The victim, 53-year-old Ben Novack Jr., was a multi-millionaire Florida businessman. [17][18], The story was also the basis for the 2015 made-for-television Lifetime movie Beautiful & Twisted, which starred Rob Lowe as Ben Novack Jr., Paz Vega as Narcy, and Candice Bergen as Bernice Novack.[19][20]. What doesn't appear to be taken is evidence related to a possible motive Narcy Novack told New York police she suspected was behind the killing -- that her husband was murdered in the wake of a contentious comic book sale. More than two months after his murder, Ben Novack Jr.'s body remained in the Westchester County morgue, prompting police to wonder why his widow was taking so long to have him buried. They are awaiting sentencing. to batter eighty-six-year-old Bernice to iTunes has an . Narcy, 56, was convicted last year of arranging the murders after discovering her husband of 28 years was having an affair with porn star Rebecca Bliss. [4], On the morning of July 12, 2009, her son, who was 53, was found bludgeoned and suffocated to death in the penthouse suite at the Hilton Hotel in Rye Brook, New York. Novack, 53, was bashed with dumbbells in his bed and had his eyes sliced with a knife. to keep expanding and making Murderpedia a better site, but we really Bernice . In addition to allegedly participating in the July 2009 torture killing her husband Ben Novack Jr., the former Hialeah stripper is also accused of planning the monkey-wrench beating death of Ben's mother, Bernice, three months earlier. A year later, the alleged murder of Novack Jr.'s mother was thrown into the mix. Get an all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! The security camera inside the guest house picks up Narcy walking in -- still carrying the crowbar. Two days after Novack's murder, Fort Lauderdale police were called to the Novack's posh Fort Lauderdale home after an altercation between Narcy Novack and her daughter, May Abad, who was living in the house's unattached cottage. Sign up forOxygen Insiderfor all the best true crime content. sets mix, music mp3s, WEB, 720p-x264, 320kbps Tracks, Music FLAC Server, It was overwhelming. [6], The Novack murders have been televised on several programs including Deadly Rich, My Dirty Little Secret (ID),[12] 48 Hours,[13] Dateline NBC,[10] Snapped,[14] True Crime with Aphrodite Jones[15][16] and Dying to Belong. >> the kids who came to the birthday party were complete strangers to . was brutally killed at the Hilton Rye Town. 14 episodes. The home of the aging was played by a multimillion-dollar estate on Key Biscayne, on 485 Matheson Drive, as well as the Atlantis Condo in the Brickell neighborhood (featured in the opening credits of another 80s classic, Miami Vice. Trivia (1) Her boyfriend, Ben Novack Jr., was bludgeoned to death in 2009 by men hired by Novack's wife, Narcy Novack, and her brother, Cristobal Veliz. Their hotel was the biggest celebrity haunt of the 1960s and 70s. Johnathan Goforth is housed on death row at the Kentucky State Penitentiary in Eddyville, Kentucky. Ben Novack's father built the Fontainebleau hotel in Miami Beach. July 12, 2009, just before 7 am: Narcy Novack lets Garcia and Gonzalez into Room 453, where they beat Ben . Part of TV News Archive. She also indicated that her husband had enemies. The Herald reported that Abad said her stepfather was having an affair, even setting the younger woman up with a place to live, and that Narcy Novack was jealous of the other woman. Aug. 19, 2009— -- The discovery of the body of a wealthy Florida businessman and hotel heir has turned out to be only the beginning of what has become a multi-state investigation involving reports of kinky sex, catfights and Batman comic books. She was a very jealous woman," a family friend said. The victim, 53-year-old Ben Novack Jr., was a multi-millionaire Florida businessman. Check out never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! He had his own suite at the hotel. Police thought Novack murder was sex game gone wrong. In fact, she was busy raiding his valuable Batman collection, stashing cash from his company coffers and sneaking into his safe deposit boxes by fooling bank tellers into believing her husband, alive and well at home, would return with a permission slip. 02:26 GMT 25 Apr 2012 No one has ever written a history of the Fontainebleau, arguably, the most famous hotel in the world, or its unusual cast of characters and its stubborn builder, Ben Novack Sr. My book is about an extraordinary family: brilliant, wildly foolish, eccentric and dysfunctional, whose lives all ended either tragically, violently or forgotten to history. trial of Narcy Novack, which started April 23, 2012. Ben Novack Jr. had a successful travel company. The agent said that as far as he knew, no investigation was mounted. Murdaugh is heckled as he leaves court, Ken Bruce finishes his 30-year tenure as host of BBC Radio 2, Ukrainian soldier takes out