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NEW YORK (CBS/AP) ― A prosecutor said in closing arguments Tuesday former fashion journalist Peter Braunstein was an "arrogant, jealous and vindictive man" who wanted to send an angry message to the people who spurned him when he sexually abused a co-worker while dressed as a firefighter.

Assistant District Attorney Maxine Rosenthal said a conniving Braunstein, whose lawyers claim he's mentally ill, ignited smoke bombs on Halloween night 2005 while wearing firefighter gear that he bought on the Internet.

Then, she said, Braunstein bluffed his way into a former co-worker's apartment and knocked her out with chloroform, tied her naked to a bed and sexually abused her for nearly 13 hours on Oct. 31, 2005.

"He meticulously planned and executed this case down to the last detail, and not only the crime but his flight afterward," Rosenthal said.

Rosenthal's assertions follow more than three weeks of bizarre testimony about the strange world of Braunstein, who grew more unstable after he lost his girlfriend and job in the fashion industry.

Braunstein, 43, has pleaded not guilty to kidnapping, burglary, sex abuse and robbery charges, although his lawyers concede he attacked the 36-year-old woman. They say their client, who could face 25 years to life in prison if convicted, is mentally ill and not criminally responsible for the attack.

Robert C. Gottlieb, one of Braunstein's lawyers, told the jury his client's mental illness that crippled his brain and left him unable to form the intent or the conscious objective to commit the crimes charged.

Gottlieb tried over the past three weeks of Braunstein's trial in Manhattan's state Supreme Court to show that his client's "brain broke" in a way that is consistent with that of a person with paranoid schizophrenia.

Gottlieb said Braunstein heard voices and had delusions, which are symptoms of schizophrenia, while prosecution experts -- whom he called "hired guns" -- said the defendant had a personality disorder and other less severe mental ailments.

"It doesn't matter what you may choose to call it," Gottlieb said. "Call it an orange, or a banana. Whatever you call it, Mr. Braunstein was undeniably mentally ill on Oct. 31, 2005."

Rosenthal said Braunstein, who had broken off prior relationships, was dumped in November 2003 by then-girlfriend Jane Larkworthy "and he didn't like that. He wasn't ready to go, and he wasn't going quietly."

Braunstein went on an obsessive harassment campaign of nearly 18 months in which he called and e-mailed Larkworthy, sent damaging e-mails to her co-workers, and posted nude photos of her on the Internet and invited men to call her.

"Obsession is not a delusion," Rosenthal told the jury in responding to Gottlieb. "It (the obsession) makes his intent more clear."

"We are not arguing that the defendant is the picture of mental health," the prosecutor said. "We all agree that is clearly not the case. (The question is) did the defendant form the intent to commit the crimes charged?"

Braunstein was captured by police Dec. 16, 2005, on the University of Memphis Campus. He stabbed himself in the neck several times in an apparent suicide attempt as officers approached and arrested him.

Before being fired, Braunstein was a reporter at Fairchild Publications, parent of Women's Wear Daily and W magazine. His victim worked there too, but they barely knew each other.

Rosenthal said the victim was a stand-in for Larkworthy, beauty editor at W magazine, and other people Braunstein disliked.

Larkworthy, who briefly lived with Braunstein, had police remove him from her apartment on Nov. 22, 2003, after he threatened to kill himself. He was taken to Bellevue Hospital's psychiatric ward.

On that date, Gottlieb said, Braunstein "reached the cliff" and "fell over that cliff and ended up in Bellevue. By then, he was in his own world."

The judge planned to instruct the jurors on the charges on Wednesday morning, and the jurors were likely to begin deliberating by afternoon.

(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)