Trial Begins For Accused Flint Serial Stabber

FLINT (WWJ) - A prosecutor has told jurors that DNA will be powerful evidence in the first murder trial of Elias Abuelazam, the accused serial stabber who terrified the Flint area during the summer of 2010.

Tuesday morning jurors heard opening statements from the prosecution, while the defense decided to wait for closing arguments to make their case.

Reporting from the courthouse, WWJ Newsradio 950's Ron Dewey said prosecutor David Layton walked the jury through the time line of the stabbing death of Arnold Minor the early morning of August 2, left to die in the middle of Saginaw Street, he said, at the hands of Elias Abuelazam.

"Officer (Todd) Pillsbury stood over Arnold Ray Minor and asked him, 'Who did this to you?'" said Layton. "Arnold Ray Minor, who was gasping for breath and near death at this point, could only say the person was white."

Layton said they will use DNA evidence to link Abuelazam to Minor's death, with the victim's blood found on his clothing and in his SUV.

Layton told the jury they would hear from some of Abuelzam's victims as part of the trial, and learn how these stabbings took place.

"A gentleman told him he was having car trouble, a gentleman who needed assistance. So, Mr. Booker approached, and, as he approached, when he got in close he was stabbed in the gut," Layton said.

Abuelazam is charged with three murders and six attempted murders in the Flint area, although 14 people were stabbed that summer.

Additionally, Abuelazam is charged with attempted murder in Toledo, Ohio, and is suspected but not charged in attacks in Leesburg, Va., a region where he formerly lived.

He was captured at an Atlanta airport while trying to flee to Israel.

The trial is expected to last for at least two weeks.