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Flatlands flayer gets 20-to-life: Stabbed victim 29 times, hid body in own bedroom

Flatlands flayer gets 20-to-life: Stabbed victim 29 times, hid body in own bedroom
Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office

A Flatlands man got at least 20 years in the slammer for stabbing an acquaintance to death and hiding the body in the bedroom of his E. 54th Street home last year, officials announced on Dec. 3.

Kings County Supreme Court Justice Alan Marrus sentenced Joshua Simser, 25, to 20 years to life for puncturing 41-year-old Rufino Sanchez repeatedly in the head, neck, and body on April 19, 2014. Simser cut the acquaintance over an argument — now he’ll have time to reflect on the rash move, the county’s top lawman said.

“This defendant brutally stabbed the victim 29 times and took his life in the process,” said District Attorney Ken Thompson. “He will now have many years to think about how he let a simple dispute lead him to commit a senseless murder.”

Sanchez was at Simser’s apartment near Avenue N on April 15 when the pair became embroiled in an argument and Simser unleashed hell, though it’s unclear what they were quarreling over, officials said. Bizarrely, Simser stuffed Sanchez’s body into a storage container, which he left to rot in his room for four days before confessing the killing to his boss, who subsequently notified police, prosecutors said.

Simser’s lawyer claimed after the arrest that he may have been trying to protect himself.

“It appears there are elements of self-defense that may come into play here,” attorney Hermann Walz told this paper last year.

The judge did not hand down the maximum 25 to life, acknowledging that Simser cooperated fully with investigators, the public defender said.

Simser plans to appeal the sentence with private counsel, Walz said.

Reach reporter Colin Mixson at cmixson@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260-4505.