Man who survived Michigan stabbing identifies alleged serial killer as his attacker

In this 2010 photo, Elias Abuelazam is in trial in Flint, Mich., accused in a series of stabbings that terrorized the city.

FLINT, Mich. — A victim pulled up his shirt to show jurors his stab wound Tuesday, then identified a suspected serial killer in court as the man who plunged a knife into him during a summer of violent stabbings in Michigan.

Bill Fisher said he can’t forget the face of Elias Abuelazam, an Israeli immigrant charged with murder in the first trial connected to the random stabbings of 14 people in and around Flint in 2010.

Fisher said he was waiting for a bus when Abuelazam asked him to help open his hood to check a hot engine in his Chevy Blazer.

“I tell him to pull the latch. ... He came so fast. I had a dagger in my stomach,” Fisher told jurors.

He said he scrambled to a nearby apartment building and pushed buttons, hoping someone would respond and call 911. Fisher identified Abuelazam, sitting at the defense table, as his attacker.

Prosecutors could rest their case Tuesday after five days of testimony. Abuelazam, 35, is on trial for the death of Arnold Minor, one of three murder cases filed against him in the Flint area. He’s also charged with six attempted murders. Fourteen people were stabbed in Michigan, and five died.

Separately, Abuelazam is charged with attempted murder in Toledo, Ohio, and suspected in similar non-fatal attacks in Leesburg, Va., a region where he formerly lived.