The man who allegedly bludgeoned and stabbed a world famous psychology professor to death with a hammer inside his home has been identified.
Jeremy D Safran, 66, was found inside the basement of his home in Prospect Park South, Brooklyn, about 6pm on Monday.
Mirzo Atadzhanov, 28, was allegedly found inside the closet in Safran’s basement, covered in blood, CBS reported. He has been charged with murder and burglary.
Atadzhanov was also allegedly surrounded by several tools, including a hammer, Pix 11 reported.
Mirzo Atadzhanov (pictured), 28, has been charged with the murder of Jeremy D. Safran, 66. he is pictured at New York’s Rockefeller Center earlier this month
Police discovered the body of Jeremy D. Safran, 66, (above) lying on the floor of his home in Prospect Park South, Brooklyn, at around 6pm on Monday night. He was beaten to death with a hammer
Police say they found Atadzhanov inside a cupboard nearby, covered in blood and surrounded by tools
The NYPD has still not released a motive and do not know if the victim and the suspect had a previous relationship.
He was pictured being taken into custody by police, who arrived at the home in less than a minute.
Safran was determined to have died of stab wounds to his torso by the Chief Medical Examiner’s office, AMNY reported.
Atadzhanov claims to have graduated from Tajik State Medical University in 2012 with a medical degree, and obtained a Master of Science degree in Biology from The Brooklyn College in 2017.
‘My goal is to get my doctoral license in cardiology in New York and start my practice. In addition, I’m also enjoying of teaching biology,’ he wrote on his LinkedIn profile.
He also boasts a keen interest in chess, and says he is both a professional player and a coach.
In December 2016, he was arrested and charged with the attempted rape, assault and forcible touching of a woman he met on couchsurfing.com, The New York Daily News reported.
The woman, 23, was staying with him, and told police she had to fend him off with a knife.
The charges against Atadzhanov did not stick, and were dropped at his arraignment.
At the time, family described him as a devout Muslim who was focused on his studies.
Atadzhanov’s mother, Gulya, refused to believe what had happened in a phone interview with the New York Post: ‘This didn’t happen. He didn’t do it. He is a smart boy. He has a masters in biology.
‘He was planning to become a nurse. He was a doctor back in our country, a cardiologist. He was the top chess player in the Republic.
‘I’m just shocked, I don’t know what to think. Burglary? We’re not poor people. We’re educated people. We are decent.’
Safran’s neighbour, Doreen Guiliano, told the New York Daily News she saw an intruder go into the home on Monday and immediately messaged Mr Safran’s wife, Jennifer, to alert her.
Ms Guiliano said she had seen the man lurking in the area for about three hours before he finally entered the Safran family’s home.
In December 2016, he was arrested and charged with the attempted rape, assault and forcible touching of a woman he met on couchsurfing.com (pictured far right in May 2018)
Police found Mr Safran’s body at his Brooklyn home (pictured) moments before they allegedly discovered a blood-soaked Atadzhanov hiding in a closet
Pictured: Atadzhanov being led away from the home after he was allegedly found in Mr Safran’s basement closet, covered in blood and surrounded by tools
‘He parked the car, walked down the block, came back up and went down the alley. Then he got back in his car and sat there for three hours,’ Giuliano said.
‘He came down the alley way and put something in his trunk, and he was looking left to right, left to right, and then he went back and he went in the side door.’
Ms Guiliano said she asked Mrs Safran if she had a tradesman working on her home, and when she said no, the neighbour told her there was a problem.
She said Mrs Safran and her daughter, 18, bolted out of the house, and the young woman noticed the basement light go out.
Police were called, and arrived in less than a minute, Ms Guiliano said, where they found Mr Safran dead.
Atadzhanov is believed to have followed Safran’s daughter to the property, where he briefly spoke to her in an apparent effort to case the home.
A car allegedly driven by Atadzhanov on Monday is seen parked outside the Safran’s property
Property websites say the home is worth $2,242,180.
‘I saw [Atadzhanov] when he was coming out of the car like he was coming from the supermarket,’ said neighbor Jillian Daniels.
‘It’s shocking because we’ve been here for 24 years… You become so complacent you don’t think about something like this.’
‘It’s appalling,’ another witness said at the scene. ‘It’s a lovely looking neighborhood and it’s a great place to live.
‘But this is New York City and you just can’t drop your guard.’
Neighbor Font Ravi Kisson told Pix 11 the event was: ‘Violent, very violent. So that scares the hell out of me… We walk up and down here every single night.’
Dr Safran served as a professor of Psychology at the New School for Social Research in New York, where he worked for many years as the Director of Clinical Training.
He was also a faculty member at New York University’s Postdoctoral Program in Psychoanalysis – and made vital contributions to the field of Emotion-Focused Therapy.
The New School released a statement saying staff and students were ‘shocked and saddened’ by the news.
It read: ‘An internationally renowned psychotherapist, Jeremy was deeply respected and admired by The New School community and his colleagues throughout the psychology profession for his work on psychoanalytic theory and practice, as well as research on psychotherapy processes and outcomes.
‘We offer our deepest condolences to his family and will be offering support to his many friends and colleagues throughout the university community in the days ahead.’
ABC captured footage of the suspect being led away by cops. He was arrested and taken to a NYPD precinct in Brooklyn.
Safran is seen posing at an event in Turkey in 2015. He served as a professor of Psychology at the New School for Social Research in New York where he worked for many years as Director of Clinical Training
Police said they believed Atadzhanov had been intending to burgle the professor’s home
A neighbour called Mrs Safran after she saw Atadzhanov go inside the house
Safran is seen petting one of his dogs in an Instagram picture taken by one of his daughters
The NYPD was seen towing the suspect’s car, with Ohio plates, from the precinct
The car was being processed by the Crime Scene unit at the 70th precinct (pictured)