five tanks with Javelin missiles, Family of a 10-month-old baby filmed vaping open up, Missing hiker buried under snow forces arm out to wave to helicopter, Hershey's Canada releases HER for SHE bars featuring a trans activist, Moment teenager crashes into back of lorry after 100mph police race. In 2008, Ben Jr. answered an online ad placed by a porn actress named Rebecca Bliss, working at the time as a high-priced prostitute. Its a story thats crazier than fiction, even the fiction that Lifetime usually puts out. Novack implicated his wife in planning the home invasion and working with unknown men to disable the alarm system, according to the warrant. Goldfinger and Scarface, along with several Sinatra movies, were filmed there. In 2009, Bernice Novack and her son, Fontainebleau Miami Beach hotel heir Ben Novack Jr., were murdered three months apart. She demanded they slash out his eyes whilst he was still alive before ordering them to finish him off. Gangster Sam Giancana's daughter's wedding. Bernice (Stempel) Novack, 87, formerly of Miami Beach FL, passed away in her Ft. Lauderdale home on April 4, 2009. But even three months later, the autopsy wasn't complete, and when I began to question police, my gut told me something just wasn't right. Hotel heir Ben Novack Jr. was found bludgeoned in a New York hotel room. This video answers the question: Can I analyze the case of Ben Novack Jr.?Support Dr. Grande on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/drgrandeSubscribe to the Bel. The first thing I found was a clipping. In some ways, his portrayal of Ben Novack Jr., the real-life . The Fontainebleau Miami Beach is featured in the 1964 James Bond film Goldfinger, in the sweeping aerial shot that follows the opening credits and accompanies composer John Barrys big-band track Into Miami. [11] Vliz was also sentenced to life in prison without parole and he is currently incarcerated at the United States Penitentiary, Big Sandy in Inez, Kentucky. As an editor, writer and investigative reporter for 20 years, I have researched yellowed court documents, old wills, marriage and divorce records, police reports, property records and family ties. "A writer who gets in bed with Miami Beach's historical characters ought to end up breathless.''. death. 'Narcy showed police her husbands sick photo collection of naked amputees. As police on both ends of the Eastern seaboard continue their investigation, the Rye Brook Police Department -- small, with just 28 officers -- has set up a Web site they hope will generate tips. On: July 7, 2022. But the Miami Herald reported that Abad has since challenged Novack's will, which left everything to Narcy Novack. She met Ben at the strip club where she worked and moved in with him soon afterwards. Now May Abad, Narcys daughter, stands to inherit $150,000, and the rest of the fortune stands to go to her two sons. Novack Jr. was found beaten to death in July 2009 in a suburban New York Hotel room. * The Prince of Paradise by John Glatt is published by St. Martins Press on Tuesday April 16. to order a copy. The room she goes into with May however doesn't have any cameras. new content, we kindly appreciate any donation you can give to help A cemetery posted a personal ad for a goose whose mate died. This private estate served as a great backdrop for Scarface filming. NR. Drama. Please offer your thoughts in the comments section below First published on January 25, 2013 / 10:01 PM. Detectives soon found out Novack was involved in aheated affair with former sex worker and porn actress Rebecca Bliss. Murderpedia has thousands of hours of work behind it. [5] At the time of his death, he was having an affair with porn actress Rebecca Bliss. In 2005, Fontainebleau Miami Beach closed its doors, kicking off a 2 year, $1.0 billion renovation and expansion, which was completed in Fall of 2008, and reopened with rave reviews and an A-list celebrity-attended grand opening bash featuring the Victoria Secret Fashion Show and performances by Usher, Mariah Carey . Or what was left of it. Abad also told the Herald that after the murder Narcy Novack "flunked" a polygraph test in New York five times. in Miami, accused Garcia also said he killed Bernice Novack, who was 86, by smashing her in the face with a plumber's wrench at her Fort Lauderdale home. A year later, she and her brother were also indicted for Bernice's murder. The two confessed killers of hotel heir Ben Novack Jr. and his mother are expected to testify that the millionaire victim's wife paid them to commit the double murder.. Narcy Novack, 54, and her . He had been hog-tied, blinded in both eyes and beaten with gym dumbells. His hands, according to the warrant, which was for Novack's Fort Lauderdale home and was executed by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, were taped behind his back and his legs were bound just below the knees. Suite, where Ben They remained skeptical. On cross-examination, Narcy Novack's attorney, Howard Tanner, asked Bliss if her primary motivation was financial, which she denied, insisting that she loved him. She said Novack told her he would leave his wife for her and get a divorce, adding that Bliss Narcy Novack called her several times, yelling at her. need your help for this. In addition to allegedly participating in the July 2009 torture killing her husband Ben Novack Jr., the . From the outset, Abad publicly stated she believed her mother was responsible for Ben Novack's murder. In addition to Novack's supposed affair, the couple were said to have engaged in some otherwise unorthodox marital activities. Create your free profile and get access to exclusive content. