By Howard Koplowitz
A South Richmond Hill man charged with killing his wife in front of his children was ordered held without bail last week, District Attorney Richard Brown said.
Oscar Novakovsky, 37, of 103-24 121st St. in South Richmond Hill, allegedly stabbed his estranged wife, 32-year-old Diane Sharma, in the neck with a knife between 12 a.m. and 1 a.m. Jan. 15 inside her 117th Street home, the DA said.
The killing occurred in the presence of the couple’s three children — ages 3, 5 and 9 — and Brown said Sharma also had multiple cuts to her arms and hands in addition to the fatal stab wound.
Novakovsky was arrested a short while after the murder by 102nd Precinct officers, who took him to a local hospital where he was treated for cuts to his arms and hands, the DA said.
Novakovsky allegedly told police “the kids were screaming. The kids were trying to pull me off and were crying” during the encounter.
“It is difficult to imagine a crime more heinous than that of a father viciously attacking his wife in front of their three small children,” Brown said in a statement. “The children will have to bear the emotional scars of what they witnessed for the rest of their lives. The charges against the defendant will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Novakovsky was arraigned Jan. 25 on charges of murder, aggravated criminal contempt, criminal contempt, endangering the welfare of a child and criminal possession of a weapon before Queens Criminal Court Judge Suzanne Melendez, who remanded him without bail, the DA said.
The South Richmond Hill man, who faces up to 25 years to life in prison if convicted of the charges, is expected to appear in court Tuesday.
Reach reporter Howard Koplowitz by e-mail at hkoplowitz@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4573.
