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'Body In Suitcase' Suspect Claims 'She Hit Me First'

A quick follow to last week's post about the man seen pulling a suitcase down a Harlem street -- a suitcase later found to have a woman's body inside.

A suspect, 55-year-old Hassan Malik, is under arrest and prosecutors say he's admitted to police that he killed 28-year-old Betty Williams. But as the New York Postreports, he's claiming "she hit me first":

"The suspect said Williams 'struck him with a frying pan twice on his shoulder,' so he grabbed the pan from her and used it to crack her twice on the head, the court papers claim.

"After being hit, Malik claimed Williams managed to grab an electrical cord and wrap it around his neck, but he wrested it away and choked her, the documents said."

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Mark Memmott is NPR's supervising senior editor for Standards & Practices. In that role, he's a resource for NPR's journalists – helping them raise the right questions as they do their work and uphold the organization's standards.