A Queens landlord stabbed his girlfriend and two tenants to death — then walked into an NYPD stationhouse and confessed he “did something bad” Tuesday, police officials said.
David Daniel, 54, showed up at the 113th Precinct stationhouse at around 7:15 a.m. and told an officer that he was “having issues” with his tenants, who were late on their rent, according to NYPD officials.
“I did something bad,” he allegedly said.
“At that point, a lieutenant at the desk hears what’s going on, walks over and activates his body-worn camera,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny recounted later Tuesday.
Daniel “said that he killed three people and he gave the location and that he left the backdoor open,” Kenny told reporters.
In his alleged confession, Daniel told cops “that he had problems with his girlfriend and that the two [people] in the basement had not been paying their rent,” Kenny said.
It’s unclear how long the tenants had been living there and how far behind on rent they were.
Daniel “didn’t appear to be bloody” when he showed up at the stationhouse, Kenny said, describing his demeanor there as “very matter of fact.”
“He just wanted to tell his story,” Kenny said.
The names and ages of the victims were not made public, as cops were still working to notify their families of their deaths, Kenny said.
“It’s still under investigation,” the chief said. “We’re still executing search warrants. We’re still making notifications to victims’ families and that’s where we’re at right now.”
Daniel was arrested and charged with murder, Kenny said.
He has no criminal record, and cops said there was no history of 911 calls to his address.
Police said the murder weapon had not yet been recovered.
A neighbor said he got a “strange vibe” from Daniel.
“He is friendly to some people, not friendly to others. I’m in the second category and I don’t know why. He’s just very standoffish to me,” said the man, who asked to remain anonymous.
“I don’t interpret this to mean that he’d kill somebody,” he said. “But let’s put it this way. If you told me one person on the block has the capacity to kill someone and I had to guess who, my guess would be him.”
ALSO READ: