A man accused of stabbing his 80-year-old neighbor inside the victim’s Washtington Heights apartment blamed the slaying on a psychotic break, prosecutors say.
Alon Riabichev is accused of stabbing Lev Vayner three times in his neck and torso four days after the victim started letting the suspect crash in his apartment on Overlook Terrace near E. 184th St.
Riabichev, 45, had been kicked out of his apartment elsewhere in the building by his own mother when Vayner kindly took him in, according to neighbors and the victim’s family.
“My name is Alon Riabichev,” the suspect told a 911 operator about 3:15 a.m. Monday, according to the criminal complaint against him. “I had some kind of psychotic break and I killed somebody a few hours ago.”
“I stabbed my 81-year-old neighbor,” the defendant added, misstating the victim’s age, according to the complaint. “The knife is on the table.”
Police found Vayner dead on the floor covered in bloodt.
Riabichev was charged with murder Monday and Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Jeffrey Gershuny ordered him held without bail at arraignment that evening.
Neighbors told the Daily News that Riabichev’s mother, who lives in an apartment on the building’s fourth floor, had recently kicked her son out and he’d been loitering in the building for days since.
“The whole building felt bad for this guy because we all knew him and when stuff started going down with his mom we had to walk by him every day,” said 40-year-old Moses Waterland, who lives in the building.
“He was going through it. He was sliding down pretty fast.”
A relative of Vayner’s told ABC7 New York that the victim beginning on Thursday allowed the suspect to stay in the apartment the victim shared with his daughter.
“He had a very intense gaze. I’m a psychiatrist, I can tell. Very intense gaze, you could tell he’s not doing well,” the victim’s nephew said of the suspect, speaking to ABC7 New York.
“I spoke to [Vayner’s daughter] on the phone. I said to her, ‘This is bad idea. You should make a referral to a shelter.’”
“I even suggested that we meet with the (suspect’s) mother,” he added.
Vayner had returned home from a short stay in the hospital shortly before he was killed, his neighbor said.
“The older man had been to the hospital two days ago. And to have this happen when he comes back,” said Waterland. “I can’t believe it. I’ve known that guy for years.”
“He’s a very generous guy. He was always offering me cigarettes and wanting to tell me about his time in the Russian army.”
