood, Police Say

Authorities in central Florida have arrested a 42-year-old man accused of stabbing a friend to death and then drinking his blood.

Mauricio Mendez Lopez is accused of killing Macario Cruz in a house they shared in Bartow.

A third resident, Cruz's sister-in-law Mariella Mendez, told police that Lopez was upset because she was in a relationship with Mendez.

A police report shows the men had an argument in which Lopez struck Cruz in the face with a 15-pound dumb bell. He then allegedly threatened to kill them both unless the relationship ended.

Authorities say Lopez returned later and stabbed him to death. She told police Lopez left with a plastic cup in his hand that appeared to hold blood. She said he drank from the cup in a strange ritual from their native Mexico.