LI CRIME BRIEFS

BABYLON/Elderly man dies in apparent drowning

A man with Alzheimer's disease was found dead in a canal in Babylon Thursday morning, an apparent drowning victim, Suffolk police said.

The 76-year-old man was found floating in the canal after a 911 call at 9:15 a.m. brought police to the site at the end of Midway Street.

Police said the man apparently wandered away from home and fell into the water, where he drowned. Witnesses said he appeared to have been wearing pajamas.

The Suffolk County medical examiner's office is to determine the cause of death. - ANDREW STRICKLER

LINDENHURST/Prosecutor details slaying, fire

A Lindenhurst man used 20 gallons of gas to set his house on fire after stabbing his ex-wife to death and then unsuccessfully attempting suicide last month at a Babylon beach, a Suffolk prosecutor said Thursday.

The man, Muhammet Karadag, 50, had argued with ex-wife Gulcin Karadag, 49, on Aug. 29 before he killed her in the North Erie Avenue house they continued to share after their divorce last year, Assistant District Attorney Nancy Clifford said at Karadag's arraignment in Suffolk County Court.

Karadag, a native of Turkey, pleaded not guilty to a grand jury indictment charging him with second-degree murder and third-degree arson.

Clifford said Karadag signed a confession statement. His attorney, Daniel Russo, questioned its validity, saying his client has limited command of English. - CARL MACGOWAN