Insanity rejected in Israeli-born killer's trial
Source: Agencies |
May 24, 2012, Thursday
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AN Israeli-born drifter accused of terrorizing a struggling city in the US Michigan State by faking car trouble then stabbing strangers who came to his aid was quickly convicted of murder on Tuesday after jurors rejected an insanity defense.
It was the first trial for Elias Abuelazam, who is accused of a series of sometimes fatal stabbings in Flint, Michigan and two other states that began almost immediately after his arrival in Flint in May 2010.
After an eight-day trial, jurors took just a few hours to return a verdict in the death of Arnold Minor, a 49-year-old handyman stabbed after midnight near downtown Flint two summers ago. Members of the victim's family sat in the front row clutching a box with his cremated remains. The attack was one of 14 in the Flint area linked to Abuelazam - five people died - although the Israeli immigrant is not charged in every incident.
"It's been 658 days - I've been counting. He's going where he needs to be," Minor's sister, Stephanie Ward, said of Abuelazam's prison sentence. "He's not crazy."
Defense attorney Ed Zeineh barely mentioned the overwhelming evidence against Abuelazam during his closing argument and instead focused on his mental health, which dominated the end of the trial.
A psychiatrist hired by the defense said Abuelazam, 35, was paranoid schizophrenic who punched out after working the afternoon shift at a liquor store and cruised dark, lonely streets in his Chevy Blazer at the behest of "evil forces" in his mind. Three experts testifying for prosecutors, however, said Abuelazam was not mentally ill at the time and knew exactly what he was doing.
Minor's stabbing and the others were "planned, focused, done with care," Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton told the jury.
Minor's blood was found on the steering wheel in Abuelazam's SUV and on pants and shoes inside his luggage as he tried to flee to Israel, his native country, in August 2010. The judge allowed four other stabbing victims to show their wounds to the jury and point to Abuelazam as the man responsible for the injuries.
"That was powerful," jury foreman Will Ogle said.
He said the insanity defense didn't fit for a number of reasons. Ogle said the defense summoned no friends or co-workers who could say that Abuelazam had symptoms of schizophrenia in his everyday life.
"The demons only come out at 3 o'clock in the morning when no one's looking? That doesn't add up," Ogle said.
The verdict, he said, "was very easy. ... He's one evil dude."
Charles Clark, a psychologist who interviewed Abuelazam, told jurors that critical questions remain unanswered.
"We didn't get an honest, full report from Mr Abuelazam about why," he said.
It was the first trial for Elias Abuelazam, who is accused of a series of sometimes fatal stabbings in Flint, Michigan and two other states that began almost immediately after his arrival in Flint in May 2010.
After an eight-day trial, jurors took just a few hours to return a verdict in the death of Arnold Minor, a 49-year-old handyman stabbed after midnight near downtown Flint two summers ago. Members of the victim's family sat in the front row clutching a box with his cremated remains. The attack was one of 14 in the Flint area linked to Abuelazam - five people died - although the Israeli immigrant is not charged in every incident.
"It's been 658 days - I've been counting. He's going where he needs to be," Minor's sister, Stephanie Ward, said of Abuelazam's prison sentence. "He's not crazy."
Defense attorney Ed Zeineh barely mentioned the overwhelming evidence against Abuelazam during his closing argument and instead focused on his mental health, which dominated the end of the trial.
A psychiatrist hired by the defense said Abuelazam, 35, was paranoid schizophrenic who punched out after working the afternoon shift at a liquor store and cruised dark, lonely streets in his Chevy Blazer at the behest of "evil forces" in his mind. Three experts testifying for prosecutors, however, said Abuelazam was not mentally ill at the time and knew exactly what he was doing.
Minor's stabbing and the others were "planned, focused, done with care," Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton told the jury.
Minor's blood was found on the steering wheel in Abuelazam's SUV and on pants and shoes inside his luggage as he tried to flee to Israel, his native country, in August 2010. The judge allowed four other stabbing victims to show their wounds to the jury and point to Abuelazam as the man responsible for the injuries.
"That was powerful," jury foreman Will Ogle said.
He said the insanity defense didn't fit for a number of reasons. Ogle said the defense summoned no friends or co-workers who could say that Abuelazam had symptoms of schizophrenia in his everyday life.
"The demons only come out at 3 o'clock in the morning when no one's looking? That doesn't add up," Ogle said.
The verdict, he said, "was very easy. ... He's one evil dude."
Charles Clark, a psychologist who interviewed Abuelazam, told jurors that critical questions remain unanswered.
"We didn't get an honest, full report from Mr Abuelazam about why," he said.
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