D Train Murder Suspect Says Victim Punched First

More details have emerged on the gruesome stabbing on the D train yesterday that left one straphanger dead and another behind bars. Bronx resident Geraldo Sanchez, 37, allegedly stabbed Dwight Johnson, 36, repeatedly in the face and neck in an altercation that started when the victim declined to move his bag from a seat on the crowded train.

Sanchez boarded the first car of the northbound train at Rockefeller Center just before 2 am and demanded that Johnson move his bag from an unoccupied seat, "saying he had just gotten off work and was tired," according to the Post. Johnson — who appeared to be homeless and stood at least six inches taller than the suspect — declined, and the pair started swearing at each other. Then Johnson punched Sanchez in the face, and Sanchez pulled out a steak knife. "He stabs him right in the neck, possibly the jugular," a police source told the Daily News. "Blood everywhere. Complete mayhem."

Some of the two dozen other passengers in the car banged on the conductor's door and pulled on the emergency cord, bringing the train to a "screeching halt" in the tunnel before the Seventh Avenue and 53rd Street station. According to the Daily News, straphangers scrambled away from the attack and used the intercom to notify train crew. When the train arrived at the station, the conductor kept the car's doors locked and alerted MTA workers, who in turn called police. During the five minutes before police arrived, Sanchez managed to pry open the train doors "just enough to drop the knife out of the train," according to the Post, though cops later recovered the weapon.

When police boarded the train, where according to the Daily News "pools of blood were left along the length of the car," the suspect tried to blend in with the other commuters stating: "'What? I didn't do nothing,' like nothing happened, like he's just another passenger," a police source said. When officers cuffed him and escorted him off the train, the Post reports that Sanchez told cops: "He punched me in the mouth." The suspect — who at the time of the crime was wearing a polo shirt emblazoned with the name "Jerry" and the words "Terminate Control" — works as an exterminator and had been acting strangely and abusing pain killers since he fell two stories and injured himself at work two weeks ago, according to friends and neighbors. "He was in pain because he fell," said his brother Louis Sanchez. "He was talking about headaches and backaches, and he was taking some kind of medication." On the day of the crime, the suspect had been sent home from work by his boss for showing up late, according to co-workers at Terminate Control. "But he took it in stride," one co-worker said. "Jerry's not someone to hold a grudge."

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By Ben Muessig in News on November 22, 2009 9:29 AM

Comments [rss]

fre

Dwight isnt homeless he use to work in a restaurant and has new apartment in Brooklyn. He has good humor sense but sometimes could have temper (He knew some martial arts though has gotten to fights b4). . I dont know which paper is more accurate cause the Village VOICE said they had an argument an Dwight gave the first punch, while the others say he kept quiet while the other guy was in is face??? But D Trains shouldn’t have doors locked like that anyway

eveostay

Pulling the emergency brake was stupid. Maybe, just maybe, the victim could have been saved if it weren't for that wasted time.

snickerdoodle

I feel bad for the people who were trapped in that same car with the murderer until the cops arrived, they must have been terrified.

ed_Extinct

who the hell carries a steak knife around?

Spirit of 76

Hey, he was an exterminator. Haven't you seen some of the rats and roaches in the city lately? You need an Uzi to deal with them.

freddynyc

Unless he was looking for trouble in the first place...

Rocknrope

The real sign that the killer was unstable is the fact that he actually wanted to sit in the seat next to a homeless person.

mdow

fact

theLtrain

More details have not "emerged".

The detail about the homeless man punching the killer first was always in the daily news article you just chose not to include it because you wanted a ridiculously sensational title like you one you used.

Mr Mel

He just happened to have a steak knife with him? I guess that may be de rigueur for a working guy that rides the subway at 2AM. The other thing that doesn't make sense is the conductor locking the doors when he got to the station. Had Sanchez been a total maniac he could have killed a few more of the trapped people. It's a pretty good bet he would have been captured nearby anyway.

gobama

I can't believe that it's proper protocol to lock down the car when it's filled with other passengers. Yeah, it's great that they were able to get the guy, but seems awfully risky for the other passengers. Imagine if there were guns involved.

Spirit of 76

Haven't you ever seen a interrupted robbery? Police don't let everybody out just because there may be hostages. They surround the place with perp and bystanders inside and don't give up until the guy surrenders.

gobama

Guess so, just seems pretty crazy.

colonelcasey

What intercom on a D train?

And I don't think pulling the emergency brake is really a smart thing to do when you're in the middle of a tunnel with a deranged man.

Splicer

Pain killers? No sympathy. You stabbed someone to death for a train seat and because he "dissed" you. Another god damned animal disguised as a human.

felixthecat2

Fact: animals don't stab people for a seat, humans do. And We are all animals or are you a plant?

AlanPF

an⋅i⋅mal /ˈænəməl/

5. an inhuman person; brutish or beastlike person: She married an animal.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/animal

jackie treehorn

woman: You know, animals never have war. War is an invention of mankind.

death: What are you talking about? Animals fight all the time!

woman: Not with nuclear arms. You can't hug your children with nuclear arms.

dink.