The man charged with a Brooklyn-to-Manhattan murder spree that started with the slaying of his mother’s boyfriend and ended with a brutal stabbing aboard a subway train pleaded guilty today to four murder counts and other charges.
Maksim Gelman, 24, had originally pleaded not guilty to the four counts and a raft of other charges in the 13-count indictment.
Gelman’s lawyer Edward Friedman said his client wished to plead guilty in Brooklyn this time.
“He’s pleading guilty without a promise,” Friedman said, noting that there was no deal struck between the defense and DA’s office.
Gelman said “yes” numerous times as the judge went through each count and asked him if he wanted to plead guilty.
The other counts included attempted murder, robbery and assault charges.
Gelman could be sentenced to 100 years on the four murder charges alone.
“Mr. Gelman is anxious to begin his sentence in an upstate facility,” Friedman said.
Prosecutor Kenneth Taub added, “I’m certainly not going to stand in the way of someone who wants to plead guilty.”
Gelman is set to be sentenced Jan. 11. He still needs to appear before another judge so prosecutors can decide what to do with Gelman’s alleged Manhattan crimes.
“It is quite likely, almost guaranteed, that any sentence I give means you’d never be released from a penal institution while you are alive,” said Judge Vincent DelGiudice.
Gelman went on a 28-hour rampage that included stabbing his mother’s boyfriend to death and stealing his car, mowing down and killing a pedestrian with that auto and stabbing to death a woman he was stalking — Yelena Bulchenko — and her mother.
He also stabbed another man in a carjacking and, finally, a third man on the subway on Feb. 12 in Manhattan, which led to his arrest.
In an odd moment at the end of the hearing, Gelman said he understood then saluted his lawyer as he was led away.
“Have a good one,” Gelman told his lawyer.
After Gelman was arrested, he told cops his victims had to die, according to the court papers:
“Who had to die?” investigators asked.
“She was a bitch,” Gelman responded.