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? JPMorgan equity research analysts predict that the airline industry alone will need many years to recover to 2019 levels. Now Ben Jr.'s . westchester. That's when we'll find out who jurors believed -- the mother or the daughter. Ben Novack Jr. had doubts about how his mother died, but he was killed before he could demand a more thorough inquiry. The search warrant, signed by a Broward County judge July 16 and executed the same day by an agent with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, was for not only the main residence on the Novacks' property, but the cottage in which Abad was known to stay. On April 5, 2009, Ben's 87-year-old mother, Bernice (December 2, 1921 - April 4, 2009), was found dead in her Fort Lauderdale, Florida garage. Detectives never interviewed Bernice's next-door neighbor, one of them a former Miami Dolphins linebacker who would have told them that strange men had been prowling outside Bernice's home in the weeks and months before her death. Joel Gonzalez, accused of killing Ben Novack Jr. Novack was found guilty Wednesday, June 20, 2012, of orchestrating the killings of her millionaire husband, Ben Novack Jr., and his mother, Bernice Novack, in a grab for the family estate . Though several expensive pieces of jewelry remained in the hotel room, a gold bracelet with the letters "B-E-N" spelled out in diamonds seemed to be missing, according to the Rye Brook police. wife watched from A seasoned homicide detective once told me that there is no such thing as coincidences. The blood-stained bed in Ben Novack's room at the Rye Town Hilton, New York. [8], Narcy Novack and Cristbal Vliz were tried together in a federal courtroom in White Plains, New York in 2012. in New York. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. He wanted a divorce. 2009 in a suburban New York Hotel room. Please enter valid email address to continue. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. Mary Jane Fine. 'She openly boasted about their relationship. Novack's eyes. She said she took it only to protect herself. A few moments after the alleged assault, May is seen running out of the guest house -- clearly agitated. She arranged for two hitmen, who ultimately gave evidence for the prosecution, to be at a hotel where they were staying for a business conference. Bliss said she made adult videos in California in 2005 and 2006 under the stage name Mona Love. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Personal Photo via CBS (CBS/AP) WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. - A hit man was sentenced Thursday to more than 17 years behind bars for killing Ben . mother. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. New York), Police found the mutilated body of Ben Novack Jr. lying bound and gagged on the floor of his suite at To keep creating Sgt. His mutilated body was discovered in a hotel room in Rye Brook in the early morning hours of July 12, 2009. 1 hr 23 mins. They both slept with loaded guns under their pillows. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. 'Narcy walked out of one bank vault with a duffel bag of stuff we will probably never know how much cash was in there. She denied having anything to do with them. She told me there were a lot of other girls and I wasn't the only one., Bliss said Narcy Novack offered her $10,000 to break off the affair, which Bliss turned down. She claimed his fetish was becoming dangerous she had gone under anesthesia to fix a broken nose and woke up with enormous breast implants. He was sitting on the beach, a scarf around his neck floating in the breeze. Garcia then enlisted an employee at the car wash Joel Gonzales to help him murder Ben Novack at the Rye Town Hilton. In accordance with the slayer rule, Narcy Novack is ineligible to inherit her husband's estate. And in return, Narcy has made the cornerstone of her defense the accusation that it was Abad who actually killed Ben and then framed her. He was giving me everything.. ', From a prison cell to driving Rolls-Royces and hanging out with movie stars: How the Wolves of Wall Street are on top of the world after being released from prison over $200million fraud, Mother 'watched as her boyfriend smothered their baby then they put limp infant back in playpen and had sex', Former high school librarian and prison chief arrested in plot to 'kidnap, cook and EAT women and children', 'If it can happen to my daughter it can happen to anyone': Mother of Audrie Pott who committed suicide after alleged sexual assault bravely speaks out for the first time about her death. But as investigators would soon uncover, Ben Novack had an appetite for other women. "It was a brutal scene. 