Suspect in Brooklyn murder found hiding in victim's basement

A Brooklyn man was charged with fatally beating a psychologist in his home after police found him hiding in the victim's basement just a few feet away from the dead man's bludgeoned body.

Mirzo Atadzhanov, 28, was charged with murder and burglary in connection with the death of 66-year-old Jeremy Safran, who was found in his Brooklyn home on Monday evening, according to ABC’s New York station WABC.

Authorities responded to the home after Safran's wife and two daughters called 911 to report a burglary in progress, according to WABC.

Police arrived to discover Safran, a psychologist and professor at The New School in Manhattan, dead in the basement with stab wounds and trauma to the head and body, according to the report. There was a bloody hammer laying beside him.

Atadzhanov was found hiding in a closet not far from the body and taken into custody without further incident. Police said he had a bloody knife in his vehicle, which was outside the home. It was unclear if he had obtained an attorney.

"When they dragged him out, he had bloody hands," Doreen Giuliano, a witness, told WABC, adding that she notified the family and police when she noticed a strange man had been been poking around their backyard.

She said she saw the suspect walking back and forth from the home to his car, which she said had been parked outside for hours.

Police had not released a possible motive as of early Wednesday, and it was unclear whether Atadzhanov had hired an attorney.