NEW YORK (AP) – A man already in custody in a Bronx shooting was accused on Friday of gunning down a jeweler last year on a busy sidewalk near the Diamond District in midtown Manhattan – a suspected killing-for-hire.

Carlos Fortier, 36, pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and was ordered to return to court on May 26. If convicted, he faces a possible life sentence.

Investigators were “exploring the possibility that (Fortier) was hired to murder the victim,” said Paul Browne, chief spokesman for the New York Police Department, but declined to elaborate.

The victim, Eduard Nektalov, 46, worked on the bustling one-block cluster of jewelry outlets, where tourists search for bargains and Orthodox Jewish vendors conduct business in Yiddish. At the time of his death, he was two months away from going on trial with his father, Roman, on federal charges they helped launder drug money for Colombian dealers at their business, Roman Jewelry.

On the evening of May 20, 2004, as Nektalov left the Diamond District and walked on Sixth Avenue, a gunman dressed in black shot him in the back of the head in front of a Gap store. Without a word, the shooter tucked his weapon away and vanished into a crowd, leaving behind a crime scene that drew actresses Candice Bergen of “Murphy Brown” and Lorraine Bracco of “The Sopranos,” who were on a police ride-along.

Police identified Fortier as the prime suspect earlier this month based on a match of .45-caliber shell casings found both at the scene of the unrelated – and seemingly random – Bronx shooting and the Diamond District slaying. Five witnesses, including a retired police officer, have picked him out of lineups as the shooter, police said Friday.

In the Bronx case, Fortier was charged with attempted murder for allegedly firing several rounds at an unidentified victim on the street on Aug. 30, 2004, for unknown reasons, court papers said. The weapon was never recovered.

It was unclear whether the brazen slaying of Nektalov stemmed from his money-laundering case. Police also have theorized that it could have been a professional hit ordered by the Russian mob.

Police said Fortier has a long criminal record, including a manslaughter conviction in New York. A call to his attorney was not immediately returned.

Last July, a jury acquitted Roman Nektalov, 75, of conspiracy, money laundering and two other charges, alleging he sold gold to Colombian drug dealers during a sting operation. He was convicted on a fifth count involving a diamond sale; sentencing was pending.

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