Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Staten Island, NY: Sources: History of domestic turmoil preceded fatal stabbing of Staten Island woman

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- They fought over finances and their impending divorce, and that's when Adiljan Anarbaev turned to his fists, and a knife, according to police sources.

And when it was over, police found his 44-year-old wife, Ilona Ganzha, dead at his hands, and Anarbaev laying in a third-floor bedroom, still alive with two knives sticking out of him, law enforcement sources said.

The 44-year-old Anarbaev, who's still hospitalized, now faces murder and other charges after the brutal episode inside Ms. Ganzha's New Springville home Monday afternoon.

As more details emerge about the slaying, law enforcement sources detail a history of domestic violence calls from the 42A Country Drive Road home where Ms. Ganzha was killed.

Police responded to a half dozen calls, mainly for verbal disputes and instances of aggravated harassment -- likely stemming from unwanted phone calls -- between January 2011 and September 2012, though none resulted in an arrest, one police source familiar with the case said.

The charges against Anarbaev show he violated a court order to stay away from his wife -- the police source said that order comes from a pending family court case between the two.

As the police source tells it, Anarbaev showed up at the condo at about 2 p.m. on Monday. The door was unlocked, and he headed up to a third-floor bedroom, the source said.

There, the source said, Ms. Ganzha and Anarbaev argued for about 45 minutes about finances and the divorce. Her son from an earlier relationship, Roman Ganzha, was home at the time -- he saw Anarbaev punching his mother, and feared for her safety, the source said.

At some point, Anarbaev walked past the son, went downstairs, got a knife, then came back up, held it over his head, and started stabbing Ms. Ganzha, the source said.

Roman went to two of his mother's young children, and their grandmother, who were also home, and told them to leave, then ran to a satellite office of the NYPD's 122nd Precinct, which is located a couple of blocks away on Richmond Avenue, near the Staten Island Mall, the source said.

When police arrived, Ms. Ganzha's young daughter answered the door, the source said. They found Ms. Ganzha in the third-floor bedroom, unresponsive and bleeding, and Anarbaev with the knives sticking out of him, the source said.

He was rushed to Staten Island University Hospital, Ocean Breeze, in critical condition. Hospital officials could not provide updated information about his condition.

Police say he's charged with second-degree murder, first-degree criminal contempt, and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon.

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