Murder charges have been dropped against a man accused of killing three Asian men with a hammer at a Chinese restaurant, News 12 reports.
The incident happened at the Seafood Buffet in Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn in 2019.
Arthur Martunovich had faced first and second degree murder charges as well as a second degree murder as a hate crime. However, the judge ruled Martunovich suffers from a mental health issue and ordered him to be transferred to undergo treatment.
Family members of the victim met with the Brooklyn DA’s office for three hours Monday demanding to know what else could be done to get justice.
They want him imprisoned in a high security institution and be ordered to undergo a minimum stay before being released.
According to ABC7 News, prosecutors say Martunovich entered the restaurant and began attacking people without warning, sending customers and workers running for their lives. He allegedly told a Latino employee he would not be harmed and began going after Asian employees in the head.
“Chinese men are awful. They hold their women captive. And their women have like real (inaudible) ability and that’s why they keep them captive,” Martunovich said to police after his arrest, according to court records obtained by ABC7.
The three men killed included chef Fufai Pun, 34; manager Tsz Mat Pun, 50, and owner Kheong Ng-Thang, 60.
The New York Daily News reported Martunovich lived just six blocks from the restaurant and told police “voices” told him to harm a group of strangers.
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If he is so ill to commit these crimes, would the society not be better if he would be required to remain in a mental institution forever? Clearly, there is no guarantee that he would not do the same thing if released…. Come on, we all talk about the rights of the mentally ill, but where are the rights of the victims and their families?
Anybody can kill anybody and claim they are mentally ill??? American is doomed