More than a dozen witnesses testify on day one of murder trial
FLINT -- The second day of testimony in the Elias Abuelazam trial took place on Wednesday with members of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton delivered his opening statement and called more than a dozen witnesses to the stand Tuesday, during the first day of the first murder trial for accused serial stabber Elias Abuelazam.
Abuelazam is accused of killing 49-year-old Arnold Minor in the early morning hours of August 2nd, 2010.
"He (Abuelazam) lured him (Minor) close and he brutally stabbed him to death leaving him to die in a puddle of blood in a gutter on Saginaw Street," Prosecutor Leyton said during his opening statement.
Abuelazam's defense attorneys did not give an opening statement, and could still pursue an insanity defense.
Flint police detectives testified that Minor was able to identify the color of his attacker, while emergency first responders attempted to save his life at the scene.
"I asked it several times before he eventually said, 'I heard the word 'white,'" Detective Todd Pillsbury said on the witness stand.
Fellow officers testified that the stabbing death of Minor was the second stabbing in a 24-hour period of time in Flint, an unusual occurrence in a city known for shootings.
Abuelazam was arrested in Atlanta on August 11th, 2010, while trying to board a flight to Tel Aviv, Israel.
The prosecution also plans to present DNA evidence allegedly linking Abuelazam to several crime scenes in Flint where stabbings took place.
