Police investigating the shooting death of an orthodontist at a Queens playground have arrested a relative of the victim's ex-wife.
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said Tuesday that Mikhail Malayev was arrested in Chamblee, Ga. and that his fingerprints matched those found on a homemade silencer used in the killing. An extradition hearing was scheduled Tuesday in Georgia, Kelly added.
The 50-year-old suspect was related to the ex-wife through her sister's husband, police said.
Dr. Daniel Malakov, 34, died Oct. 28 while taking his 5-year-old daughter to see his ex-wife. The couple had been embroiled in a bitter custody dispute.
As the child went to greet her mother, a gunman approached and fired three rounds into Malakov's chest.
On Nov. 5, Malakov's ex-wife testified in Queens Family Court that he had abused her; a divorce lawyer who represented the shooting victim said it wasn't true.
Investigators had found records of the suspect's fingerprints from a 1994 arrest for farebeating, Kelly said.
