Nassau police confirm Great Neck stabbing victim identity

Janelle Clausen
Nassau County police said the victim of a stabbing in Great Neck was Denise Webster of Garwood, United Kingdom. (Photo from Facebook)
Nassau County police said the victim of a stabbing in Great Neck was Denise Webster of Garwood, United Kingdom. (Photo from Facebook)

Nassau County Police Department’s Homicide Squad released the name of a Great Neck stabbing victim on Thursday, 10 days after they first announced an investigation into the attack.

Police identified the victim as Denise Webster, 61, of Garwood, United Kingdom.

Police have accused Faye Doomchin, 66, a North Road resident living with her husband and daughter, of killing a woman from England who was visiting their house with a mutual friend.

Detective Lt. Stephen Fitzpatrick said Doomchin was socializing with a male friend living “in the Queens area” and a female friend of his visiting from England.

Together they had lunch, bought cake and returned to the home, Fitzgerald said, before Doomchin allegedly stabbed the woman once in the chest with a kitchen knife around 3:53 p.m. on Aug. 13.

“They were talking and the woman [Doomchin] made statements that she did not like the woman from England,” Fitzpatrick said, “that she needed ‘to rid the house of evil.’”

The announcement follows stories in the Daily Mail, Wigan Today and the St. Helens Star in Britain reporting that Webster was the victim and on a three-week trip to the United States to attend an Adam Lambert concert.

The Adam Lambert Fan club page on Facebook described Webster as “one of Adam’s most ardent supporters and fans” and posted a picture of her with Lambert on Aug. 20.

“She was tragically a victim of a terrible crime while visiting in New York earlier this month,” the page said in a statement. “Please send your support and love to her husband, family and friends at this time.”

The statement also includes a message said to be from Denise Webster’s husband, Tommy, saying, “I will miss her with all my heart.”

“My thoughts are with the family and friends of Denise Webster,” Adam Lambert tweeted on Tuesday, Aug. 21. “Heavy hearted.”

Commenters on Facebook and Twitter also offered their condolences.

“I still can’t get my head around this, still seems like a bad dream even though it’s on the news,” Emma Bell commented on the fan club’s status about Webster. “Such a beautiful person who didn’t deserve to be taken, especially like this.”

Gottlieb, Doomchin’s defense lawyer, said the case reflects “the very serious mental illness that [Doomchin] has suffered for her adult life.”

“The family is devastated by what happened to the woman who suffered because of the mental illness, as well as what happened to Ms. Doomchin,” Gottlieb said on Tuesday. “It’s a tragedy for everybody.”

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