Prosecutors began their case against Hadi Matar, the man accused of attacking the author Salman Rushdie, with a vivid and gruesome description of the stabbing they said came perilously close to killing him.
Matar, a 27-year-old Lebanese American, is charged with attempted murder and assault over the stabbing attack on the author on stage at an arts festival in August 2022. The 77-year-old Rushdie was grievously injured in the attack and lost sight in one eye.
In opening statements on Monday, the prosecutor Jason Schmidt told jurors in Chautauqua county court that Matar, from Fairview, New Jersey, had “come dangerously close to committing murder” when he assaulted Rushdie with a knife.
Luigi Mangione was indicted on Thursday on a federal murder charge in the killing of UnitedHealthcare...
