PHOTO: Victim Diane Sharma was stabbed more than 150 times. Courtesy of Kaieteur News Online
By Michael V. Cusenza
A South Richmond Hill man who stabbed his estranged wife more than 150 times four years ago as their three young children begged him to stop has been sentenced to 25 years in prison, according to Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.
Oscar Novakovsky, 41, pleaded guilty last month to first-degree manslaughter. According to the charges, Novakovsky stabbed his estranged wife, Diane Sharma, 32, in the neck with a knife between the hours of midnight and 1 a.m. on Jan. 15, 2012, inside her residence on 117th Street.
The stabbing occurred in the presence of their three children – ages 3, 5 and 9 at the time of the murder. Sharma, who had taken out an order of protection against Novakovsky four months prior to her death, was discovered with a knife protruding from her neck and had over 150 stab wounds throughout her body.
Novakovsky’s attorney did not return calls seeking comment.
Brown said it “is difficult to imagine a crime more heinous,” and called Novakovsky’s prison term “more than warranted.”
“The children will have to bear the emotional scars of what they witnessed for the rest of their lives,” he added.
michael@theforumnewsgroup.com
