Man in stabbing rampage back in court

Already serving 200 years in prison for killing four people in a bloody rampage, Maksim Gelman grinned on his way into court Wednesday and defiantly made light of the proceeding as he was sentenced to 25 more years.

Gelman made an abrupt marriage proposal to a reality TV star and directed profanities at a subway rider he knifed in the head and arm at the end of his series of assaults and carjackings last year.

Joseph Lozito, a mixed martial arts fan who says he drew on moves he'd seen on TV to knock Gelman to the floor after being attacked, took Gelman's insults in stride. Seeing Gelman in court for the first time since the attack a year ago, Lozito said what he saw was "still the soul of a coward."

Gelman, 24, attacked Lozito in a final burst of violence during a 28-hour crime rampage that started with an argument over the use of Gelman's mother's car, spanned two of the city's five boroughs and victimized his relatives, acquaintances and total strangers.

Gelman pleaded guilty to murder and other charges in Brooklyn, where he blamed his victims and was disrespectful to the judge while being sentenced last month to 200 years behind bars. The subway stabbing was handled separately because it happened in Manhattan, where Gelman pleaded guilty last month to attempted murder.

Wednesday, Gelman seemed to relish his role as the villain.

Given his chance to speak, he said all he wanted to say was "Kim Kardashian, will you marry me?" and then finished his brief remarks with some obscenities directed at Lozito.

Manhattan State Supreme Court Justice Richard Carruthers noted that the sentencing was a formality, given Gelman's massive sentence in Brooklyn. But still, the judge said, it provided a look at a "wicked man."

The bloody trail began Feb. 11, 2011, in Gelman's family's Brooklyn apartment, where he killed his stepfather, Aleksandr Kuznetsov. Kuznetsov, 54, had intervened in Gelman's argument with his mother over the car, police said.

Gelman then went to the Brooklyn home of Yelena Bulchenko, killed her 56-year-old mother, Anna, then waited hours for the daughter to return and killed her, stabbing her 11 times.