By Ivan Pereira
The estranged wife of Dr. Daniel Malakov and her uncle were convicted Tuesday of the orthodontist’s murder outside a Forest Hills playground more than a year ago.
The jury, which consisted of six men and six women, took only seven hours over a day and a half to find Dr. Mazoltuv Borukhova and her relative, Mikhail Mallayev, guilty of first-degree murder and conspiracy in the Oct. 28, 2007 shooting of the Forest Hills dentist. Mallayev was also found guilty of a weapons possession charge.
Borukhova, 35, who like her husband is a Bukharian Jewish native of Uzbekistan, hired Mallayev, 51, to kill Malakov after he had gained custody of their daughter Michelle, 6, prosecutors from the Queens district office contended.
Borukhova and Mallayev displayed no outward reaction to the early afternoon verdict in State Supreme Court at Kew Gardens. After it was read, Malakov’s uncle shouted, “God bless America” before being quieted by a court officer.
As he left the courthouse, Khaika Malakov, the slain man’s father, thanked judges, witnesses and the justice system.
“It is good, because justice has won,” he said.
Mallayev did not take the stand in his own defense, but Borukhova did.
She insisted that she did not hear any gunshots or see the gunman despite being feet away from her husband when he was murdered.
Malakov, 34, was killed by Mallayev as he was dropping off Michelle, who was 4 at the time, to meet her mother at the Annadale Playground at 64th Road and Yellowstone Boulevard. Borukhova, an internist, reluctantly gave up custody of her daughter six days before Malakov was shot. The girl is currently living with her paternal uncle, Gavriel.
Borukhova and her uncle face a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole when they are sentenced on April 21.
