A former Leesburg resident suspected in a series of stabbing attacks, including several in Northern Virginia, is facing his first trial this week.
Jury selection for the trial of 35-year-old Elias Abuelazam began Tuesday in Genesee Circuit Court in Flint, Mich. Abuelazam is on trial in the death of a 49-year-old man.
In total, he is suspected in at least 13 stabbing attacks, five of them fatal. Abuelazam is charged with three murders and six attempted murders in the Flint area and an attempted murder near Toledo, Ohio. He’s also suspected in three non-fatal stabbings in Leesburg. All of the slashing attacks took place between May and August 2010.
Abuelazam was arrested in August 2010 as he tried to flee the country from an Atlanta airport.
— Emily Babay
