The young man accused of killing four people and stabbing four others during a 28-hour spree of violence was assigned a new lawyer. Maksim Gelman, 23, had a public defender assigned to him initially but a new defender, Edward Friedman, appeared at a hearing today. Gelman, who did not appear, has been arraigned on charges of four counts of murder, one count of attempted murder, one count of assault, two counts of robbery and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon, and Friedman said the case will go to a grand jury on Friday.
Gelman, who has not entered a plea yet, told reporters that he was set up. However, Gelman's behavior—drug problems, arrests for graffiti, an obsession with a woman he later killed—apparently was enough for people to now wonder if his actions were really warning signs. During the manhunt for Gelman, police went to a part of Midwood where there are LIRR tracks—they found the Pontiac that Gelman carjacked (he tried to steal a livery cab and managed to carjack another car later) nearby. It's believed he hid there for a while, and there seems to be graffiti in tribute to one of his victims, ex-girlfriend Yelena Bulchenko.
A photographer for the Times said the interaction between the murder suspect and himself was "chilling": "Before the gate could be opened at Central Booking, [photographer Michael] Appleton said, the patrol car with Mr. Gelman inside stopped about four feet from photographers for 10 seconds. Ten very long seconds. 'It was kind of chilling,' Mr. Appleton said. 'To all of a sudden be face to face with this guy was surreal. It was more time than I wished to have of eye-to-eye contact.'"
