Detectives want to question a relative in the grisly Brooklyn double stabbing that left a 49-year-old man dead — a killing that has rattled the quiet, close-knit community where it happened to its core.
Juan Manuel Galicia and his wife, both 49, were attacked inside their E. 69th St. apartment near Avenue M in Bergen Beach around 7:30 p.m. Thursday, officials said.
Both victims were repeatedly stabbed. Neighbors on the normally tranquil, tree-lined block heard the vicious attack as it happened.
“I heard a woman scream and then I didn’t hear anything,” said one neighbor, who wished not to be named. “It was a high-pitched scream — one scream and then I didn’t hear anything.”
“I thought maybe someone got hit by a car,” the 34-year-old neighbor said. “But I didn’t hear a car crash. I thought maybe it was nothing.”
The stabber, who is in his late 20s or early 30s and is believed to be related to the couple, fled the scene in a blue Toyota SUV. As he escaped, he called another family member, giving a chilling message.
“I’ve taken care of your parents,” he said, before hanging up, police sources said.
At the same time, Galicia and his wife stumbled out of their home into the frigid night air desperately searching for help, leaving their blood on a neighbor’s car that was sitting in a shared driveway.
“I don’t know how you walk this far if you’re stabbed,” the neighbor said. “But they walked to try to get help.”
The panicked family member who received the menacing call reached out to another relative, who called 911. EMS rushed the couple to Brookdale Medical Center, where Galicia died.
His wife remained in critical condition Friday.
Kerry Burke / New York Daily News
Police investigate the double stabbing on E. 69th St. on Thursday night. (Kerry Burke / New York Daily News)
No arrests have been made, but cops have identified a relative as a person of interest they want to question, a high-ranking NYPD source said.
“They were a nice couple. They didn’t bother anyone,” the neighbor said. “It’s shocking.”
A motive for the double knifing wasn’t immediately disclosed.
Word of the killing quickly spread, driving fear into a community looking forward to the upcoming holiday.
“I can’t imagine what the daughter is going through,” said one upstairs neighbor.
The phone call the stabber made to relatives gave the neighbor chills, she said.
“For something random like that to happen over here is kind of weird, so I knew it was kind of targeted, like premeditated,” the neighbor said. “I hope they find who did it, because that’s f—ed up.”
“It was so close (to me),” she said. “It’s scary.”
The couple mostly kept to themselves, neighbors said. Galicia, the upstairs neighbor said, would always be seen mowing the small patch of grass lining the corner property in the summer and picking up leaves in the fall.
“They’re very nice people from the little encounters that I’ve had with them,” said the neighbor, who moved to the area two years ago. “When I’m coming up the stairs they’ll greet me. They’re sweet for the most part. Even our landlord says it.”
“It is a (quiet neighborhood) for the most part,” she said. “That’s why I was a little shocked that there were a bunch of cops and stuff. There’s never been an issue here.”
Henry Chan, another neighbor, agreed.
“I’ve been here 20 years, and I’ve just never come across something like this, so it’s really shocking,” Chan, 53, said. “It’s just awful.”
Anyone with information regarding this killing is urged to call NYPD Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.
