Narcy Novack charged for Husband Ben Novack, Jr's beating death

[Valasca]

Federal prosecutors have announced that four people have been charged in the murder of a Florida millionaire executive Ben Novack Jr.

Novack, son of Miami Beach's Fontainbleau Hotel founder Ben Novack Sr., was beaten to death in his hotel room July 12th, 2009 while he and his wife were attending a conference at the Rye Town Hilton that had been organized by his company, Convention Concepts Unlimited. According to the police report Novack had been "bound around his face, his hands were taped behind his back and his legs were taped together just below the knees."

His wife, Narcy, said she found him that way when she returned to their room.

According to their report Rye Brook police investigators "determined that no keys were used to gain entrance into the room from the time Narcy Novack left the room for breakfast, and when she returned and discovered her husband lying on the hotel room floor."

Labeled a person of interest in the investigation, she has denied wrongdoing. New York State Police questioned Narcy Novack two days after her husband's homicide as part of a polygraph exam. The report says Novack "showed indications of deception" during the examination.

http://cbs4.com/local/narcissa.ben.n...2.1793655.html

[Whisper]

Feds: Widow of slain millionaire also involved in murder of her mother-in-law
FORT LAUDERDALE — Federal prosecutors dropped a bombshell in court Wednesday, saying they believe the widow of the late Ben Novack Jr., a Fort Lauderdale millionaire, was responsible for the murder of his mother as well.

Narcy Novack, 53, was in federal court Wednesday morning to ask a federal magistrate to grant her bond as she awaits trial on charges related to her late husband's violent death last year.

Narcy Novack, 53, was indicted last week by a New York federal grand jury on interstate domestic violence and stalking charges connected to the July 12, 2009, killing of her husband, who was bludgeoned and slashed in a Rye Brook, N.Y., hotel room. Though the charges fall short of murder, they still carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Narcy Novack's brother along with two other men also face the same charges in what the police chief of Rye Brook, a quiet, tony New York suburb, calls, "an act of violence never before seen" in his town.
[...]
Ben Novack Jr., heir to the Fontainebleu Hotel, was in Rye Brook to coordinate an Amway convention. He operated Convention Concepts Unlimited, an event planning company that took in about $50 million a year.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/cr...=cmg_cntnt_rss

Narcy Novack in happier times

Narcy Novack, 53, was indicted by a New York federal grand jury on interstate domestic violence and stalking charges connected to the July 12, 2009, killing of her husband, who was bludgeoned and slashed in a Rye Brook, N.Y., hotel room.

Novack Jr. was found bludgeoned to death on the floor beside his bed. He had been bound with duct tape over his face, his hands were taped behind his back and his legs were taped together below his knees.

The Novack family, from left, Narcy Novack, Ben Novack Jr., May Abad

[Whisper]

Widow of heir charged in death of husband and mother-in-law

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Narcy Novack was charged in the death of her millionaire husband
Novack has now also been charged with conspiring in the death of his 87-year-old mother
Novack's attorney says the charges are false
Ben Novack Jr. was the heir to the famed Fontainebleau hotel in Miami Beach, Florida

(CNN) -- Narcy Novack, who had been charged in the death of her millionaire husband, has now also been charged with conspiring in the death of his 87-year-old mother.

Novack, 54, and her brother, Cristobal Veliz, 57, are suspected of organizing the murder of Ben Novack Jr.'s mother, Bernice, in April 2009, according to a federal indictment unsealed Tuesday.

Her death was first identified as an accident, but was later characterized as a potential homicide.

Prosecutors allege the pair organized "co-conspirators" to attack the elderly woman in her home, the indictment said.

The charges add to an earlier charge that claims Narcy Novack was involved in the death of her husband, Ben Novack Jr., in July 2009.

Narcy Novack's attorney, Howard Tanner, said he wasn't surprised by the new indictment.

"It doesn't change the fact that Narcy Novack had nothing to do with the death of Ben Novack or the death of Bernice Novack," he said.

Veliz's attorney could not be immediately reached for comment.

[...]

http://www.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/04/06/...ath/index.html

[princessgrandma]

Man, she looks rough in that mug shot. Where I come from we'd say she looks "rode hard and put up wet." Obviously, the cops don't take e glamor shots.

I read about this one on another site. I knew she did it. The woman is pure evil.

[Abroad]

Should have left well enough alone. If she hadn't killed hubby, nobody would ever have suspected murder in the case of the mother in law......

What a soap opera!

[Dakota Valkyrie]

A Florida woman accused of arranging the killings of her husband and mother-in-law will not face the death penalty, a federal prosecutor announced Wednesday.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Elliott Jacobson said in court that he was directed by the Justice Department not to seek the execution of Narcy Novack, 54, of Fort Lauderdale, or her brother, Cristobal Veliz, 57, of Brooklyn.

