Brooklyn slaying suspect seeking bail says he’s no threat to community; prosecutors argue pictures of drugs and cash say otherwise
Prosecutors pursuing a drug-related murder case against the accused killer of a Brooklyn cafe owner shared photos from a suspect’s home showing it filled with a massive cache of money and marijuana, according to court documents.
When cops collared Michael Mazur, the suspected lookout man in the 2011 shooting death of Whisk Bakery Cafe owner Joshua Rubin, they recovered more than 234 pounds of weed in Mazur’s apartment and close to $200,000 in cash.
Mazur, along with Kevin Taylor, Gary Robles, ambushed Rubin in an apartment on McDonald Ave. on Halloween in 2011 during a robbery that followed a drug deal that went bad, prosecutors said.
All three were charged in Manhattan Federal Court with shooting Rubin during the robbery.
Taylor, 27, had previously attempted to rob Rubin, and hatched the plan to take the reefer from the cafe owner, authorities said. Mazur, 26, acted as a lookout on the street while Taylor and Robles allegedly waited in the apartment.
When Rubin resisted, Robles shot him once in the chest, officials said.
Rubin didn’t die immediately, according to court papers. But instead of seeking medical help, the trio left him to die while they fetched plastic bags and a trash can from Home Depot to help cover up the crime, the documents said.
Prosecutors said the suspects wrapped Rubin’s body, drove to Pennsylvania, where they burned the corpse before dumping it in a remote field near Allentown.
The cold case came to life after a break that led to the arrests in March.
Since then, Mazur, 26, has sought a pre-trial release. Prosecutors submitted the pictures as evidence that Mazur would be unlikely to stick around for a trial.
“All of the drugs and money were found in an area controlled by, and only accessible to, Mazur and his elderly mother who resided in the first floor apartment,” prosecutors said in a response to the release motion. “Clearly, the defendant was sufficiently capable to operate what can only be described as a large scale and lucrative drug operation out of his home.”
The pictures include bags of weed and stacks of money in closets and on shelves. The photos suggest Mazur had money to burn. There were even stacks of cash pictured hidden in a kitchen stove.
Mazur’s attorney, Matthew Kluger, argues Mazur was just a bit player in the slaying. His motion requests a $500,000 personal recognizance bond.
“Over the 10 or so odd years that followed, Mr. Mazur never took any steps to move or flee the jurisdiction,” Kluger said. “In fact, Michael lived in the same house on the day he was arrested on March 31, 2020 as he did on October 31, 2011, the date of the incident.”
Officials said Rubin, deep in debt from his Ditmas Park business, may have been dealing marijuana to finance the cafe.
