The chilling details suspect in NYC homeless attacks told cops: ‘stabber’s choice’
The suspect in a series of attacks on homeless people in New York City allegedly admitted it was his “stabber’s choice” to knife his victims in the guts — saying he used a serrated blade because he wanted it to “drag pieces of intestine out with it,” prosecutors said Thursday.
Trevon Murphy, 40, was ordered held without bail at his arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court on charges he murdered one man and wounded two others during a week-long spree where he shoved a knife into his victims’ abdomens as they slept.
The knifeman allegedly gave a full confession to police after his arrest, making the grisly revelation to cops that he opted to stab his victims in their guts because it was his “stabber’s choice,” Assistant District Attorney Shilpa Kalra said in court.
He shopped at a hardware store for the weapon used in all three attacks — and chose one that would maximize the carnage as, “a knife with a flat edge would go in and out easily, whereas this knife that he bought would drag pieces of intestine out with it,” Kalra said.
“He targeted vulnerable, defenseless, unhoused victims—all of whom were asleep and had their backs to the defendant,” she said.
“These individuals, asleep and looking for respite in the only places they could find, were awoken violently when this defendant stabbed them all in the lower abdomen with a large, serrated scoring knife,” the ADA added.
Prosecutors asked the court to remand Murphy, who has a lengthy rap sheet in his native Tennessee and an open assault case in Queens from when he allegedly punched his roommate in a homeless shelter.
The accused killer, who was born and raised in Knoxville, has no permanent address in the Big Apple and by his own admission, no family, friends or anything tying him to New York, the ADA said.
Murphy allegedly first struck July 5 at about 3 a.m., stabbing a homeless man sleeping on a bench in Hudson River Park before fleeing across the West Side Highway, according to the complaint against him.
Drivers spotted the victim splayed out on a crosswalk nearly two hours later, and he was taken to a nearby hospital where he was declared dead, cops said in the complaint.
Three days later, Murphy allegedly stabbed another man sleeping on a bench at Madison Avenue and East 49th Street. He was spotted on surveillance footage staring at the victim “for 20 minutes” before he pounced, the court document states.
Early July 11, another homeless person was stabbed while sleeping on the basketball court at Stanley Isaacs Playground near 95th Street and FDR Drive, according to the complaint.
In all three cases, police obtained video of a man wearing a hooded sweatshirt with “The Innocence Project” logo, distinctive yellow sneakers and a backpack.
Murphy was arrested in Upper Manhattan Wednesday after a retired Rikers Island jail guard recognized him from images released by the NYPD and called authorities.
He’s charged with murder, two counts of attempted murder and two counts of assault in the first degree.
The Innocence Project, a nonprofit group that works to exonerate individuals who have been wrongly convicted, said there was no known connection between Murphy and the group.
“The Innocence Project is shocked and saddened by the recent attacks on some of the most vulnerable members of the New York City community,” it said in a statement Thursday. “Over time, the Innocence Project has distributed thousands of sweatshirts bearing our logo and they are readily available for purchase on our website. At this time, we are unaware of any connection between the man, who has been identified as Trevon Murphy, and the Innocence Project.”
