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Grisly New Details Emerge in Upper West Side Decapitation Slay

By Sonja Sharp | April 26, 2012 6:56am
Julian Kurita at his arraignment in Manhattan Supreme Court in 2010.
Julian Kurita at his arraignment in Manhattan Supreme Court in 2010.
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DNAinfo/Josh Williams

MANHATTAN SUPREME COURT — Chilling new details emerged Wednesday in the gruesome Upper West Side slaying of 70-year-old Fumitaka Kurita, who was allegedly hacked to death by his son who then turned the knife on himself.

Officers testified in a pre-trial hearing that Julian Kurita told them his father "f—ing deserved it" when they arrived at the West 87th Street apartment to find his dad almost decapitated.

"He used to f— me up when I was kid, and he used to try to rape me and I was abused," Kurita told police.

Those allegations could factor heavily in the trial, set to begin next week, that is expected to hinge on whether Kurita was sane at the time of the July 2010 killing.

New York City Police Officer Stephen Jones testified that Kurita remained almost eerily cool, even as he was handcuffed to a gurney on his way to St. Luke’s Hospital.

"He was just so very calm," Jones said of Kurita, who allegedly slit his own wrist before calling 911. "He said he cut his wrist. He asked if he was going to bleed to death."

Jones said he overheard Kurita tell an emergency worker that he’d been spacing out his psychiatric medication due to insurance problems — testimony that defense attorney Norman Williams tried unsuccessfully to have suppressed.

"When you’re dealing with a person who has delusions, they say a lot of things," Williams said.

Williams rejected a plea bargain that would have landed Kurita behind bars for 15 years to life. He said his client’s history of mental illness will now play an important role in the trial.

"Without that, there is no defense," Williams said.