An Elmhurst man has been indicted by a grand jury on murder charges and other crimes for a subway stabbing spree that killed a man and left three others seriously wounded.
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced Tuesday, June 15, that Mark Albano, 34, of 82nd Street, was arraigned in Queens Supreme Court on charges of murder, attempted murder and other charges for four separate stabbing attacks.
Albano allegedly stabbed a man to death in the Grand Avenue-Newtown subway station on April 23. He is also accused of assaulting three other men between May 3 and May 8. Alban was arraigned before Queens Supreme Court Justice Ushir Pandit-Durant on a 14-count indictment. The judge remanded the defendant and set his return date for July 26.
According to the charges, at around 3:30 a.m. on April 23, Albano approached Leroy Williams on the platform at the Grand Avenue-Newtown station. Albano allegedly stabbed the victim once in the chest and then fled the station. Williams, 57, was taken to a nearby hospital where he died as a result of the injury.
The DA said on May 3, around 6:45 a.m. a 33-year-old man walked out of the Steinway Street subway station on his way to work.
The defendant followed him and after a couple of blocks, Albano approached the victim and allegedly stabbed him once in the back of the neck. The victim was taken to an area hospital and needed stitches to close the wound.
Then, on May 7, around 8 p.m. at 51st Avenue and 90th Street, Albano approached a man exiting a grocery store and followed him several blocks, as outlined in the charges. Without provocation, Albano closed the distance between himself and the victim and allegedly stabbed the 31-year-old man in the back of his neck. The victim fell to the ground in pain and saw Albano running away from him carrying a bag.
The victim was rushed to an area hospital. He sustained spinal cord damage and paralysis as a result of the attack.
On May 8, at around 5:15 a.m., according to Katz, Alfano was inside a reputed gambling den in the basement of a building on Van Loon Street in Elmhurst. Alfano confronted a 40-year-old man there and allegedly pulled out a knife and stabbed him in his arm and armpit. Responding police found the victim lying in a pool of blood at the scene. He was rushed to a hospital, where he needed both stitches and staples to close the stab wounds.
Albano fled the scene, but police apprehended him a few blocks away. He was allegedly carrying a bag that contained a knife inside.
“This defendant must answer for allegedly perpetrating a spree of violent knife attacks in our borough,” Katz said. “There is no excuse for the mayhem and grief these incidents unleashed.”
Albano faces up to 25 years to life in prison if convicted in the murder case. He also faces between 15 years and 25 years in prison on the other three cases.
