The wife of the Queens, New York, man accused of the murder of Chinese food delivery worker Zhiwen Yan was arrested earlier this month for weapons possession, records show.
Dorothy Hirsch, 62, was apprehended at her Briarwood residence on 84th Road in Queens on June 3, three days after her husband Glenn Hirsch was taken into custody for the fatal shooting of Yan on April 30. The couple reportedly lived separately.
Police seized eight firearms and more than 200 rounds of ammunition from Dorothy’s home. In a letter to the Queens District Attorney’s Office seen by the New York Post, her lawyer, Mark Bederow, said the weapons were “wrapped in sealed plastic bags which were stored inside large boxes and large black, kitchen-style trash bags,” adding that the containers were “crammed into one cluttered closet, consistent with the storage method used by Glenn Hirsch.”
Bederow reached out to the district attorney to complain about the treatment of his client, a registered nurse, whose bail was initially set at $150,000. “We are deeply concerned that your office is abusing various provisions of the penal law and criminal procedure law in hopes of ‘squeezing’ Ms. Hirsch into cooperating against her husband,” he wrote.
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Bederow pointed out that the district attorney’s own press release admitted that the closet was used by Glenn. The couple still had a relationship but lived separately, partly because of Glenn’s hoarding behaviors which came to light at the time of his arrest.
Authorities who searched Glenn’s home found that he had an entire refrigerator filled with duck sauce and other condiments. The 51-year-old suspect has been dubbed the “Duck Sauce Killer” after investigation revealed that Yan’s murder may have stemmed from a duck sauce dispute between Glenn and staff members at the Great Wall restaurant where Yan had worked.
Bederow suggested that Glenn stashed the weapons in Dorothy’s home without her knowledge, according to the New York Daily News. “In order to be found guilty one must be proven to knowingly possess the firearms,” he said, adding that Dorothy will “not be used as a pawn” in her husband’s case.
DNA was found on two of the guns, prosecutor Karen Ross said on Monday. Glenn, who pleaded not guilty to murder and weapon posession charges, agreed to be tested for a match.
Glenn was released on Monday after posting a hefty $500,000 bail. Judge Kenneth Holder ordered him to wear an ankle bracelet and stay at home for 24 hours a day, save for an hour of exercise and visits to his lawyer, doctor and the court.
Featured Image via FOX 5 New York
