FLINT, Mich. — A man charged in a series of fatal stabbings in Michigan in 2010 will face no additional trials in the state unless his first murder conviction is overturned, a prosecutor said Friday, citing the high cost of bringing each case to court.
The decision was a practical one: Elias Abuelazam already is serving a life sentence, and additional trials would cost ‘‘hundreds of thousands of dollars,’’ Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton said. ‘‘We have him life without parole. You can’t do any better than that,’’ Leyton said outside court.
Abuelazam was convicted last spring of fatally stabbing a man after the Israeli native tricked the victim into believing he needed help with his car. Two more murder cases and six attempted murder cases were pending in Flint, 60 miles north of Detroit.
Those cases now are on hold. Leyton and assistant prosecutor Tamara Phillips will bring Abuelazam to trial again only if the Michigan appeals court or Supreme Court finds fault with the first murder conviction and upsets that guilty verdict.