Queens, NY – The sister-in-law of slain Queens dentist Daniel Malakov was cleared late Friday of charges she threatened a key witness in the trial of his accused killer.
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A jury acquitted Natella Natanova following a two-day deliberation that nearly resulted in a hung jury.
Natanova, 39, had been charged with approaching Malakov’s brother, Gavril Malakov, months after the murder and saying, “If you talk, you will be the next to go.”
“We’re ecstatic,” lawyer Melvyn Roth said after the verdict, “This never happened. … Justice has been done.”
Hours before the verdict, jurors sent a note warning the judge they could not agree on an outcome. They also asked for three separate read-backs of trial testimony in which Roth suggested victim Gavril Malakov had a motive to lie about the incident to gain custody of his niece.
Natanova’s sister, Mazoltuv Borukhova, is expected to go on trial this fall on charges she conspired with a relative to have her estranged husband shot dead in front of the couple’s 4-year-old girl.
The district attorney’s office declined to comment.