Richard Treitner is a gay artist living in Pine Hill, New York. Two years ago he had a sexual relationship with his neighbour, Kenneth Fazzina, with Treitner claiming Fazzina then threatened him with violence if he told anyone.
Some time after the affair, Treitner was the victim of an arson attack on his apartment. Fazzina was a suspect, but the case remains unsolved.
The most recent homophobic attack by Fazzina allegedly occurred July 19, when he broke into Treitner’s apartment and stabbed him with a knife. Treitner sent an email to The Watershed Post describing the horrific attack:
So last night I was preparing for a weekend away camping and vending at a local event, the Big Indian Pow Wow…After hours of work I finally went to shower some time at late night before going to bed. While in the shower I heard a voice and then saw a figure through the shower door. Apparently my screen door had proved little barrier and Kenny, a neighbor from down the street had let himself in.
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Two years prior we had had sex on two occasions, but that had ended when he began threatening my life out of his panic about his own closeted sexuality. Then an arson attack happened upon my home soon after that on Thanksgiving night while I was away visiting family. Kenny became the main and then the only suspect in everyone’s eyes, including the police, but no charges were pressed due to ‘lack of evidence’ even though it was reported that Kenny had been mouthing off about the incident that very night it had been set. He then made threats at a later point to again “kill me if he ever caught me alone out at night”.
At first I was afraid, but then because he was drunk and making sexual overtures, I thought he was trying to make up. He said he hadn’t set the fire. Soon after he was finally being led out the door when he asked me for a kiss goodbye. I stupidly leaned close when I felt a pain in my chest and he muttered something vehement under his drunken breath. I looked down to see the knife blade skittering to the floor and him clutching the handle tight in his hands. Miraculously the blade had snapped clean off leaving only a scratch across my chest. He didn’t realize the knife was broken and went to stab and attack me further. I punched him in the face and because he was drunk I managed to knock him to the ground in the scuffle. He kept trying to get up and attack further so I reached out my hand and grabbed whatever I could touch to defend myself with. After hitting him once I realized I had grabbed the door stop which was a round carved stone, (which the police described as a concrete block but I think it is granite). I stopped after realizing what it was but held it in threat as I held him down and screamed for help. Luckily some passersby heard and called for help which came some time later with him threatening to kill me when he gets out the next chance he gets.
Fazzina is currently being held in prison on $25,000 bail.
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