Great Neck woman charged with second-degree murder in midst of historic trial

Robert Pelaez
The trial of Faye Doomchin's alleged stabbing two years ago is Long Island's first criminal trial since the coronavirus pandemic hit in March. (Photo by Janelle Clausen)

Faye Doomchin, the Great Neck woman who was charged with second-degree murder in a fatal 2018 stabbing, is in the midst of a historic trial for New York’s court system.

On Tuesday, according to multiple reports, Doomchin listened via Skype to a psychologist testify about how she told him “the devil” was “jumping around from person to person” before she allegedly stabbed Denise Webster, a 61-year-old tourist from England, in her Great Neck home almost two years ago.

The murder case is Long Island’s first criminal trial since the coronavirus pandemic forced court closures in March, according to officials. Officials said the use of virtual technology could also break further ground in the legal world.

Acting State Supreme Court Justice Robert Bogle said on Monday that he believed the case was the first time a “hybrid criminal trial” that combined virtual and in-person testimonies took place in New York, Newsday reported.

The prosecution has said that Doomchin intentionally stabbed Webster in the abdomen with a kitchen knife on Aug. 13, 2018, after the two women, who met for the first time that day, had lunch out.

The defense does not dispute that Doomchin carried out the stabbing, but said she was not criminally responsible because of mental disease.

According to multiple reports, Bogle donned a face mask while presiding in a jury-less trial. On Monday, according to Newsday, Doomchin was present in court wearing a mask and face shield while sitting next to her attorney.

The 68-year-old Doomchin wore a jail uniform on Tuesday while she listened via Skype to testimony from forensic psychologist Chuck Denison and prosecution witness Mitchell Kessler, Newsday reported.

According to Denison, Doomchin told him during a psychological exam, “I remember just attacking,” Newsday reported.

Efforts to reach Doomchin’s attorney Robert Gottlieb and court officials for comment were unavailing.

In an August 2018 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 a 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.

Gottlieb 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 schizoaffective 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.

 

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