Zito

One of the truly memorable villains of “MacGyver”. He was a psychopathic serial killer before Lt. Kate Murphy stopped him and testified against him during his trial. 

From his cell at the state mental hospital in Alameda, Zito carefully plotted his revenge against Murphy, using fellow prisoner Eric Cross as his weapon. MacGyver was able to stop Cross after figuring out Zito’s elaborate plan. 

Two years later, Zito targeted MacGyver, attempting to teach him a “lesson in evil.” Murphy was seriously injured, but MacGyver bested Zito in a battle of wits.

Note: Season writer, Rick Drew stated in a Facebook group that the similarities between Zito and Hannibal Lector were intentional.

I don’t recall if Zito was inspired by Hannibal Lecter specifically but the way the character was used and presented in the episode was specifically modeled after him. I remember the discussions – it was intentional