Brooklyn man pleads guilty in fatal Far Rockaway ice-pick ‘stabbing frenzy’

Eagle file photo by David Brand.

By Jonathan Sperling

A Brooklyn man who attacked and killed a Far Rockaway man with an ice pick without warning has admitted to the brutal killing, prosecutors said Tuesday.

Norbert Williams, 55, pleaded guilty to manslaughter before Justice Kenneth Holder, two years after prosecutors say he stabbed Joseph Smart to death with the sharpened tool.

Williams lured Smart out of his Far Rockaway apartment on June 18, 2017 by saying that he needed help with a group of men who were bothering him, prosecutors said. When Smart left the apartment to help, Williams suddenly attacked him in the building’s stairwell. Smart was stabbed approximately 30 times in his upper body, including a deep puncture wound to his back.

Prosecutors linked Williams to the killing after testing blood stains on the eye glasses and boots that he wore the day of the attack. Both were confirmed to have the Smart’s blood splattered on them.

Holder indicated that he would sentence Williams to prison for 24 years, to be followed by 5 years’ post release supervision, when he is sentenced on Jan. 28, 2020.

Acting Queens District Attorney John Ryan described the killing as a “rage-induced stabbing frenzy.”

“The victim was stabbed dozens of times in the head, neck, back and torso. The defendant has now admitted to this heinous crime and is facing a lengthy term of imprisonment when sentenced,” Ryan said.