NEW YORK — The Queens District Attorney’s office was aiming at the accused “Duck Sauce Killer” when targeting his wife for gun possession, her attorney suggested in a pointed letter to prosecutors.
Defense lawyer Mark Bederow, in his Tuesday missive, questioned whether 62-year-old Dorothy Hirsch was arrested in hopes of flipping her to testify against spouse Glenn Hirsch in the April 30 slaying of beloved Chinese restaurant deliveryman Zhiwen Yan.
“We are deeply concerned that your office is abusing various provisions of the penal law and criminal procedure law in hopes of ‘squeezing’ Ms. Hirsch into cooperating against her husband,” wrote Bederow in the five-page letter.
“Ms. Hirsch has no interest in negotiating a plea agreement. She intends to vigorously defend herself and to expeditiously clear her name ... Ms. Hirsch did not knowingly possess the firearms recovered from the closet.”
The eight guns found in the apartment of the registered nurse were stored inside boxes and trash bags crammed inside a cluttered closet without her knowledge, the defense lawyer suggested.
In addition to the weapons, authorities recovered more than 200 rounds of ammunition in her home and some of the guns were loaded, authorities said. The firearms included a .38-caliber revolver, a .357-caliber revolver and a 9 mm pistol.
Bederow said he had yet to hear from prosecutors as to whether any of the weapons found in the closet were used in the slaying of the helpless deliveryman. DNA evidence was found on two of the guns, prosecutors said, with Glenn Hirsch agreeing to submit a sample for testing.
The murder suspect was arrested June 2, the same day police raided his wife’s Briarwood home — only a short drive from where Glenn Hirsch lived in the same Queens neighborhood. The couple are separated but on amicable terms.
On the night of the killing, according to prosecutors, Hirsch was caught on security cameras running back to his car after pulling the trigger and then driving to Dorothy Hirsch’s apartment, parking the vehicle and heading inside.
The Queens DA’s office did not respond to a request for comment on Bederow’s statements. But the lawyer’s filing makes it clear he intends to keep pressing the matter.
“The eight counts against Ms. Hirsch ... are extraordinarily weak and should be dismissed as a matter of fundamental fairness and common sense,” wrote Bederow.
Glenn Hirsch was released on $500,000 bail this past Monday.
The killing has roots stretching to last November, when the accused murderer became enraged over the lack of duck sauce with his takeout order, according to prosecutors. The suspect, who has pleaded not guilty in the killing, then began stalking Yan and other workers at the Great Wall restaurant in the weeks before the fatal shooting, officials charged.
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