A Brooklyn man will spend the rest of his life in prison for killing and dismembering a man whose remains were found inside the refrigerator at his apartment, according to the district attorney.
Nicholas McGee was sentenced to life in prison without the chance for parole in connection to the killing of Kawsheen Gelzer, the Brooklyn DA said Wednesday. The 48-year-old McGee was convicted on Oct. 9 of first-degree murder and concealment of a human corpse.
“This was a deeply disturbing act of violence by a defendant who not only stole a man’s life, but then desecrated his body. The cruelty and disregard for human life shown in the case are almost beyond comprehension,” said DA Eric Gonzalez.
The sentencing comes more than three and a half years after McGee, inside his Flatbush apartment on Nostrand Avenue, stabbed the 39-year-old Gelzer in the back as he slept on a couch, Gonzalez said. McGee stabbed the victim more than 60 times and hit him in the head with a hammer during the attack, according to medical testimony.
After the killing, McGee took the drugs that he found in Gelzer’s pockets and took them with wife, co-defendant Heather Stines. McGee then dragged the body to the bathroom, where it remained for several days before he used a saw and hammer to dismember it, the DA said.
The remains were put in separate plastic bags, with the head, torso, arms and legs put in the fridge and freezer before the appliance was shut with tape and glue, according to the investigation.
The body was discovered on Jan. 24, 2024, after an anonymous tip led police to the apartment. McGee had been in custody in Virginia on an unrelated manner when he was interviewed by the NYPD. After negotiating for a cigarette, he gave a detailed confession to the killing and dismemberment.
Officers who went to the apartment were drawn to the conspicuously taped-up refrigerator, sources said previously. When the officers tried to inspect it, Stines allegedly became combative, leading to her removal from the scene.
Inside the refrigerator, officers discovered black plastic bags containing what appeared to be parts of a human body, including a head, police said. Stines was taken into custody and underwent a psychiatric evaluation. She later revealed to detectives that the body belonged to a local drug dealer who had a dispute with her husband, according to sources.
Stines said she did not witness the killing. She pleaded guilty in Oct. 2024 to concealment of a human corpse and third-degree bail jumping, and was still awaiting sentencing.