They are accused of hiring killers who did away with Bernice Novack in her Florida home and Ben Novack in his New York hotel room. [...]

Jacobson did not say why the Justice Department decided against capital punishment. He said he still plans to upgrade the charges next month to include murder in aid of racketeering. When the death penalty is not at issue, that charge carries a mandatory life sentence upon conviction.

Novack's attorney, Howard Tanner, would not comment on how she took the news that the death penalty was off the table. He also would not say whether the maneuver could spur plea negotiations. He said Novack is innocent and he is looking forward to defending her.

Federal death penalty cases — and executions — are uncommon. Invoking the death penalty can delay a trial for months and add millions of dollars to the cost of prosecution.
[...]

The death of Bernice Novack, 87, was originally ruled an accident, despite her broken jaw and blood smeared on the walls of her Fort Lauderdale house. It was reclassified a homicide after Narcy Novack's arrest in the death of her husband.
[...]

Narcy Novack's daughter, May Abad, stands to inherit the Ben Novack estate, which includes one of the world's largest collections of Batman memorabilia, if her mother is convicted.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...ryId=138959842

[Dakota Valkyrie]

Prosecutors have added a charge that would toughen the potential prison sentence for a Florida woman accused of arranging the killings of her husband and mother-in-law.

A revised indictment was released Tuesday against 54-year-old Narcy Novack of Fort Lauderdale and her brother, 57-year-old Cristobal Veliz of Brooklyn.

The indictment adds several new counts, including murder in aid of racketeering. A conviction on that charge would carry a mandatory sentence of life in prison.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/nation...riK_story.html

[Dakota Valkyrie]

Calling prosecutors "rat bastards," Narcy Novack continued her public tongue-lashing against her accusers as jury selection began Tuesday in White Plains, N.Y., for her murder trial.

Novack, 56, charged in the July 2009 killing of her millionaire husband, Ben Novack Jr., also defiantly announced that she intended to wear her orange prison jumpsuit during her federal trial rather than street clothes, telling the judge: "I'm not going to play puppet in little clothes from Kmart.''

Her latest verbal assaults could portend a circus-like trial, which begins in earnest with testimony starting next week. Novack could turn out to be her own worst enemy, having ranted in court several times in the past few weeks.

On Monday, federal prosecutor Elliott B. Jacobson told the judge "there would be hell to pay'' if Novack continues her threats.
[...]

Afterward, Novack called the local newspaper to make her feelings about police, prosecutors and her other accusers even clearer.

"I'm not threatening the government. This is not a threat. It's a promise," according to The Journal News of Westchester. "I'm promising. If it's the last thing I do, I'm going to expose these rat bastards. They're going to end up in jail because what they're doing is illegal.''

Last week, she called the newspaper and went on a strange tirade about prosecutors not being able to show that her husband was even dead.

Novack, of Fort Lauderdale, and her brother, Cristobal Veliz, 58, of New York, are facing first-degree murder and racketeering charges in the killings of Novack, Jr. and his mother, Bernice, 86, heirs to the Fontainebleau hotel fortune.

Ben Novack Jr., 52, was found bludgeoned to death in a hotel room in Rye Brook, N.Y. on July 12, 2009. His mother was killed three months before in her Fort Lauderdale home.
[...]

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/...liz-ben-novack

[Dakota Valkyrie]

Novak & Veliz on trial. Hitman testifies.

As a teenager in Nicaragua, Alejandro Garcia suffered a serious eye injury during an accident involving a machete.

But that didn’t stop him from cutting the eyes of Ben Novack Jr. during a vicious assault that killed the Florida millionaire in his suite at the Hilton Rye Town.

Garcia, in black sunglasses that protect his eyes, on Friday spent his third day on the witness stand at the federal trial of Novack's wife, Narcy, and her brother Cristobal Veliz. The two are accused of masterminding the July 12, 2009, hotel killing and the beating death of Novack’s 87-year-old mother in her Fort Lauderdale home three months earlier. Garcia has admitted carrying out that crime as well.

After a month of plotting the hotel attack, Garcia said, he and his cohort, Joel Gonzalez, entered the Hilton after Veliz got a cellphone call from his sister to proceed with the plan.

He said they were let into the suite by Narcy Novack, who pointed out the bedroom where her husband was. They took off their dress shirts, removed dumbbells and gloves from a backpack, and approached the bed where Ben Novack lay asleep wearing only his underwear.

“I went toward one side, Joel went to the other side. Without making noise. And we started to beat up the man,” Garcia said through a Spanish-language interpreter, motioning how they used the dumbbells to pummel Novack in the chest, ribs and abdomen.

