A model has been arrested after his husband was found dead with multiple stab wounds in their New York apartment.
Jacob Zieben-Hood, a 34-year-old personal trainer, was found slumped over a toilet in his Harlem home on Friday, with a gash to his head and further injuries to his legs.
His husband, Donald Zieben-Hood, 40, was arrested and arraigned on Sunday on charges of burglary, criminal contempt and weapons possession. He has not been charged with his partner’s death.
Prosecutors said in court that the pair had a history of domestic incidents and that Donald had allegedly threatened Jacob with a knife hours before his body was found.
Police said that the investigation was ongoing and that they were treating the incident as a homicide.
Jacob called his father on Thursday evening, claiming that Donald – whom he had taken a protection order against the previous year – was chasing him with a knife and refusing to let him leave the apartment, prosecutors said.
Donald could allegedly be heard in the background of the call shouting at him and calling him “derogatory names”.
The model claimed he fell asleep following the alleged dispute before waking up around 4am Friday to find his husband dead, according to the New York Post.
He called the police, who found Jacob on a toilet covered in blood, with multiple injuries including a stab wound to the back of his leg that penetrated his calf muscle.
Donald, whom police said had three cuts on his arms that required stitches, apparently told officers when they arrived that his husband had attacked him with a knife.
“Police responded to a 911 call for an unconscious male inside 250 West 138 Street within the confines of the 32 Precinct,” New York police department said in a statement to US media.
“Upon arrival, officers observed an unconscious 34-year-old male with multiple stab wounds to his legs. [Emergency services] responded and pronounced the male deceased on scene.”
Prosecutors said Jacob Zieben-Hood had a protection order in place against his partner since last year, which Donald was alleged to have broken on several occasions.
Police are said to have recorded nine domestic incident reports between the couple since 2022.
In February, Donald was reportedly charged with strangulation after allegedly attacking his husband in the apartment, and he is said to have threatened his partner with a kitchen knife in June.
A judge denied the 40-year-old’s bail on Sunday as medical examiners examine the cause of Jacob’s death.
A lawyer representing Donald did comment on the charges when contacted by NBC New York.
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