The suspected serial killer landed at 12:15 p.m. today in Genesee County, where police say he brought terror on an entire community. Nine surviving victims, and the families of five men killed are now eagerly waiting to see him face trial.
Flint State Police Task Force Investigators arrived in Atlanta around 8 a.m. Thursday. They then quickly picked up suspected serial killer Elias Abuelazam and flew him to Flint’s Bishop International Airport.
With typical criminals state and county authorities tell NBC25 they often hire private extradition services to pick up fugitives. Investigators say Abuelazam is no “typical criminal.”
Police say because of his alleged propensity to violence, numerous victims, and the likelihood he would try to flee local authorities wanted him in their custody during every moment of transport. They were not willing to trust a private service with the man now known as the suspected serial slasher.
Police say Abuelazam drove at night hunting for victims. He would often ask them for help, then pull out a knife, slash their bodies, and speed away. In some cases he used other weapons, such as a hammer.
Police say they suspect the Israeli citizen and legal U.S. resident in 18 stabbings. Three happened in Leesburg, Virginia, one in Toledo, Ohio, and fourteen in Genesee County.
Five victims died in Genesee County. They include Flint Township resident 60-year-old Frank Kellybrew, and Flint residents 31-year-old David Motley, 59-year-old Emmanuel A. Muhammad, 43-year-old Darwin Marshall, and 43-year-old Arnold Minor.
The flight in the King Air twin engine craft took only about three hours. Police say Abuelazam sat in chains during the flight, next to the investigators who searched tirelessly for him around the clock after noticing his alleged pattern of bloodshed.
He is now being transferred to the Genesee County Jail.
