Queens, NY – Mikhail Mallayev, 50, of Chamblee, Ga., accused of killing a Queens orthodontist in front of his young daughter has been ordered held without bail by a New York judge.
Join our WhatsApp groupSubscribe to our Daily Roundup Email
Mallayev is charged with murder in the death of Forest Hills orthodontist Daniel Malakov on Oct. 28, 2007. At the time, Malakov had recently received custody of his 4-year-old daughter, Michelle, after a bitter custody fight.
His estranged wife, Dr. Mazoltuv Borukhova, was denied custody after the murder as well, when a judge heard questions about a possible role Borukhova may have played in the killing.
In court today, Assistant D.A. Brad Leventhal, the Queens homicide bureau chief, said Mallayev — who is related by marriage to Borukhova — had shot the orthodontist twice.
"This was an execution," ADA Leventhal said, "he used a silencer to mask the sound."
The ADA added that Mallayev and Borukhova had communicated by phone at least 65 times in the period before the killing.
An investigation continues into who was what the indictment in the case describes as a co-conspirator."
A court-appointed defense attorney, Michael Siff, said afterward that Makkayev is "innocent until proven guilty and will fight the charges." Mallayev is also fighting a prosecutors' request that he shave a beard grown since October 28th.
Polioce intend to conduct lineups next week with witnesses to the killing who had described a clean-shaven shooter.
As the hearing concluded today, several members of the victim's family, who had packed the courtroom, yelled out in the defendant's native Russian, "hang him." [wnbc]