http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/143868p-127319c.html

Samurai slaying

Nab naked Bx. man in butchery of wife

By RALPH R. ORTGEGA and ALICE McQUILLAN
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

A naked, samurai sword-wielding martial arts expert screaming, "I'm God! I'm immortal" hacked his wife to death yesterday in a blood-soaked Bronx rampage, police said.
When the madman lunged at police, one cop fired 14 shots - bringing down the suspect but also hitting her partner twice. The cop's vest stopped one bullet from hitting his chest, though another slug penetrated his knee.

The wounded cop and suspect were in stable condition last night as relatives mourned 24-year-old Kisha Denton - and wondered what caused her husband almost to decapitate his wife of one year.

"She's like the other half of my heart, she wasn't just my sister-in-law," said Nicole Forbes, 27, sister of suspect Ivor Forbes, an unemployed computer technician. "I loved her very much."

The bloodshed erupted around 5 a.m., when Ivor Forbes, 32, allegedly butchered his wife in their Pelham Parkway apartment, using two ceremonial Japanese swords.

The stocky martial-arts black belt swung so hard, he bent one sword on her head - and also nearly sliced through her neck and cut off her left hand, cops said.

"I noticed his wife was on the floor covered in blood," said a neighbor who went to the first-floor apartment at 2199 Holland Ave. after the noise woke him up. "He was naked."

"She was still alive, she looked at me like she wanted help but at the time I could not do nothing," said the neighbor, who didn't want his name used. "I was just terrified and afraid for her and afraid for my life, too."

The neighbor ran back to his apartment and called 911. About 5:15 a.m., the two cops knocked on the door and were greeted by the blood-stained, naked swordsman, police said.

"I heard him screaming, 'I'm God! I'm immortal! I can't die!'" said neighbor Liz Zacuto.

She then heard the cops order him to surrender.

"Get down! ... Put your hands behind your back," one of the cops yelled, according to Zacuto.

But Forbes lunged at the cops, and one of the officers squeezed off 14 shots - hitting her partner twice and wounding Forbes multiple times, police said.

One of the shots hit the 27-year-old cop in the chest but the bullet was stopped by his vest - the 83rd time a vest likely saved a cop's life. The other bullet struck his knee.

"The officer's vest saved his life so he's going to be okay," said Mayor Bloomberg.

The officer, on the force for sevens years, was rushed to Jacobi Medical Center, where he had surgery to remove the bullet from his knee.

Forbes was hit in both legs but "we're not certain how many entrance and exit wounds he has," said Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly.

According to an initial investigation, Kelly added, "It looks like the shooting was justified."

Forbes was in stable condition at St. Barnabas Hospital.

The 46-year-old cop who fired the shots was also taken to Jacobi, where she was treated for trauma. The names of the 17-year NYPD veteran and her wounded partner were not released.

Neighbors said Forbes and Denton seemed happy and often were spotted smiling when walking together. Police had no prior domestic incident reports from the couple and Forbes had no criminal record.

He apparently wasn't on drugs and no one is sure what sparked his rage, a police source said. He was charged with second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon.

"My brother was a wonderful person; he just had some emotional problems that we're still trying to sort out," Nicole Forbes said.

Originally published on December 8, 2003

(Thanks to JeremyT)