The Murder of Kawsheen Gelzer

Nicholas McGee, 48, and his common-law wife Heather Stines, 48, lived in a third-floor apartment on Nostrand Avenue in Flatbush, Brooklyn. Kawsheen Gelzer, 39, had an informal arrangement with the couple -- he supplied them with drugs and in exchange was allowed to sleep on their couch. According to prosecutors, on March 25, 2022, a dispute arose. Gelzer asked Stines for sexual favors and she refused. McGee came home later, stewing with rage over what he felt was disrespect. He told Stines he was going to kill Gelzer.

While Gelzer slept face-down on the couch, McGee grabbed a kitchen knife and stabbed him in the back. Gelzer woke up and fought back, knocking the knife to the ground. McGee picked up a hammer and repeatedly slammed it into Gelzer's head. He reclaimed the knife and kept stabbing. Gelzer, still conscious, tried to flee but slipped on his own blood and fell to the floor. He asked McGee why he was doing this. McGee told him it was because he was a smart-mouth and he was tired of him. McGee stabbed Gelzer repeatedly in the chest until he died. Medical testimony at trial established more than 60 sharp force wounds to the head, torso and extremities.

After the killing McGee went through Gelzer's pockets and took his drugs, which he and Stines used together. He dragged Gelzer's body to the bathtub where it remained for several days. When a leak from upstairs flooded the tub he moved the body, then later moved it back. He then dismembered Gelzer using a small saw and hammer -- cutting through his arms, legs and neck. He placed the body parts in black plastic garbage bags, stuffed the torso in a suitcase, and shoved everything into the refrigerator and freezer, sealing the door shut with tape and glue.

Gelzer's remains stayed in that refrigerator for nearly two years. His mother reported him missing in April 2022. Nobody knew where he was until January 2024 when a Crime Stoppers tip led police to the apartment.