NEW YORK (AP) — A New York City man has been accused of stabbing a man to death and dismembering him after a drug dispute and keeping his remains in a Brooklyn apartment refrigerator for two years, prosecutors said Friday.
Nicholas McGee, 45, was charged with murder, robbery, concealment of a human corpse and tampering with evidence in connection with the killing of Kawsheen Gelzer, 39, in March 2022, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez’s office said in a statement after McGee was arraigned in court.
Gelzer’s remains were found Jan. 22 in the apartment McGee shared with his wife, Heather Stines, 45, authorities said. Stines was also arrested and charged with concealment of a human corpse, hindering prosecution and tampering with evidence.
Phone and text messages were left for McGee’s lawyer. Stines’ lawyer did not return a text message.
In new details released publicly Friday, Gonzalez’s office alleged McGee stabbed Gelzer while he slept on a sofa in McGee and Stines’ apartment. Gelzer woke up and struggled with McGee, who stabbed Gelzer again multiple times and stole drugs from Gelzer’s pocket, the DA’s office said.
McGee then dismembered Gelzer’s body, Gonzalez’s office said.
“This was a gruesome and horrific murder,” Gonzalez said in a statement. “We will now seek to hold the defendant accountable for this senseless crime.”
Police found the body in January while responding to the apartment on an anonymous tip, prosecutors said. Stines was arrested that day.
McGee was arrested in Chesapeake, Virginia, where court records said he was on probation for an attempted identity theft case, and brought to Brooklyn on Thursday, the DA’s office said.
A Brooklyn judge ordered McGee held without bail and to return to court on Monday.
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This story has been updated to correct the spelling of McGee’s first name to Nicholas, from Nicolas, and Gelzer’s age to 39, from 40, per new information released by the district attorney’s office.
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