Geoffrey Tracy, a bodybuilder and aspiring stripper who attacked his 50-year-old roommate Gregory Kanczes in August in the apartment they were sharing in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen pleaded not guilty to attempted murder on Wednesday in Manhattan court claiming self-defense because  Kanczes was ‘molesting him’ while he slept.

On August 14, Tracy claimed Kanczes made yet another sexual advance on him after days of ‘stroking his legs’ and ‘molesting him’ while he slept. At around 4.50am, Tracy used a kitchen knife to mercilessly stab the older man, then fled the building, dumping the weapon en route. 

Kanzces was later taken to the hospital in a critical condition. It remains unclear if he has yet been discharged.

Tracey was arrested shortly afterwards and told police that he was trying to defend himself and had recorded the assault on his iPhone and stated  his victim had a gun and threatened him with it. He then changed his story to say he did not see any weapon and that he took a ‘vape of THC’ – the active chemicals found in marijuana – on the night of the attack. 

Tracey’s lawyer Thomas Kenniff said the large bodybuilder was ‘defenseless’ against the older man.

One of the victim’s friends was in court for the hearing. 

He said of the Kanczes: ‘He always came across to me as having a very calm demeanor as a peaceful person — not someone who could be involved in something like this and not somebody whose behavior would case a rational person to stab him 16 times.’ 

Tracy pleaded not guilty to attempted murder on Wednesday, turning down a plea deal which would have seen him go behind bars for 20 years.  

He now faces life without parole if he is convicted.