UPPER WEST SIDE — The massage therapist charged with strangling a popular gay-nightclub operator told detectives he was acting in self-defense after his victim got upset for having his advances rebuffed, police sources said.
Daquan King, 23, told investigators he was giving Savyon “Big Ben” Zabar, 54, a massage inside Zabar’s apartment on West 81st Street near Columbus Avenue on Jan. 4 when Zabar began to put his hands where they didn’t belong, law-enforcement sources said.
King, who insisted he’s not gay, said he refused to indulge Zabar, who became enraged and started to choke him, sources said.
That’s when King said he pushed back and strangled Zabar, accidentally killing him, sources said.
The 23-year-old was arrested at his mother’s home in The Bronx Friday and charged with second-degree murder. He was ordered held without bail at his arraignment.
A roommate of Zabar’s told DNAinfo last week that King and Zabar had been hanging out in Zabar’s room for about two hours before King stormed out.
“He slammed the doors. It was so weird,” Baez said. “Nobody ever slammed the door that hard. We felt concerned and tried to knock on Ben’s door. He never opened."
King’s due back in court on Wednesday.
