- Maksim Gelman
-
Maksim Gelman Background information Birth name Maksim Gelman Occupation Unemployed Born 1988
UkraineKillings Location(s) New York City, New York, United States Killed 4 Injured 5 Weapon(s) 8-inch Wusthof Chef's knife[1]
CarMaksim Gelman (born 1988[2]) is an alleged multiple murderer, accused of a 28-hour killing spree that lasted from February 11 to 12, 2011 in the city of New York, and involved the stabbing and killing of 4 persons and the wounding of at least 5 others.[3]
Contents
Timeline
Police reports state that, on the morning of Friday 11 February 2011, Gelman stabbed and killed his "mother's companion" Aleksandr Kuznetsov in Brooklyn after an argument with his mother about driving Kuznetsov's Lexus car.[4] His mother was not hurt.
According to the reports' timeline, Gelman then went to the house of Yelena Bulchenko, a "female acquaintance", where he killed her mother, Anna Bulchenko. He then allegedly hid inside the house, waiting for Yelena to return and find her mother's dead body. After six hours Yelena returned, police said, and dialed 911, at which point Gelman chased her out of the home, stabbing her "11 times" and killing her. The suspect then sped off in Kuznetsov's car, rammed another car, stabbed its driver, Arthur DiCrescento, who survived the attack with serious injuries, and carjacked the green 1995 Pontiac Bonneville. Driving that car, Gelman run down 62-year-old Stephen Tannenbaum, who subsequently died of his injuries.[5]
Gelman, according to the police reports, next stabbed and wounded a number of individuals in various stages during the "rampage", including Shelden Pottinger, whose 2001 Nissan car he stole and drove away.[4] Finally, after boarding the subway at Penn Station, he stabbed Joseph Lozito, who works as a ticket seller at the Lincoln Center and is a Mixed Martial Arts fan.[6] According to some reports,[5] Gelman started banging on the door of the subway driver, demanding to be let in, at which point in time two police officers "assigned to the manhunt" arrived and subdued him after a struggle, with Lozito's help. According to other accounts,[7] Lozito actively defended himself, engaging Gelman in a physical confrontation that allowed transit officers Terrance Howell and Tamara Taylor along with off-duty Detective Marcelo Razzo to subdue and restrain the suspect, who was apprehended at the Times Square station.[5][7]
Court appearance
On Sunday 13 February 2011, Gelman was arraigned in a Brooklyn courtroom on charges of murder and assault for the fatal stabbing of four people and the assault of four others, where he was represented by public defender Michael Baum.[4] While being led from the police precinct to the courthouse, in front of a crowd of onlooker and reporters, Gelman reportedly "showed no remorse", saying that he had been "set up."[7]
Background
Maksim Gelman's father had immigrated to the United States in 1992 on a refugee status. Maksim and his mother Svetlana joined two years later and moved to New York staying in the country even after Maksim's father returned to Ukraine upon gaining American citizenship. Maksim himself became an American citizen in 2005.[4]
Maksim Gelman attended Abraham Lincoln High School in Brooklyn, according to a former student there, but it was unclear if he graduated; he was known around school as being a skateboarder.[4] He has a record with law enforcement, having been previously arrested ten other times, mostly for graffiti-related offenses. Amongst graffiti artists, the few who knew of him saw him as a largely unwanted troublemaker.[8] He was reportedly a drug user and small-time dealer. On 26 January 2011, Gelman had been arrested for charges relating to crack cocaine.[5]
Although no motive for the murders has been yet offered by the authorities, it's been speculated in the media that the rampage was triggered by Gelman's "advances" being "scorned" by Yelena Bulchenko.[4][5][9]
References
- ^ "Joseph Lozito fought for his life in subway face-off with knife-wielding madman Maksim Gelman" NY Daily News, 13 February 2011
- ^ "Crazed B'klyn 'slasher': My mind isn't right'" New York Post, 15 February 2011
- ^ "Romance that fueled Maksim Gelman's bloody rampage was in his mind, friends of Yelena Bulchenko say" NY Daily News, 14 February 2011
- ^ a b c d e f "Before Deadly Rampage, Some Saw Warning Signs" The New York Times, 13 February 2011
- ^ a b c d e "Man Held After Spree of New York Killings" Wall Street Journal, 14 February 2011
- ^ "Years of Watching MMA Helped Heroic Joe Lozito Help End Murder Manhunt" MMAfighting.com
- ^ a b c "Joseph Lozito Used Martial Arts Tactic He Saw on TV to End Alleged Stabber's Spree" ABC News, 14 February 2011
- ^ "Maksim Gelman's short lived life in Graffiti" Ltv Squad
- ^ "NY Killing-Spree Suspect: 'Sometimes, My Mind Isn't Right'" AOL News, 16 February 2011
Categories:- 1988 births
- Living people
- American skateboarders
- American spree killers
- Ukrainian people
- People from Brooklyn
- Abraham Lincoln High School (Brooklyn, New York) alumni
- American people of Ukrainian descent
- Ukrainian Jews
- American Jews
- Ukrainian emigrants to the United States
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