Garcia said Novack awoke screaming, and he hit him in the head to quiet him down before Narcy Novack offered a pillow to muffle his screams. As Garcia held the pillow over Novack's face, Gonzalez kept wailing on Novack with both dumbbells.

“I had to stop him,” Garcia told Assistant U.S. Attorney Elliott Jacobson. “We had beaten him up too much.”

Garcia has insisted that he and Gonzalez weren’t there to kill Novack, that the plan was only to seriously injure and blind him. He said they tied Novack’s hands behind his back and when Gonzalez stepped out of the room, Garcia said he took a utility knife from his pocket and cut Novack’s eyes as Veliz had directed him to do.

Garcia said Novack was still alive and moaning. So he wrapped duct tape around his head, covering his mouth — so tightly, prosecutors have said, that Novack choked on his vomit.

He said Narcy Novack asked repeatedly if her husband’s eyes were cut. Garcia assured her they were. When she asked if he was certain Novack wouldn’t be able to see again, Garcia asked her if she wanted him to cut them further.

“She said, ‘No, it’s fine,’” Garcia testified.

The plan had been to take a piece of jewelry from the room and tie up Narcy Novack as well to make it look like a robbery, Garcia said. But after she gave them her husband’s diamond encrusted gold bracelet, she left the room before they could tie her up.
[...]

Garcia and Gonzalez have pleaded guilty in the case and are cooperating with authorities, although Garcia said Friday that he lied extensively to investigators when they first interviewed him.

http://www.lohud.com/article/2012042...d-beat-up-man-

[cubby]

That's some messed up stuff with the cutting of the eyes!!

has it been mentioned why she just wanted him blinded and not just dead? Would it be just to tortured him daily for the rest of his life since he would then supposedly have only Narcy to rely on?

Isn't Narcy short for Narcissa? Perfect name for her.

[Dakota Valkyrie]

This has to be one WILD crazy trial circus going on...

Narcy Novack melts down during murder trial

Narcy Novack threw a tantrum in court Tuesday and testimony in the murder-for-hire of her husband was temporarily stopped.

The judge removed Novack, 54, from the White Plains federal courtroom after she began screaming and sobbing. He gave jurors a break until Novack, who has a history of erratic behavior, could compose herself.
[...]

http://newyork.newsday.com/crime/nar...rial-1.3706204


Narcy Novack says millionaire husband may be alive

Is Ben Novack Jr. dead?

Maybe not, according to an utterly fantastic claim by his widow, who is on trial for hiring hit men to kill her millionaire husband at the Rye Town Hilton in 2009.

"It's so obvious someone is paying them," Narcy Novack told News 12. "If they came to me and said, 'Give me money,' I would have given the money. My husband would be alive ... if he's even dead.

"At this point, I don't know what to believe. I don't know if these guys are the killers, if there's even a killer."

Narcy Novack, 55, unspooled the conspiracy theory Monday night in an interview with News 12, a day before a federal judge ousted her from a courtroom in White Plains after she broke down screaming and sobbing.

Narcy Novack floated her incredible theory despite police and coroner reports confirming that her husband's body was found bound, gagged and resting in a pool of his own blood, and despite the testimony of confessed hit man Alejandro Garcia, 34, who said he bludgeoned Ben Novack Jr., 53, to death and cut out his eyes at Narcy Novack's direction.

The murder suspect sat down for her second exclusive interview with News 12 -- the first since the trial began -- ignoring advice from her attorney not to talk to the media while the trial continues. The reason? Narcy Novack wants to tell her side of the story -- again.
[...]

Slamming the trial as "unfair," Narcy Novack said she had to restrain herself when Garcia and another alleged hit man, Melvin Mercando, testified last week.

"I was sobbing and poking holes at my skin," she said, "bracing myself so I wouldn't go up there and grab the guy (Garcia) and say, 'Why? Why? Why?' "

Garcia told the jury that Narcy Novack gave him access to the Hilton Hotel room she was sharing with her husband and handed the hit man a pillow to muffle her husband's screams.

"I have never met that guy (Garcia)," she told News 12. "I have never seen that guy. I can swear to you on a stack of 17 Bibles."

Narcy Novack told News 12 that she had no reason to kill her husband, despite testimony from former porn star Rebecca Bliss in which Bliss claimed she and Ben Novack were in love.

"Whatever she says," Narcy Novack said, "doesn't prove anything, because I know him longer than she did."

http://newyork.newsday.com/westchest...live-1.3706982


Narcy Novack trial: Slay suspects object - to jail's food

The complaints by Narcy Novack, wife of slain Florida millionaire Ben Novack Jr., have escalated as her trial has progressed - and Wednesday, her brother and co-defendant, Cristobal Veliz, got into the act.