'Then she calmly went downstairs for breakfast before returning to the room and raising the alarm. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Fontainebleau Hotel heir Ben Novack, Jr., tracing his gilded childhood at the sides of famous celebrities, his multi-million-dollar business deals and the savage killing that many, including Novack's daughter, believe was arranged by his wife. What we give you here is a list of the best new movies on iTunes (2018 or newer). There was blood in her car and a trail of droplets through the house. There are secrets that have never been able to fit into the hundreds of stories that made it into print. Make like a gangster and hang out by the pool at the famous Fontainebleau Miami Beach, where Tony and Manny talk about how to pick up chicks at the pooljust watch what you say, so you dont get slapped like Manny. stock photos and images available, or start a new search to explore more stock photos and images. She was Ben Novack's Incidentally, the kids helped the investigation by volunteering that the gunshots took place before the glass-breaking Bosley did to fake the intruder scenario. I met at least three times with Broward County Medical Examiner Joshua Perper. Alex Murdaugh sentenced to life in prison for murders of wife and son, Biden had cancerous skin lesion removed last month, doctor says, White supremacist and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes kicked out of CPAC, Tom Sizemore, actor known for "Saving Private Ryan" and "Heat," dies at 61, Biden team readies new advisory panel ahead of expected reelection bid, House Democrats unhappy with White House handling of D.C.'s new criminal code, Vast majority of U.S. homes are unaffordable to the average buyer. Executives in South Florida's meeting business described Novack as one of the top event planners for Amway, a company with a reported $8 billion in sales. presented as evidence in the court ", "Mr. Garcia bludgeoned to death an elderly lady," the judge said. Narcy Novack used her brother Cristobal Veliz to recruit Miami car wash owner Alejandro Garcia, who executed the Bernice Novack murder for a couple of thousand dollars. [10] They claimed she was motivated by "hatred, greed, and vengeance."[9]. No one questioned the "accidental death" conclusion until Novack's son, Ben Novack Jr., was found bludgeoned to death in a hotel room near New York just three months later. When Bernice Novack was killed in April 2009, her estate, valued at about $2 million, went to Novack Jr., her only son. His mutilated body was discovered in a hotel room in Rye Brook in the early morning hours of July 12, 2009. Security guards separate May from Narcy. And so Narcy heads to the guest house -- but not before arming herself with a crowbar. June. He was bound with duct tape and his eyes were gouged out. According to the search warrant, Narcy Novack told police that her husband was "a hard person, a strong businessman and has a tendency to make people angry." Police learned from Ben Novack's wife, Narcy Novack, that she and her husband were at the hotel all weekend, running a large Amway convention. Patrick Hart told ABCNews.com that a report was not filed and that he did not have any details on what sparked the fight, saying only that "it was a simple disturbance and the stepdaughter agreed to pack up her stuff and leave.". It was a horrible murder, as Bernice did not go quietly. Ben Novack Jr., president and C.E.O. Ben Novack had become very serious with one woman in particular. The interior of Bernice Novack's car. Her son, Ben Novack Jr., at the time filed a lawsuit against Bank of America claiming a fall at a branch's parking lot led to her death.Then Ben turned up dead three months later. June 11, 2012 / 11:27 PM His father built the storied Fontainebleau hotel in Miami Beach, a celebrity hangout in the 1950s and '60s that appeared in the movies "Scarface . Morris Lapidus, the hotels famed architect, created his signature Staircase to Nowhere, which actually only led to a small coat room. Soffer owns 72% of the hotel and a sizeable chunk of Aventura Mall, plus stakes in the familys other hotel, office and residential properties in Florida; FORBES estimates his net worth at $1 billion. Where was the pool scene in Scarface filmed? It's a site that collects all the most frequently asked questions and answers, so you don't have to spend hours on searching