Slain dentist's wife pleads not guilty

  Eyewitness News

QUEENS (WABC) -- We are learning more details Friday in the death of a Queens orthodontist gunned down in front of his young daughter last October.

Daniel Malakov's estranged wife, Dr. Mazoltov Borakhova, now faces charges of first- and second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. She defiantly pleaded not guilty in court Friday.

Dr. Borakhova told reporters that she is shocked by her arrest and is denying involvement in her ex-husband's killing.

Police say she plotted with a relative to kill Malakov to regain custody of the couple's daughter.

The victim's family gathered Thursday night outside the 112th Precinct, where Borakhova was being questioned. "Justice for Daniel," they chanted in unison.

"They hired the guy together to plan it, to kill Daniel," the victim's mother, Malka Malakov, said.

"She couldn't get things resolved in a civil and normal way, so she said, let me take care of things the way I can do it," Daniel's brother, Gavriel Malakov, said. "So she said let me get rid of him."

Dr. Malakov was shot three times in the chest in broad daylight on October 28, in front of his young daughter.

He had brought the child to a Forest Hills park for a playdate with her mother.

The husband and wife had been involved in a fierce divorce and custody battle over the little girl.

Daniel Malakov won custody of his daughter just six days before he was murdered.

Prosecutors say that in the weeks leading up to the murder, Borakhova had 90 telephone conversations with her uncle by marriage, Mikhail Mallayev, the alleged killer. Mallayev was arrested in Georgia last month and is now awaiting trial.

His fingerprints were found at the murder scene, on a home-made silencer.

Borakhova not only denied any involvement, she told detectives she heard and saw nothing.

"I was approximately 10 feet away, holding my daughter, when I saw my husband on the ground, bleeding from his chest," she said.

"Did you hear any gunshot sounds," she was asked.

"No, I am a doctor," she answered. "I don't even know what a gunshot sounds like."

"Her insistence that she didn't hear anything is what first led investigators to suspect her," NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly said.

Shortly after the murder, prosecutors say, there were two more calls to Mallayev, followed by a meeting in Dr. Borakhova's medical office. On November 8th, in Brooklyn, Mallayev allegedly deposited $19,800 into 10 different bank accounts.

The dead man's family says justice is finally being done.

"It's so happy, but at the same time actually very, very sad," Gavriel said. "Bro, you can't, you're not going to come back again, my dear brother."

"I'm going to say thank you very much to 112 Precinct," Malka said as she weeped. "I'm going to say to government, I'm going to say to DA office."

Borakhova was ordered held without bail. The couple's daughter remains in foster care.

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