New details have emerged in the shocking double murder of a senior Brooklyn couple last weekend, both of whom were brutally stabbed allegedly by their son.
Police sources said Tuesday that Meyer Sperber, 46, had recently lost his job and was undergoing mental health treatment when he allegedly went on the deadly rampage inside his family’s home on 45th Street in Borough Park on Jan. 20.
Officers from the 66th Precinct found his mother, Rachel Sperber, was discovered by the dwelling’s front door at around 5:20 p.m. with six stab wounds. The 75-year-old woman suffered attacks to her head, neck, and thigh, one of which struck her femoral artery causing her to die from loss of blood.
Her husband, Jacob Sperber, also 75, was later located in the apartment’s bedroom, having suffered 12 stab wounds. Investigators believe the family patriarch perished after a knife was plunged into his left armpit, perforating his lung.
“Neighbors state that they hear a struggle and items being knocked over beforehand. They hear a woman screaming to call Hatzolah, which they do,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said. The Hatzolah is the local ambulance corps in the predominantly Orthodox Jewish community.
Hatzolah arrived at the scene and informed police of the deadly situation.
Cops descended upon the Borough Park home where they faced an hour’s long standoff with Meyer Sperber after he apparently rushed to the back bedroom and barricaded himself inside. Police report he was praying and yelling in Yiddish before he was taken into custody. A knife was recovered from the dining room table.
While an exact motive for the bloody murders is currently not clear at this time, neighbors told investigators that the younger Sperber had recently been fired from his job and was placed on medication for escalating mental illness.
Meyer Sperber, who has no prior arrests, was charged with two counts of murder and 2 counts of criminal possession of a weapon.