anywhere else. Ben Novack was found dead and handcuffed in the Rye Town Hilton In the police report, Bernice Novack told detectives that she believed that Narcy Novack had also tried to poison her. To find out more about how Narcy was finally caught, watch "Dying to Belong" on Oxygen. Updated January 20, 2012 7:04 AM. [2] Her death was initially ruled to be the result of an accidental fall while trying to get out of her car in . The report detailed how the alleged home invasion was part of a sex game. Correspondent Troy Roberts of "48 Hours" talked to police about the twisted trail of evidence. Violent: Glatt says the marriage was volatile from the start with Narcy accusing him of having a fetish for naked amputees and Ben once called police claiming she had pistol-whipped him, article-2249691-168F0ECC000005DC-173_306x423.jpg, article-2162339-13B529E1000005DC-909_306x423.jpg. It included names of suspects and details that no one else would have known so early in the case. A former prostitute and porn actress testified on Tuesday that she had a yearlong affair with a Florida millionaire that ended only when he was beaten to death. Fort Lauderdale home. Based . 'Yet, despite playing the hard-done-by spurned wife, Narcy herself quickly embarked on a relationship with the married rabbi. The wealthy heir to the Fountainebleau Miami Beach Hotel is brutally murdered and the investigation focuses on the victim's wife, a former stripper. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. 'She let them into their suite and stood by watching as they beat Ben to a pulp. Each time the story was the same: Bernice Novack had fallen and died from head trauma. By Gerry W. Beyer. CBS4 News obtained a video showing just how bad this mother-daughter relationship was in the days after the murder. The search warrant also noted that hotel officials had determined that no keys were used to enter the hotel room between the time Narcy Novack left for breakfast and the time she returned. I moved forward with a story about the botched police case, and later learned that Fort Lauderdale police were finally beginning to realize they had made a huge mistake. Bliss testified for the prosecution at the federal murder trial of Novack's wife, Narcy Novack, who is accused of arranging the separate 2009 killings of her husband and his mother, Bernice. "Narcy always suspected Ben of cheating. There was a disagreement, according to the warrant, and "Narcy told investigators that she retrieved a 'bag' of cash and provided the money to her husband who in turn gave it to the unknown comic book collector who left the house with the cash. I had no idea, that years later, it would probably become the biggest story of my career, or that it would become a book. 2023 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. Glatt discovered Narcy had waged a campaign against the porn star even telling the landlord of the love nest Ben had set her up in that he was dead and would not be paying any more rent. ", Karas acknowledged that Garcia's cooperation was important. On July 12, 2009, three months after Bernice's death, Ben Novack Jr., 53, Bernice's only child, and heir to the hotel fortune, was slain execution-style at the Rye Town Hilton hotel in Rye Brook . [6], Narcy Novack, from Fort Lauderdale,[7] was arrested for the murders of her husband and mother-in-law in July 2010, three days shy of a year after her husband's death. Alejandro Garcia's 210-month prison term was well under federal sentencing guidelines because he had cooperated with prosecutors almost from the moment of his arrest. Bernice was a vibrant, active, independent, and. "I have nothing to do with my husband's death," she said on interrogation recordings. The duo's defense was to blame Narcy's only daughter from a previous marriage, May Abad, for having orchestrated the killings, stating that she was motivated to collect on Ben Novack Jr.'s estate, including a large collection of Batman memorabilia. "The only one else that had access to that room was Narcy," Carpentier said. In her later years, Bernice lived a life of relative obscurity in a soberly upscale community where few neighbors knew about her storybook past. Guests of the hotel can check out the staircase to this day as it has been preserved and refurbished. Narcy Novack was said to be at least somewhat involved in her husband's business affairs, although Abad told the Miami Herald it was she, not her mother, who helped run Convention Concepts Unlimited. Had he known she had been murdered, he may have hired a bodyguard or, at the very least, been more vigilant about his safety. It is also the home of INSEAD, one of the worlds most elite business schools. His head was covered in blood. 'Ben had the second largest Batman memorabilia collection in the world, including an original Batmobile he bought just months before his murder. 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