A 62-year-old Midwood man was arrested yesterday for fatally stabbing his girlfriend in their shared apartment on the basis that she was "casting spells" on him. Police located him at Kings County Hospital, where he was taken after leaping into the subway tracks roughly two weeks ago.
Ronald Friedfertig, a street art hawker, allegedly stabbed his girlfriend in their Avenue N apartment sometime in May, leaving a explanatory note along with her lifeless body: “I killed my wife — she was casting spells on me,” sources told the News. (Side note: The Post reports the suspect's first name is "Robert"; the Daily News said "Yakob." A police spokesperson clarified that it is, in fact, Ronald. Interestingly, both tabloids did correctly spell his last name.)
Friedfertig was taken to Kings County Hospital on May 21 after attempting to kill himself by jumping into the tracks in front of a Q train, an incident that authorities now know occurred shortly after the stabbing.
Police found the body of 57-year-old Yvonne Gefner on Monday, after neighbors reported a foul odor wafting from the apartment. Neighbors also indicated they hadn't seen the couple for weeks and that Friedfertig had mental issues. Investigators promptly located Friedfertig, at which point he confessed to killing Gefner.
“He was very odd,” a woman who runs a nearby daycare center told the Post. “He was very angry. I was always fearful he would do something to the kids."
