NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – A Queens landlord was charged with murder after allegedly stabbing two of his tenants and his girlfriend to death in a St. Albans home on Tuesday, the Queens District Attorney's office said.
David Daniel, 54, was charged with three counts of first- and second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon Wednesday, officials said. He is to return to court on Nov. 17.
“The bloody crime scene was the result of extraordinary brutality. In court, what we will show is that the defendant viciously stabbed his defenseless victims to death,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said.
The defendant walked into a Queens police station Tuesday morning and told officers he "did something bad" before three people were found stabbed to death inside the home, the NYPD said.
Daniel was taken into custody as a person of interest after his surrender at 7 a.m. at the 113th Precinct stationhouse.
NYPD Assistant Chief Kevin Williams, the commanding officer of Patrol Borough Queens South, said the man entered the stationhouse and told uniformed officers "he was having issues with his tenants."
"The officers inquired further, and the male stated that he 'did something bad,'" Williams said.
Police responded to the single-family home at 122-39 Milburn St., where a man and woman were found stabbed on the floor and another woman, Daniel’s girlfriend, was found stabbed in a second-floor bedroom, the district attorney’s office said.
Officers rendered aid to the unresponsive victims and called for EMS, who pronounced all of them victims dead at the scene shortly before 7:30 a.m.
WABC reported investigators are looking at the possibility there was an ongoing dispute over nonpayment of rent at the home.