By Shayna Jacobs
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN SUPREME COURT — The man charged with stuffing his murder victim into a suitcase in East Harlem called the local precinct at least twice to say he was the one shown in a video released by police dragging the luggage containing the corpse, court documents released this week show.
"I’m the male you’re looking for pulling the bag. I’m scared. I need a couple of days to think about things," suspected killer Hassan Malik said in a call to a detective at the 23rd Precinct on Dec. 25, three days after he allegedly killed 28-year-old Betty Williams.
Malik was referring to a video released to the public by the NYPD when they were seeking help identifying the suspect in Williams' murder.
"I’m not running from you, I’m still in the city. My name is Malik and I need help," he added during the call, which was transcribed by police.
In a statement made after his arrest, he gave excuses for why he had not turned himself in, the court documents show.
"I was going to turn myself in but the weather was bad," Malik told police when he was brought in on Dec. 27, the day after a blizzard swept New York City. "I didn’t mean to do this. If you go to my apartment you'll see I even threw up."
Malik, 55, was still on probation for a 2009 attempted robbery conviction when he allegedly murdered Williams on Dec. 22. The 6-foot 2-inch Malik allegedly packed the much smaller victim into a travel bag on wheels and left it on the sidewalk near Rao's restaurant on East 114th Street.
He told police he strangled Williams with an electrical cord after hitting her in the head with a frying pan during a violent dispute at his apartment, prosecutors said. He claimed she struck him first and that he accidentally killed her while fighting back.
He seemed to believe the story would make him a candidate for manslaughter, not murder.
"Can I ask a question? What’s the difference between manslaughter and murder?," he asked in a police car after he was picked up, according to the court papers.
"What if it’s manslaughter because she attacked me?" he asked after he was told it was a murder case.
That story of Williams' attacking him differed from the first account he gave, in which he claimed she was killed by someone else and that he'd discovered the body after returning to the apartment from a bodega.
A neighbor of Malik's told DNAinfo she heard "a loud screaming match" coming from his apartment and a woman yell, "No, Daddy, no!" on the night of the killing.
Sources said Williams had several prostitution and drug arrests on her record, but in court on Tuesday, her sister denied those reports.
Malik is due back in court on Feb. 15.
