Maksim Gelman stabbing spree

Maksim Gelman
Born	Maksim Gelman 1988 Ukraine
Occupation	Unemployed
Details
Date	February 11–12, 2011
Location(s)	New York City, New York, United States
Killed	4
Injured	5
Weapons	8-inch Wusthof Chef's knife Car

Maksim Gelman (born May 31, 1987) is a Ukrainian Jew, and also a naturalized American citizen responsible for a 28-hour killing spree lasting from February 11 to 12, 2011 in New York City, which involved the stabbing and killing of four people and the wounding of at least five others.

Background

Gelman's father had immigrated from Ukraine to the United States in 1992 on a refugee status. Maksim and his mother Svetlana joined him two years later and they all moved to New York. Mother and son stayed in the United States even after Maksim's father returned to Ukraine upon gaining U.S. citizenship. Maksim became a U.S. citizen in 2005.

Maksim Gelman attended Abraham Lincoln High School in Brooklyn, according to a former student there, though it is unclear whether he managed to graduate. He was known around the school as being a skateboarder. His unpopularity caused him to not have many friends or girlfriends, which reportedly amplified psychotic tendencies. He built a record with law enforcement after being arrested many times, mostly for graffiti-related offenses. Among graffiti artists, the few who knew of him viewed him as a largely unwanted troublemaker. Gelman, besides being a small-time dealer and user of crack cocaine, prescription pills and PCP, had been arrested for a number of charges, including possession of the drug and for graffiti vandalism.

Timeline of attacks

Police reports state that on the morning of February 11, 2011, Gelman stabbed and killed his mother's companion Aleksandr Kuznetsov, in Brooklyn, after an argument with his mother about driving Kuznetsov's vehicle. His mother was not physically hurt.

According to the reports' timeline, Gelman then went to the house of a female acquaintance named Yelena Bulchenko, where he killed her mother Anna. He then allegedly he left the crime scene. Yelana unaware of the events who just recently left her friends house at the time of the murder of her mom went inside the house and found her mother dead on the ground.She then called 9-1-1 but at the same time Maksim was on his way to check back if she returned home. Upon arrive he spots her outside on the phone, he got out the car and she yells "mak?" He said nothing and hid the knife in his pocket while approaching her. She takes off running while neighbor tries to help her but to no avail, then he allegedly stabbed her eleven times, killing her, before speeding off in Kuznetsov's car. He rammed another car, stabbed and injured its driver, Arthur DiCrescento, and carjacked his vehicle. Gelman later ran down 62-year-old pedestrian Stephen Tannenbaum, who subsequently died of his injuries.

Gelman next stabbed and wounded a number of individuals in various stages during the rampage, including Shelden Pottinger, whose vehicle Gelman stole and drove off on. Finally, after boarding a northbound 3 train at 34th Street - Penn Station, he stabbed Joseph Lozito, a ticket seller at Lincoln Center. According to some reports, Gelman started banging on the door of the motorman's cab, demanding to be let in, at which point two police officers assigned to the manhunt arrived and subdued him after a struggle with Lozito's help.

According to other accounts, "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 Gelman, who was apprehended at Times Square - 42nd Street. The view of events given by Lozito and many witnesses onboard the train state that after beginning to stab Lozito multiple times, Lozito used a single leg takedown that he had learned from watching the UFC, he then disarmed and subdued Gelman and it was only then after Gelman had been subdued that the two transit officers emerged from the cab of the train to arrest Gelman but proceeded to claim that they were the ones who subdued him.

Trial

On February 13, 2011, Gelman was arraigned in a Brooklyn courtroom on charges of murder and assault, where he was represented by public defender Michael Baum. 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."

Although no motive for the murders has been yet offered by the authorities, it has been speculated in the media that the rampage was triggered by Gelman's advances being scorned by Yelena Bulchenko.

On November 30, 2011, Gelman pleaded guilty to all charges.

Sentencing

On January 18, 2012, Gelman appeared in the New York Supreme Court, Kings County, for his sentencing. Sitting in court next to his attorney, Edward Friedman, Gelman was reported as being "unruly", laughing or yelling at the judge and the family and friends of some of his victims. At the conclusion of the trial, New York State Supreme Court Justice Vincent Del Guidice sentenced Gelman to 200 years in prison, telling Gelman, "You are a violent sociopath." Cameras were allowed in the courtroom and photos showing Gelman's reaction at the time of sentencing were widely distributed.