The Brooklyn man who was accused of killing four people and injuring four others during a 28-hour stabbing rampage across Brooklyn and Manhattan last February has plead guilty to all counts. Maksim Gelman, 24, who had pleaded not guilty last April and told police he would beat the charges, plead guilty to all charges in the 13-count indictment today. "He's pleading guilty without a promise," noted his lawyer Edward Friedman, adding there was no deal struck between the defense and DA's office. He could be sentenced to 100 years in jail for the four murders alone.
Gelman's 28-hour murder spree began on February 11 when he stabbed his stepfather, 54-year-old Aleksandr Kuznetsov, in Sheepshead Bay after a family argument over the use of his mother’s car. Later in the day, he fatally stabbed his ex-girlfriend, Yelena Bluchenko, 20, and her mother, Anna, 56. After killing the two women, he allegedly attacked a passing motorist, stabbing 60-year-old Art DiCrescento in order to steal his car. While driving DiCrescento's Pontiac Bonneville, Gelman struck 62-year-old Stephen Tanenbaum, who later died in the hospital. He was eventually caught by police at the Times Square subway station around the 40th Street and 7th Avenue exits after slashing subway passenger Joseph Lozito.
After he was apprehended, Gelman was held in the Bellevue psych ward after failing the intake physical and mental exam at Rikers Island. Among other things, he allegedly said of his stabbing rampage, "Sometimes, my mind isn't right." He also claimed the DEA set him up; it later came out that he told a cop after his arrest, "It's OK. I'll beat this. I'll go to a mental hospital for a few years and then I'll get out on the street again. You'll see."
