Bushwick Beheading Suspect Could Be Serial Killer: NYPD

BROOKLYN, NY — The Bushwick man charged in connection with murdering and dismembering two young Bushwick teens in 2004 and 2005 could be responsible for two other killings, police said. NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce also indicated to reporters on Wednesday that there was a chance Govan could be a national serial killer.

"There's a great possibility that might be the case," he said.

Police charged Kwauhuru Govan, 38, on Wednesday with murder in connection with 19-year-old Rashawn Brazell's death in 2005. cops said. Govan was already in custody on murder charges in connection with the killing of 17-year-old Sharabia Thomas in 2004.

Two additional murders, one in Brooklyn and one on the Brooklyn-Queens border, are being reviewed for possible connections to the others, Boyce told reporters at a press briefing on Friday. These murders also involved "disarticulated body parts," Boyce said. He wouldn't reveal the names of the other two victims due to an ongoing investigation.

Govan was arrested in November and charged with the murder and kidnapping of 17-year-old Thomas in Bushwick in February 2004. High-schooler Thomas left her house one morning in February, and she never came back. Her naked, dead body was found inside two laundry bags later that day.

A year later, Brazell's body was found dismembered in a bloody bag on the A subway line, cops said. Brazell's head was never recovered.

Soon after Govan was arrested in connection with Thomas' murder, investigators found that Govan had lived across the street from Brazell, and they started examining him as a potential suspect in the Brazell case, Boyce told reporters on Wednesday, the New York Daily News reported. Cops were able to link Govan to Brazell's murder through physical evidence and Govan's inconsistent statements to investigators, Boyce said.

The NYPD Cold Case Squad said it solved the Thomas case based on DNA evidence recovered from Thomas' fingernails that hadn't been tested before. The DNA results came up with Govan as a match, the Brooklyn DA's office said. Govan was already in a national database after he was arrested in Florida in 2014, and he was taken to Brooklyn to be tried for Thomas' murder, a case that is still pending, the Brooklyn DA's office said.

Govan refused to be arraigned in court by yelling and violently thrashing around in the court room on Thursday, witnesses reported. He is due back in court on March 3.

Photos of Sharabia Thomas and Rashawn Brazell from Brooklyn DA's office, Facebook, respectively