‘VOICES’ OF EVIL
Cops: Hammer killer ‘told to go hurt people’
The unhinged man accused of an unprovoked hammer attack that killed one man and wounded two others — leaving one brain-dead — at a Brooklyn seafood restaurant told cops “voices” told him to “hurt” a group of strangers, sources said Wednesday.
Restrained in a straitjacket, his face a blank, Arthur Martunovich, 34, said nothing as he was pulled out of the 60th Precinct Stationhouse in Coney Island to be driven to Kings County Hospital for a psychiatric evaluation.
Cops charged him with murder, two counts of attempted murder and criminal possession of a weapon for bursting into Brooklyn’s Seaport Buffet near the Sheepshead Bay waterfront and bludgeoning three workers with a hammer.
While in the precinct, Martunovich assaulted a cop who escorted him to the bathroom, a source said. Another source said a “few” cops were injured in the scuffle to restrain him.
“He told cops voices told him to go into the restaurant and hurt people,” a source said. “He was a straight-up (emotionally disturbed person). He was all over the place . . . even talking about space aliens.”
The Tuesday evening rampage left the buffet’s chef, Fufai Pun, 34, dead at NYU Langone-Brooklyn hospital.
Two other men — restaurant manager Tsz Mat Pung, 50, and eatery owner Kheong Ng-Thang, 60 — were also taken to NYU LangoneBrooklyn with massive head injuries. Ng-Thang was left brain-dead from the bashing.
Cops nabbed Martunovich about two blocks away from the bloody scene. He lives in nearby Brighton Beach, six blocks from the restaurant, officials said.
This is Martunovich’s first arrest, police said. He was accused of assault in 2016 but never charged. Sources said he was the victim of assault in 2016 and 2004; no one was arrested in either incident.
When he strode into the restaurant Tuesday, Martunovich started screaming at the three victims, then lunged at them with the hammer. Terrified customers poured out of the restaurant, screaming in horror as they rushed to warn other nearby businesses.
Police are still puzzled over what sparked the attack, which they say was “unprovoked.”
“It looks like he’s emotionally disturbed,” the second police source said. “That’s going to be his defense.”
Also confused are Martunovich’s friends, who claim he’s been in good spirits.
“I spoke to him a couple of weeks ago,” said Aleksandr Krupetskiy, who grew up with Martunovich. “When I spoke to him, he didn’t seem (like he would) do something like this.”
“He sounded pretty cheerful and seemed to be happy with life,” Krupetskiy, 35, added. “He never mentioned being unhappy with anything.”
A person who shared an apartment with Martunovich on Cass Pl. in Sheepshead Bay said he’s a construction foreman, but he didn’t know the company.
“He’s never done anything like this. He’s never said anything like this,” said the roommate, who did not want to give his name. “He’s quiet, not strange quiet, but quiet like a normal guy.”
Krupetskiy called the rampage “a shock to me. I would never think he would be capable of doing something like this.”
Martunovich’s arraignment in Brooklyn Criminal Court is pending.