Stabbing Spree Suspect Pleads Not Guilty to Brooklyn Slayings

Maksim Gelman has previously pleaded not guilty in Manhattan to attempted murder

A man accused of killing four people and wounding four others in a 28-hour rampage across three New York City boroughs has pleaded not guilty to murder charges.

Maksim Gelman was ringed by guards as he appeared Tuesday in Brooklyn court. He is being held without bail.

He had already pleaded not guilty to assault and attempted murder in Manhattan, where he was tackled and arrested by police on a subway train near Times Square.

Authorities say Gelman went on a killing and carjacking spree two months ago after his stepfather wouldn't let him borrow his mother's car.

Gelman previously told reporters the case was a setup and that his mind sometimes "isn't right." Another of his lawyers later got a court order barring the media from interviewing him.

After killing his stepfather, Aleksandr Kuznetsov, 54, in the family's Brooklyn apartment, Gelman is accused of going to the home of a female acquaintance, Yelena Bulchenko, 20, police said. Bulchenko's friends have said he was obsessed with her and imagined a romantic relationship with her.

Gelman killed her mother, 56-year-old Anna Bulchenko, waited hours for the daughter to return and stabbed her 11 times, authorities said.

Gelman made a disjointed and profanity-laced comment to an officer about "her ... mother, man, and my ex-girlfriend, you know how it is," according to court documents.

Gelman left the Bulchenkos' home, rear-ended another car and stabbed its driver, police said. The driver survived.

Stealing the wounded man's car, Gelman drove off and plowed into pedestrian Stephen Tanenbaum, 62, who died from his injuries, police said. After abandoning the car, Gelman later hailed a livery cab and attacked its driver, then approached another car, attacked a man inside and seized the car, police said. Both men survived.

All those attacks happened in Brooklyn. Gelman was next spotted on a subway in Manhattan, where passengers recognized him from newspaper photographs and notified police, authorities said. He dashed across the tracks, switched trains and attacked passenger Joseph Lozito, telling him "You're going to die!" authorities said. Lozito, of Philadelphia, survived head and arm wounds that needed dozens of stitches and staples, authorities said.

 

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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