NEW YORK – A Canadian drifter has admitted he bashed a stranger in the head with a claw hammer in a New York City park. The case was complicated by an identity twist.
Douglas Epp pleaded guilty Tuesday to attempted murder in the July 2012 attack. He's been promised a 14-year prison sentence.
The Manhattan district attorney's office says Epp abruptly started hammering at a Spanish tourist sitting by him on a downtown park bench. Victim Hugo Alejandre was treated for a spinal fracture.
Epp told investigators he believed the victim had made derogatory remarks about him.
Epp initially gave authorities an alias: the name of a former acquaintance who's known in Canadian chess circles.
He also has agreed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor identity-theft charge.
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