Facebook/Arthur Martunovich Arthur Martunovich charged with killing Asian chef with a hammer.
Arthur Martunovich is a New York man charged with killing an Asian chef at a Brooklyn buffet with a hammer, The New York Post reports.
Martunovich, 34, told police that he killed 34-year-old Fufai Pun, a chef at the Seaport Buffet in Sheepshead Bay, because he was inspired by a film depicting the mistreatment of Chinese women.
Police say Martunovich, a construction worker, hit Pun with a hammer and also attacked owner Kheong Ng-Thang and manager Tsz Mat Pun. The chef was killed while Pun and Ng-Thang were hospitalized for their injuries.
“He had problems with Asian men,” one law enforcement source told The New York Post. “He talked about how Asian women are being treated by their men.”
Martunovich is charged with murder, two counts of attempted murder, and criminal possession of a weapon, The New York Daily News reported.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Arthur Martunovich Killed Chef & Attacked Buffet Owner
Police say Martunovich, a 34-year-old construction worker, burst into the Seaport Buffet at around 5 pm on Wednesday and hit 60-year-old owner Kheong Ng-Thang over the head with a hammer in the entryway.
Martunovich then burst into the kitchen where he hit manager Tsz Mat Pun, 50, and chef Fufai Pun, 34.
Fufai Pun was killed in the attack. The other two victims remain hospitalized. Ng-Thang was left brain dead from the attack, sources told The Daily News.
2. Martunovich ‘Had Problems With Asian Men’ & Claimed He Was Protecting Women, Police Say
“He did it! That’s the guy right there,” a bystander yelled when police arrived as officers handcuffed Martunovich.
Police told The New York Post that Martunovich claimed he was defending Chinese women after seeing an unspecified movie about their mistreatment by Chinese men.
“He had problems with Asian men,” one law enforcement source told the Post. “He talked about how Asian women are being treated by their men.”
Another police source told The New York Daily News, “he told cops that voices told him to go into the restaurant and hurt people.”
3. Police Say Martunovich Invoked Aliens During Interrogation
Police say that Martunovich invoked space aliens during his interrogation.
“He was saying psycho stuff about space aliens,” a police source told The Post.
“He was a straight up (emotionally disturbed person). He was all over the place…even talking about space aliens,” another source told The Daily News.
“He’s been rambling,” another law enforcement source said. “He’s all over the place.”
A police source told The New York Daily News that Martunovich assaulted an officer at the precinct he was taken to and a “few” cops were injured while trying to restrain him.
“It looks like he’s emotionally disturbed,” another source added. “That’s going to be his defense.”
4. Friend Says Martunovich ‘Sounded Kind of Crazy’
Alexsandr Krupetskiy, a former friend of Martunovich, told The Post that the construction worker was an immigrant from Estonia who came to the United States as a teenager.
The former friend said that they spoke a week or two before the attack after having a falling out more than a year earlier.
“He was saying things that sounded off, sounded kind of crazy,” said Aleksandr Krupetskiy. “He was telling me about some personal stuff that I’d told him a couple months ago — but we hadn’t spoken a couple months ago.”
“When I spoke to him, he didn’t seem (like he would) do something like this,” Krupetskiy told The Daily News. “He never mentioned being unhappy with anything. He was just his regular, friendly self.”
“He’s never done anything like this. He’s never said anything like this,” Martunovich’s roommate told The Daily News. “He’s quiet, not strange quiet, but quiet like a normal guy.”
5. Martunovich Was Involved in Previous Assaults
Martunovich was a suspect in a 2016 assault but charges were never filed because the alleged victim declined to pursue the case, The Post reports.
Martunovich himself was the victim of an assault in 2004 and another in 2016 but details in those cases were not immediately available.
On Wednesday, Martunovich was wearing a hospital gown and a “blank stare,” The Post reported, as he was taken from a police station to an ambulance for a psychiatric evaluation.
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