News: Man Flees Double Homicide in Brooklyn
(Long Island, N.Y.) A fifty-six-year-old woman and her twenty-eight-year-old daughter were found murdered Sunday in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. The suspected killer is the mother’s fifty-five-year-old live-in boyfriend who police believe has fled to his native Russia. The cause of the attack that occurred in the couple’s apartment is undetermined, though neighbors have reported hearing arguing come from the apartment that weekend.
The fifty-six-year-old was found stabbed in her bedroom, suffering from wounds to her face and torso. Reports also stated that she suffered from a slash wound to her throat. The twenty-eight-year-old was found in the front of the apartment with stab wounds to her abdomen. She is survived by a three-year-old son.
The young woman’s ex-fiancé and father of her child reported her missing when she failed to pick up her son and show up for work on Sunday night. Neighbors claim that the child was well taken care of, and reported seeing him looked after at a local playground. The young woman graduated from Long Island University before getting a job as a nurse at the maternity ward of Mount Sinai. Her mother, also a nurse, worked at the maternity ward of Brookdale Hospital and also missed her shift after the attack.
Two bloody knives were recovered from the scene, at least one of which was found in the kitchen. Reports stated that though police found evidence of a violent struggle, there was no evidence of forced entry. The suspected killer was a legal immigrant who came to the U.S. with a permanent work visa. He was a day laborer with no criminal record; many people, including the victims, have described him as a nice guy.
There were no prior incidents of domestic violence in the household, and some reports have stated that the young woman’s son referred to the suspect as “grandpa.” An alleged video surveillance tape shows the suspect leaving the building with two suitcases. Alternate reports stated that the man was not seen on camera but exited out of the back door where the cameras were known to be defective. Police believe that he then traveled to John F. Kennedy International Airport and purchased a one-way ticket to Moscow.
It’s estimated that he arrived in Moscow on Monday, and the New York City Police Department has been working with the State Department and Russian officials to locate his whereabouts. Russia has no formal extradition arrangement with the United States, making it extremely difficult to obtain him if he has any influential ties or finances. Police believe that he was already in the air by the time the bodies were discovered.
The woman and her daughter lived in separate apartments on different floors in the same building on East 13th Street and Avenue W. Police first searched the daughter’s apartment and found no signs of foul play. When they arrived at the mother’s apartment, it was too late by the time they came across the gruesome scene.
The mother lived in the apartment for almost a decade, and reports stated that police believe she attempted to barricade herself in her bedroom during the attack. Neighbors claimed that a loud bang was heard at about one-thirty on Saturday afternoon. Ironically, reports stated that the building’s high-tech surveillance system was installed a week prior to the attack.
