The Manhattan ex-con accused of stabbing an East Harlem dad to death badly butchered his victim after a pitched battle over a large knife, according to disturbing new details revealed by prosecutors.
Michael Smith, 47, still had a bullet lodged in his chest from surviving a 2006 shooting when cops say Anthony Jordan, 63, repeatedly knifed him on March 17. The attacker was so forceful with his knife that his cuts exposed the younger man’s internal organs, prosecutors allege.
The gruesome scene unfolded in an apartment near E. 132nd St. and Madison Ave.
Smith lived a few blocks away, but Jordan knew he’d be in that apartment when he stormed in, not even greeting the person who answered the door, prosecutors said.
Instead, he immediately asked for Smith, and within a few moments, the two men engaged in a pitched struggle, prosecutors said at Jordan’s Manhattan Criminal Court arraignment last week.
The witness who answered the door walked into the living room to see a knife protruding from Jordan’s leg, and Smith trying to grab it, according to prosecutors.
“AJ, where is this coming from?” asked the witness, who then asked Smith if it was his blood on the ground.
Smith shook his head no, then slipped and fell to the floor, landing on his back, prosecutors said.
Jordan seized the opening and pounced, kneeling on Smith and grabbing the knife, prosecutors said. He stabbed Smith four times in the chest before a second witness came in, then kept stabbing until the blade got caught in Smith’s chest, according to prosecutors.
Jordan needed both hands to pull the knife out of Smith’s body, prosecutors said. He left the apartment and walked down seven flights of stairs, allegedly carrying the blood-soaked knife in a gloved hand the entire way down.
Neighbors called 911 and medics rushed Smith to Harlem Hospital with eight large stab wounds to his torso. He died within the hour.
Jordan, who was arrested on a murder charge last Tuesday, remains held without bail. His lawyer did not immediately return a message seeking comment Monday.
Prosecutors describe Jordan as a predicate felon with five felonies and 15 misdemeanors on his record.
Smith, who also has an arrest history and served 14 months in state prison for attempted robbery in the 1990s, was shot several times on E. 128th St. near Lexington Ave. in March 2006. Police arrested 45-year-old Rodney McNeil about six months later for attempted murder.
After Jordan was arrested for killing Smith, the suspect accepted a cigarette from one of the cops who cuffed him, according to prosecutors.
“Yeah I’ll take it, I’m going to jail anyway,” he said as the cop led him to the 25th Precinct detective squad office.
