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Chilling explanation given from jail
The latest court appearance comes months after a disturbing jailhouse phone call shed light on Brown’s state of mind following the attack.
In the recorded conversation, obtained days after Zarutska’s death, Brown admitted he had stabbed the young woman despite never speaking to her.
“I hurt my hand, stabbing her. I don’t even know the lady. I never said not one word to the lady at all. That’s scary, ain’t it. Why would somebody stab somebody for no reason?” he said.
When his sister, Tracey, asked why he targeted Zarutska, Brown offered a bizarre explanation.
“They just lashed out on her, that’s what happened. Whoever was working the materials, they lashed out on her. That’s all there is to it. Now they really gotta investigate what my body was exposed to… Now they gotta do an investigation as to who was the motive behind what happened.”
Tracey later revealed her brother had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.
“A person that is hearing voices in their head and believes the world is against them, they’re going to break. And I think that night he broke,” she said.
“He was a high risk. He was not in his right mind. He was not safe for society. We know what he has been dealing with the last three years. And now an innocent woman is dead.”
Brown’s mother also claimed her son had repeatedly sought help before the tragedy.
“He was seeking help. He called 911 multiple times. Instead of talking to him, they thought charging him was going to help,” she said.
Iryna Zarutska. Credit: Iryna Zarutska / Instagram
Horrifying attack captured on surveillance footage
Zarutska, who is originally from Kyiv, moved to the United States with her family after fleeing the war in Ukraine.
She worked at Zepeddie’s pizzeria, became fluent in English, and hoped to become a veterinary assistant.
Surveillance footage shows the moment Brown brutally stabbed the 23-year-old, who was sitting alone on the train.