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Georgia man to be extradited in Forest Hills murder case

By Ivan Pereira

Mikhail Mallayev was ordered by New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who signed a special order last week, to be extradited from the Georgia jail to Queens to face charges of second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon in the Oct. 28 shooting of Dr. Daniel Malakov, a spokeswoman for the DeKalb County DA said. Judge James Weeks of the DeKalb County Criminal Court approved the governor's order Monday during a special hearing in Georgia.”We are just waiting for the Queens officers to come and pick him up. He will be back within the week,” the spokeswoman said.Mallayev, who is the distant uncle of Malakov's ex-wife, Dr. Mazoltuv Borukhova, was present at the hearing and did not make a statement, according to the DeKalb County DA's office. A spokeswoman for the Queens DA's office said they have up to seven business days to pick him up from Georgia and would not give any more specifics due to security reasons.The dentist was shot twice in the chest by an unidentified gunman in front of his 4-year-old daughter Michelle as he was dropping her off at the Annadale Playground on 64th Road and Yellowstone Boulevard, police said.He was bringing the girl to visit Borukhova, who had just lost temporary custody of Michelle days earlier during a bitter custody case. Malakov's family, who are immigrants from the former Soviet nation of Uzbekistan, openly accused Borukhova's family of being involved in the shooting, but she has repeatedly denied the accusations.A few weeks later, police tracked fingerprints left on a makeshift silencer abandoned by the shooter to Mallayev, who was arrested in 1994 for jumping a subway turnstile in Manhattan. On Nov. 17, DeKalb County police arrested Mallayev at his home and he had been fighting extradition ever since.Michelle is living with a foster mother under the supervision of the city's Administration for Child Services following a 10-day emotionally charged hearing in Queens Family Court after her father was murdered. During the hearing state Sen. Diane Savino (D-Staten Island) appeared as a surprise witness and told the court that Borukhova's sisters visited her 10 days before the shooting.The senator said the women requested advice about Michelle's custody battle and asked her two suspicious questions about Malakov.”What if something happens? What if he can't take care of her?” she recalled during her testimony. “What if she disappears?”Borukhova was not arrested or named a suspect by police, but investigators issued a search warrant for her Forest Hills residence and medical office and confiscated a computer, according to police. Reach reporter Ivan Pereira by e-mail at ipereira@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 146.