Sixteen months after the shooting death of orthodontist Daniel Malakov, a jury in State Supreme Court in Queens has found his physician wife and cousin guilty of the “execution-style” murder.
According to published reports, a jury deliberated for six hours on Tuesday, March 10 before agreeing with prosecutors that 35-year-old Mazoltuv Borukhova paid Mikhail Mallayev, her relative by marriage, $20,000 to kill her estranged husband. Both Borukhova and Mallayev, 51, were found guilty of first degree murder and second degree conspiracy and face life in prison. Mallayev, of Atlanta, was also found guilty of second degree criminal possession of a weapon.
Malakov, 34, was shot and killed on October 28, 2007 after leaving his Queens office to take his daughter to a Forest Hills playground to meet Borukhova for a custody visit. He had previously won custody of four-year-old Michelle in a bitter court battle, and prosecutors reportedly claimed Borukhova’s motive for the murder was sole custody of the girl.
In a statement, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown praised the prosecution for their work over the course of the five-week trial.
“Daniel Malakov looked to the law for justice when it came to gaining custody of his young daughter several years ago,” Brown said. “Today, the judicial system was there once again to ensure justice for Daniel as prosecutors made sure that those guilty of his murder were held accountable for their actions – actions that intentionally cut short a life filled with much promise and robbed a daughter of a father she hardly had the opportunity to know.”
While Borukhova claimed that Malakov was killed just 10 feet from her at the time of the shooting, she reportedly testified that she saw no gunman and never heard gunshots. In their closing arguments, prosecutors offered a different theory, according to reports, that Borukhova was not present at the time of the murder. Instead, they argued, Borukhova had decided to film the shooting in case Mallayev turned on her, and she was delayed because she was having difficulty operating the camera.
Nonetheless, investigators linked Mallayev to the crime after discovering his fingerprints on a homemade silencer discovered at the scene. During the trial, a witness reportedly identified Mallayev as the trigger man and prosecutors said his bank records reflected his payout for the murder.
Additionally, Brown, citing trial testimony, said Mallayev and Borukhova had 90 telephone conversations with each other in the weeks leading up to the murder, and, after Malakov’s death, the pair spoke on the telephone twice before meeting in person. Ultimately, Brown said, Mallayev deposited close to $20,000 in 10 separate bank accounts.
The trial split Queens’ close-knit Bukharian Jewish community, of which both Borukhova’s and Malakov’s families were a part.
According to reports, members of Malakov’s family pumped their fists and celebrated the trial’s outcome on the courthouse steps.
Queens Supreme Court Justice Robert Hanophy, who presided at trial, set sentencing for April 21.
