By Ivan Pereira
Queens Criminal Court could be gearing up for a summer showdown between the siblings of slain Forest Hills dentist Daniel Malakov and his estranged wife, Mazoltuv Borukhova, who is charged with plotting his murder outside a playground.
On May 28, Judge James P. Griffin set a July 21 date for the start of the criminal trial against Natella Natanova. Natanova, 39, is the older sister of Borukhova, who is accused of first-degree murder and conspiracy in Malakov's Oct. 28 shooting.
On March 3, Natanova allegedly threatened to kill Daniel Malakov's brother, Gavriel Malakov, for being outspoken during her sister's court hearings, the Queens district attorney said.
"You should know if you talk, you will be the next to go," she allegedly told Gavriel Malakov at the intersection of 108th Street and 65th Avenue, according to the DA.
Natanova, a stay at home mother, was charged with tampering with a witness and intimidating a witness for the alleged threat. Her attorney, Melvyn Roth, denied that she made such a statement and called the DA's case an exaggeration.
"Even if she said it, as a matter of law, there is no case since she had no knowledge he was going to be a witness. It's a felony at worst," Roth said.
Gavriel Malakov, who has repeatedly refused to comment on the alleged threat, could be called to the stand to testify, according to sources close to the case. Natanova also declined to comment about her pending case.
She appeared nervous outside the court room as she discussed her options with her attorney; husband; sister, Sofia; and mother, Esta.
Daniel Malakov, 34, an Uzbek immigrant, was shot twice in the chest outside a Forest Hills playground as he was dropping off his 4-year-old daughter, Michelle, to meet Borukhova, 34.
Malakov's family has repeatedly accused his ex-wife, also a native Uzbekistan, of being involved since she had lost custody of the girl days before the shooting during a bitter divorce custody battle.
Police arrested Borukhova's distant uncle, Mikhail Mallayev, 50, in November and three months later took Borukhova into custody, charging both with first-degree murder and conspiracy. Prosecutors contend Borukhova and Mallayev plotted extensively in the weeks leading up to the shooting with more than 90 phone calls.
Reach reporter Ivan Pereira by e-mail at ipereira@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 146.
