Manhattan woman pleads not guilty to attempted murder of health aide

Barbara Salberg, a 66-year-old woman from Manhattan’s Upper East Side, pleaded not guilty to attempted murder charges during her arraignment on Wednesday. Salberg is accused of stabbing her 54-year-old home health aide in the abdomen on August 8 following a dispute over an oxygen mask at a luxury co-op building.

During the hearing before Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Cori Weston, Salberg’s defense attorney, Toni Messina, argued that her client is too physically frail to be held at Rikers Island. Salberg, who uses a wheelchair and an oxygen mask due to lung disease and a blood disorder, is currently held on $100,000 bail. Her legal team requested home detention, asserting she poses no flight risk due to her medical condition.

Manhattan prosecutors opposed the request for home detention and sought to increase bail to $200,000. They argued the attack was a deliberate attempt to kill the victim rather than an accident. Prosecutors alleged that during the confrontation, Salberg stated, “This is the knife I’m going to kill you with,” and directed verbal insults at the victim after the stabbing.