Rapper accused of murder
NEW YORK — A New York prosecutor said Thursday that a founding member of Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five stabbed a homeless man to death in Manhattan after he became enraged because he thought the man believed he was gay and was hitting on him, and he feared he would be robbed.
Rapper Kidd Creole — whose real name is Nathaniel Glover — was returned to jail without bail by Judge Phyllis Chu on Thursday after an initial appearance in a Manhattan criminal court on a second-degree murder charge.
Assistant District Attorney Mark Dahl said Glover, 57, a lyricist with the pioneering group, gave a detailed account of the street encounter in midtown shortly before midnight Tuesday that Dahl described to the judge, saying he wanted to demonstrate “the strength of the case.”
Defense lawyer Patrick Watts told the judge the evidence was “circumstantial” as his calm client stood alongside him, a tightly wound gray braid draped halfway down his back. Outside court, Watts declined comment.
Dahl said Glover was heading to his job at a building where he did security and maintenance when he encountered John Jolly, who asked him: “What’s up?”
Dahl said Glover told him after his arrest that he thought Jolly was hitting on him and thought he was gay “and that infuriated him.”
The prosecutor said Glover kept walking but became convinced Jolly was going to rob him when the 55-year-old man approached him in a “threatening voice and manner,” saying: “All I said to you was ‘What’s up!’”
Dahl said the two men were a foot apart when Glover reached into his left sleeve and pulled out a steak knife that had been tied to his arm with a rubber band, leaving Jolly with two stab wounds to the chest.
Jolly, a registered sex offender who was homeless, picked up a beer after the stabbing and took a swig, the prosecutor said. As blood stains emerged on his chest, he collapsed and was taken to the hospital, where he was declared dead, Dahl said.
Glover, meanwhile, “turned around and went to work” immediately after the stabbing, he said.