By Dustin Brown
A Glendale man pleaded guilty Tuesday to manslaughter charges in connection with the shooting of a man in 1999, the Queens district attorney said.
Shortly before jury selection was to begin in his trial, Michael Antinuche, 30, of 70-20 68th St., pleaded guilty to charges of first-degree manslaughter and attempted kidnapping in connection with the 1999 slaying and an unrelated incident the following year, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said.
Antinuche admitted to participating in the killing of 26-year-old Michael Seyfert on Sept. 30, 1999, by luring him to a train yard in Middle Village and shooting him three times in the back of the head, the district attorney said.
“The defendant is a persistent recidivist who is a dangerous public enemy,” Brown said in a statement. “The residents of Queens County are safer now that he is behind bars and [can] no longer be a threat to society.”
A second defendant, Richard DiTommaso, 22, of 66-36 75th St. in Glendale, is awaiting trial in the case.
Antinuche also admitted to luring a 13-year-old girl into his car on Feb. 16, 2000, the district attorney said. She ultimately escaped despite his attempts to confine her in the vehicle.
Supreme Court Justice Robert Hanophy indicated he would sentence Antinuche to concurrent terms of 15 years to life in prison at a hearing May 7.
Antinuche is already serving a sentence of 25 years to life as a mandatory persistent felony offender for a 2001 conviction on charges of criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, the district attorney said.
