By Manik Mehta, New York
New York, Feb 1 (NNN-BERNAMA) — Disturbing details are now emerging about the alleged killer of the Malaysian immigrant working in a restaurant and two of his co-workers by a 34 year old Brighton Beach resident, Arthur Martunovich, who is of Russian origin from Estonia, and who used a hammer to bludgeon his victims to death on January 15 at the Seaport Buffett on Emmons Avenue in Brooklyn, New York.
The eatery is considered to be a favourite of Asian and European immigrants who have been peacefully eating together, until the fatal attacks of January 15. The restaurant guests on that date will probably not forget the shock trauma of the three killings by Martunovich who arrived wielding a hammer In his hand. Nevertheless, local politicians and others are saying that the triple murder were no ordinary killings, and the attacker had racist motives driving his action.
Speaking to the media, Dermot Shea, the local chief detective, said that he believed that Martunovich would very soon face indictment charges, and the attacker would face “some kind of hate-crime charges”, implying that the attack may have had racist motives. However, the Brooklyn district attorney’s office has not made any public comments so far on Martunovich’s indictment.
Martunovich, who worked on a construction site, is said to have a history of mental illness and was treated in hospitals earlier, though he did not have any arrest record so far, police said. Some friends of Martunovich like Aleksander Krupetsiy even said that Martunovich was not known to be a violent or hateful person.
But, according to eye-witness accounts quoted by the police, Martunovich was heard abusing and cursing while he went after the 61 year old Malaysian Thang Kheong Ng, the restaurant manager whose head was bludgeoned by the attacker with the hammer, with blood gushing out of the victim’s head all over the floor near the counter. The attack was unprovoked.
After attacking Ng, Martunovich rushed to the buffet which was laden with hot food meant for the restaurant guests. He struck the hammer on the head of restaurant co-owner, 51 year old Tsz Pun; finally, he struck the third victim, Fufai Pun, who was the restaurant chef.
The unprovoked hammer attacks sent customers and the remaining workers fleeing in panic out of the restaurant, with some hiding in nearby shops.
All three victims have, meanwhile, succumbed to their injuries.
Martunovich, who was quickly arrested by the police after he fled from the eatery, faces murder charges and was also subjected to a psychiatric evaluation at the Bellevue Hospital Center in New York City. He was, as of Wednesday, not produced before a judge.
However, according to New York’s Daily News, Martunovich reportedly told the restaurant’s dishwasher, that he wanted to “hurt only Asian men”, which is interpreted as a hate crime.
New York City Councilwoman Margaret Chin, according to the New York Post, was quoted as saying that the attacker considered himself as a “savior” after having watched a film in which Asian men were shown as abusing Asian women. Chin, a Democrat, called the attacks a “racial hate crime, plain and simple” when she attended a rally outside the restaurant to demonstrate solidarity with the victims and condemn racially-motivated attacks.
Her views were echoed by Councilman Mark Treyger, a Brooklyn Democrat, who described the restaurant as “the scene of a hate-crime massacre.”
Experts discussing the case feel that, notwithstanding the reasons or motives for his attack, questions and doubts will be raised about Martunovich’s mental health and whether he is fit to stand trial after being produced before a judge. The attacker is to confined psychiatric treatment at the hospital after his arrest. But two of the attacker’s friends admitted, in media interviews, that they had heard from his mother, Svetlana, that he had been treated at one clinic in the past, but was released and considered to be fine.
The attacker was not known to the restaurant employees because he was not a regular customer. Most of the guests at the restaurant were considered to be “repeat guests” and “habitual visitors” as it was in their neighbourhood.
Tsz Pun had worked in the restaurant for 20 years, and had purchased an apartment for his family in neighbouring Gravesend. Ng had been employed as a manager of the Seaport Buffet for about eight months, according to the other employees. He was described by people who knew him as a “kind and polite man” who kept In close contact with his 90-year old mother in Malaysia.
A staff member of the Malaysian consulate general told Bernama that the consulate was closely following further developments in the case. The Malaysian community in and around New York is shocked by the incident, with many saying that “one needs to be extra cautious about people and their intentions”. .
–NNN-BERNAMA
