Nearly Two Decades Later, Pelham Country Club Stabber Brought Into Custody

PELHAM, N.Y. – Nearly two decades after he was accused of murdering a golfer at the Pelham Country Club, a Jamaican man was brought into custody in Westchester and faces life in prison after being tracked down earlier this year.

Michael Cousins was arraigned for his role in a Pelham Country Club stabbing.
Photo Credit: *Westchester County District Attorney's Office*

Zak Failla

11/16/2015 2:00 p.m.

Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore announced on Monday that Michael Cousins – also known as “Gifton” – was arraigned on a two-count indictment and charged with second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon.

Cousins was working as a caddy at the Pelham Country Club on Sept. 12, 1996, when he got into a dispute with his 23-year-old victim, which turned physical. Cousins stabbed his victim repeatedly in the chest, who “stumbled into the Pro Shop of the golf course, where he collapsed,” DiFiore stated.

An ambulance was called; the victim was rushed to New Rochelle Hospital and died from his wounds. Meanwhile, police K-9 units tracked Cousins, who fled in the direction of Boston Post Road. Cousins’ knife was found during the search, and DNA traces would later prove it belonged to him.

Cousins subsequently fled the country. He was located in Kingston, Jamaica earlier this year, and taken into custody and remanded to Westchester County late last week.

Cousins is due back in court on Wednesday, Dec. 2. He faces a minimum of 25 years in prison. Deputy District Attorney Timothy Ward of the Superior Court Trial Division is set to prosecute the case.

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