The lawyer for a Great Neck woman charged with second-degree murder in a fatal stabbing argued on Tuesday that she should be released from jail to get treatment for mental and physical health problems, but a judge refused.
Faye Doomchin, 66, of Great Neck, allegedly sought to “rid the house of evil” and fatally stabbed Denise Webster, 61, with a kitchen knife on Aug. 13, police said. Prior to that, detectives said she was socializing with Webster and a mutual male friend at her home.
Judge Robert Bogle denied bail to Doomchin, citing the need to get direct input from medical professionals on the degree of her mental illness.
Doomchin re-entered a not guilty plea.
At the arraignment, Assistant District Attorney Jared Rosenblatt said that Doomchin, who was brought out in handcuffs, had said she’d made a “terrible mistake,” she “meant to do a good thing,” and that “God should strike me dead.”
But, Rosenblatt said, the stabbing was likely motivated by “some sort of jealousy” because the male friend – not identified in court – was paying too much attention to someone “evil” in Doomchin’s eyes.
Rosenblatt also referred to a 1999 case in which Doomchin stabbed a woman twice in the back with a 10-inch kitchen knife in a “place of business” and recommended that, given the seriousness of the current case, Doomchin remain in custody.
Robert Gottlieb, Doomchin’s attorney, said in that prior case his client, a recently retired legal secretary who has lived in Great Neck for 20 years, had always returned for court dates. That case ultimately showed Doomchin had schizoid affective disorder and that she was not responsible for the stabbing, Gottlieb said.
In addition to her regular treatment with a Great Neck-based psychiatrist, Gottlieb said Doomchin received outpatient psychiatric treatment for 10 years. That treatment was discontinued in 2011 after a finding from doctors, Gottlieb said, but Doomchin made sure to continue seeing her psychiatrist and take a number of medications for it in recognition of her illness.
Gottlieb also highlighted that Doomchin’s husband of over 30 years, brother and daughter were in the audience.
“They have been suffering with this mental illness with Ms. Doomchin for a long time,” Gottlieb said, adding that the investigation should be to “understand what broke” in the stabbing incident.
Now, Gottlieb said, Doomchin “desperately requires to be out of jail” so she can get proper treatment for her mental illness and physical ailments, which stemmed from a recent knee surgery.
He proposed releasing her on $100,000 bail, provided she visit her psychiatrist weekly and be subject to GPS monitoring at her own expense.
Bogle said that Gottlieb described the situation “eloquently,” but that it was still early in the case and he needed to get more input from medical professionals.
However, upon Gottlieb’s request, Bogle said changes in Doomchin’s medication in jail should be noted and that Doomchin should receive the reading glasses her family brought her.
There will be a conference date on Sept. 17.
