A Queens man accused of murdering a Chinese food deliveryman in an ongoing feud over duck sauce took his own life, and left a rambling suicide note asking prosecutors to drop the case against his wife, who is accused of stashing his guns.
Glenn Hirsch was supposed to appear in court Friday on charges that he stalked and shot Zhiwen Yan, 45, on April 30 in Forest Hills.
But when Hirsch failed to appear for a scheduled court hearing, detectives went to his home, where they found Hirsch’s body on a couch in his apartment, where loud music was blaring.
Authorities said he shot himself.
It was unclear where he got the suicide weapon, since all his guns were supposed to have been confiscated after cops raided his wife’s pad, where he had weapons stored in her closet.
Hirsch and his wife, Dorothy, 62, lived apart.
“In his suicide note, he detailed Dorothy’s innocence,” said the wife’s lawyer, Mark Bederow. “He acknowledged that the firearms were his and his alone. After she got a new apartment, she allowed him to use the closet.”
Hirsch called the note, emailed Friday morning to the judge, his lawyers, prosecutors and others, his “dying declaration,” according to sources. He also left a suicide note in his apartment, police sources said.
An autopsy will determine how Hirsch died, an official said.
Hirsch’s new lawyer, Arthur Aidala, told the Daily News he spoke with Hirsch two days ago but that he and his client missed calls from each other on Thursday.
When Hirsch didn’t show up in court for the 10 a.m. hearing Friday about evidence, the judge told officers to check on him at his Briarwood apartment on 141st St., Aidala said.
“I really didn’t see this coming,” Aidala said. “Today was supposed to be a routine court appearance …. It was not a big deal. He knew that.”
Hirsch, 51, has been out on bail with strict conditions of home confinement since June, with an ankle bracelet monitoring his whereabouts.
Great Wall restaurant owner Ken Yang said Friday that Hirsch’s suicide leaves many unanswered questions.
“He knew that after the trial he would go away forever.,” Yang said. “We still want to know why he killed my employee and why he wanted to kill my family.”
Hirsch was busted June 2 on charges of shooting Zhiwen Yan dead after stalking the deliveryman and other workers at the Great Wall Restaurant for weeks over his demand during an earlier trip to the eatery for more duck sauce. The Queens DA called the bizarre beef an “obsessive point of contention.”
Police said the night of the murder Hirsch circled the block of the restaurant multiple times, then followed Yan, 45, as he drove off on his scooter to make a delivery before shooting him in the street.
Hirsch was initially ordered held without bail for the April 30 killing in Forest Hills.
But on June 8 Queens Criminal Court Judge Kenneth Holder set bail at $500,000. Hirsch posted the hefty sum and was released on strict orders to stay at home.
The ruling alarmed residents of his Briarwood co-op building and workers at the Chinese take-out business. One of his neighbors on Friday still had questions about how the case unfolded — and how Hirsch came to possess the gun he apparently used to kill himself.
“All this guy’s got to do is open the door and shoot anybody,” one neighbor said. “I don’t know what this guy’s capable of if he’s harassing somebody over duck sauce.
“And if he was under arrest, why did he have another gun? It’s crazy. Now we’ll never know. We still want answers, but there is now. Now we’ll never know.”
Police sources described Hirsch as a hoarder. A search of his home found a refrigerator full of duck sauce and other condiments. A search of the residence of Hirsch’s wife, Dorothy, found a cluttered closet containing eight guns stored in boxes, including .38 Specials, Magnums, Lugers and 9mm pistols.
Dorothy Hirsch’s lawyer said the guns belonged to her husband, noting in a legal filing that they were stored “in the manner of someone who hoards items.”
Hirsch had proclaimed his innocence.
“He was steadfast in how ridiculous the charges were,” Aidala said. “The person who was killed had nothing to do with any problem he had with anyone at that restaurant. He felt like he was being framed.
“He felt like he wasn’t going to get a fair shake.”
