Mich. jury close to finish line in stabbings trial

[May 22, 2012]  FLINT, Mich. (AP) -- Jurors must decide whether strong physical evidence in the first trial from a series of stabbings in Michigan is outweighed by the mental health of a 35-year-old Israeli immigrant who is charged with murder.

The jury returns for closing arguments and deliberations Tuesday in the trial of Elias Abuelazam. Prosecutors and defense lawyers closed the case last week with dueling opinions over his mental health and whether he should be found criminally responsible for the death of Arnold Minor.

Minor, 49, is considered the last person stabbed during a deadly spree in and around Flint, Mich., two summers ago. Fourteen people were knifed and five died.

Police say Minor's blood was found in Abuelazam's Chevy Blazer and on his jeans and shoes. Jurors also heard from four people who survived stabbings in the area and identified Abuelazam as the attacker.

To find Abuelazam not guilty by reason of insanity, the jury would have to agree that he didn't know his acts were wrong or that he couldn't adapt his behavior to the law. He could be found guilty or even guilty but mentally ill, which still carries life in prison without parole.

"His behavior was the result of rage, revenge and some sort of dissipation of tension and other factors, but not as a result of mental illness," Dr. Elissa Benedek, a psychiatrist, told jurors last week. She interviewed Abuelazam in jail.

But a psychiatrist for the defense, Dr. Thomas Brewer, said Abuelazam is a paranoid schizophrenic who killed Minor and stabbed others because he was under the influence of delusions that he described as "evil forces."

There was no evidence, however, that Abuelazam was under a doctor's care in 2010 or that he was taking any medication for schizophrenia. He spent only a few months in Flint, living in a home owned by his uncle, and had a $10-an-hour job at a liquor store.

Besides the Minor death, Abuelazam is charged with murder in two other slayings in the Flint area and six cases of attempted murder. He's also charged with attempted murder in Toledo, Ohio, and suspected in attacks in Leesburg, Va., an area where he formerly lived.

[Associated Press; By ED WHITE]

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