The murder accused claims that the confession was prepared by AI.

US News

by the Yaron Steinbuch

A California murder suspect has been accused of posting a sickening Facebook video of his dying victim’s final moments since he claimed his confession was manipulated by artificial intelligence.

Mark Stephen Macikoff, 39, of Pacifica, is accused of fatally stabbing Claribel Estrella inside her San Mateo apartment on July 26, 2023, filmed as she lay bleeding on the kitchen floor, police said at the time. had been

“While the motive for the victim’s stabbing remains under investigation, we do know that Murchikov brutally filmed the victim’s last moments and posted the video on Facebook,” police said. .

Mikikov has since pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder — blaming technology for his earlier alleged confession, KRON 4 reported from a preliminary court hearing Friday.

“During the hearing, the defendant told the court that he killed the victim, but that his confession was prepared by AI,” prosecutors told the outlet.

Prosecutors have said Murchikov was proud of his heinous crime and wanted his Facebook followers to see what he had done.

“He then filmed her and posted it on his Facebook account. She was on the ground, and still alive, still moving a little bit,” District Attorney Steve Wagstaff told the outlet.

“Putting it on Facebook … it took a certain pride,” he added. “This is the first I’ve ever heard of anything like this. It’s certainly never happened in San Mateo County. It’s a heinous crime.”

Police were first alerted to the crime by a Florida woman who was a Facebook friend of the alleged killer.

He called a sheriff’s office in Nevada County, Nevada, and said he had just seen video of a woman lying on the ground covered in blood, KRON 4 reported.

The woman called the Nevada agency because it was located at the last place she knew Mikikov lived.

Nye County authorities “pinged” a cell phone number associated with the Facebook account and traced its location to an apartment complex in San Mateo, California.

San Mateo police arrived at the complex on 37th Avenue and spent three hours searching before finding the victim’s body.

“After a house-to-house search, officers found the victim, Claribel Estrella, stabbed to death on the kitchen floor,” prosecutors wrote.

Mikikov was located two hours later in San Jose, where he was arrested, according to KRON 4.

The San Mateo Daily Journal reported that Cheren Knoist, a friend of the victim, said Strela dated her briefly before breaking up.

“He seemed like a bad guy, that’s why she was his ex. She mentioned that he was abusive,” Knuist told the outlet.

Mikikov is being held without bail until his next hearing on March 21.