The man accused of killing his niece's ex-husband at a Queens playground last fall sat down for jailhouse interview and emphasized he's innocent. Mikahil Mallayev, a resident of Georgia but is now being held at Rikers, spoke to WCBS 2's Scott Weinberger.
Mallayev was nabbed when police matched fingerprints on a silencer left at the scene to fingerprints already in the system. They turned out to be Mallayev's from a 1994 farebeating arrest. However, Mallayev claimed, "The detectives told me they have partial fingerprints."
The authorities also point to over 90 calls between Mallayev and niece Mazoltuv Borukhova in the days leading up to the murder of Borukhova's ex, Daniel Malakov. Three calls were made on the day of the killing; witness description of the shooter was also very similar to Mallayev.
Mallayev has claimed his calls to Borukhova were over a medical condition, "I didn't do this. I'm the husband over 30 years. I'm the father and I'm the grandfather and I'm far away from any of that kind of thing." Emotions are running high in the case: earlier this week, Borukhova's sister was arraigned for allegedly threatening Malakov's brother.
