FLINT TOWNSHIP, Mich. — A Genesee County judge has agreed to cap the sentence of a 56-year-old man accused of brutally stabbing a female relative, despite his lengthy criminal history, after the defendant claimed he does not remember committing the crime due to a medical issue.
Court records show Eduard Markman entered a no contest plea on January 6 in Genesee County Circuit Court to four of the most serious violent felony charges under Michigan law: Assault with intent to murder, assault with intent to maim, torture, and armed robbery. The plea was entered through a Russian interpreter.
A no contest plea is not an admission of guilt, but it allows the court to impose punishment without a trial.
What has raised concern is not the plea itself, but the sentence framework the court has agreed to impose.
Under a Cobbs agreement entered by Judge Elizabeth Kelly, Markman is expected to receive five years of probation and 365 days in the Genesee County Jail, with no credit for time already served. He is also prohibited from contacting the victim. A Cobbs agreement allows a judge to set an expected sentence in advance in exchange for a plea, even if prosecutors object.
The agreement stands despite prosecutors objecting to the sentence, and despite the fact that Markman could have faced life in prison on some of the charges.
According to court records, Markman told the court he has no recollection of the stabbing, citing a medical issue. The factual basis for the plea relied on the probable cause statement rather than Markman’s own admissions.
The violent attack occurred on Oct. 12, 2024, at the Cambridge Square Apartments in the 4000 block of Lennington Court in Flint Township. Police said the victim suffered severe stab wounds across her body and narrowly survived.
After the attack, investigators said Markman fled the scene in the victim’s vehicle and took personal property with him. He was later tracked to a home in Mt. Morris Township, where police found him hiding in a bedroom.
Prosecutors also pointed to Markman’s prior criminal history, which includes earlier arrests for domestic assault and battery. At the time of the 2024 stabbing, he was facing a probation violation stemming from a 2022 domestic assault and torture case.
Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton said his office objected to the sentence agreement entered by the court.
“There was no plea agreement,” Leyton said. “No charges were dismissed or reduced. The judge entered into a Cobbs agreement for the sentence, and we objected.”
In Michigan, a Cobbs agreement allows a judge to indicate a likely sentence in exchange for a plea, but it can proceed over a prosecutor’s objection.
Markman is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 2.
The case highlights an outcome that many will find difficult to reconcile: A defendant with a documented history of violent domestic offenses, now convicted of torture and attempted murder-level conduct, avoiding a potential life sentence after asserting he does not remember committing the crime.
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