Since her arrest nearly two years ago, Novack has vented about not getting enough library time at the Westchester County jail and computers that don't let her access evidence disks. More recently she has complained about 4:30 a.m. wake-up on court days.

Wednesday afternoon, her lawyer Howard Tanner, informed U.S. District Judge Kenneth Karas that Novack, who gets kosher meals from the jail, had not eaten breakfast or lunch. Her first meal she could not eat because of sanitary conditions in the holding area at the jail and the U.S. marshals confiscated her breakfast when she tried to bring it with her to the courthouse, Tanner said. And the microwavable TV dinner sent for lunch was frozen when served to her.

Veliz's lawyer, Lawrence Sheehan, then expressed his client's "outrage", pointing out that Veliz is Muslim and was offended that he was sent a baloney sandwich for lunch.

"When did you become a Muslim?" Karas asked the defendant.

"Can I be Jewish? I want to be Jewish," Veliz responded.

The judge told him that if had "sincerely held religious beliefs" his corresponding dietary needs would be honored.

"If you (just) don't like baloney sandwiches A) you're not alone and B) that's not going to change anything," he told Veliz.

He asked again how long Veliz had been a Muslim.

Veliz said he was first a Catholic, later practiced Buddhism and became a Muslim three years ago. He then broke off the exchange, telling the judge "Don't worry about my lunch."

Karas told him he had pressed because there was testimony at the trial about Veliz hanging out at places like Arby's and Subway during 2009. The implication was clear: those are fast-food joints not known for serving Halal meat.

Before the jury returned, Novack explained that there was no running water in the holding area where breakfast was served so she couldn't wash her hands before eating.
[...]

http://www.lohud.com/article/2012051...ct-jail-s-food

[Ninja0980]

I don't think she is nuts. I think she's someone who was used to having her way her whole life and can't accept the fact she is no longer in control.
She'll have a blast in prison,that's for sure.

[sugarfree irony]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/nation...C5U_story.html

A man accused of helping his sister arrange the killing of her hotel heir husband tried in testimony Thursday to switch the blame to her daughter.

Defendant Cristobal Veliz testified that he heard the daughter, May Abad, threaten to cut off her father’s testicles several days before he was beaten to death. He also said he saw her twice with men who have confessed to carrying out the killing.




Abad hasn’t been charged. A call to her lawyer wasn’t immediately returned.

[Jerri Blank]

Narcy Novack found guilty of orchestrating killing of her hotel heir husband and his mother

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — A Florida woman and her brother were found guilty Wednesday of orchestrating the killings of the woman's millionaire husband and his mother in a grab for the family estate.

A federal jury convicted Narcy Novack of Fort Lauderdale on counts alleging she caused the savage 2009 beatings of Ben Novack Jr. in a suburban New York hotel room and Bernice Novack at her Fort Lauderdale home.

Novack and her brother, Cristobal Veliz, of New York City, both were convicted of charges including racketeering, domestic violence, stalking, money laundering and witness tampering.

Both were acquitted of the charge of murder in aid of racketeering, which would have carried a mandatory life sentence. They still face sentences of up to life in prison. Sentencing is set for Nov. 1.

Novack chose not to attend the reading of the verdict. Veliz was present and showed no emotion.
[...]

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/...icle-1.1099333

[CbabyRKO]

A Florida woman who was convicted of arranging the "sadistic" killings of her millionaire husband and his mother should spend the rest of her life in prison, federal prosecutors said Monday.

They also seek a life sentence for her brother, who was found guilty with her in the 2009 beating deaths.

"They are evil; they are dangerous; they are remorseless; and they are relentless," Assistant U.S. Attorney Elliott Jacobson wrote in a sentencing memo to Judge Kenneth Karas.

Narcy Novack and Cristobal Veliz are to be sentenced Dec. 17. They were convicted in June of orchestrating the 2009 killings of Novack's husband, Ben Novack Jr., and his 86-year-old mother, Bernice Novack.

Ben Novack was the son of the man who built the Fontainebleau hotel in Miami Beach, a celebrity hangout in the 1950s and `60s that appeared in the movies "Scarface" and "Goldfinger."

The government said Novack suspected her husband would leave her and wanted to ensure she would inherit the family estate. The sentencing memo says her motives were "hatred, greed and vengeance."

The fatal beatings, carried out by hit men, were especially brutal, with specific directions from Novack and Veliz, according to testimony.

Bernice Novack was repeatedly bludgeoned in the teeth and head with a plumber's wrench at her Fort Lauderdale home. Two months later, Ben Novack was pummeled with barbells and had his eyes sliced with a utility knife in his hotel room in Rye Brook, N.Y.

The killings "involved particularly cruel, sadistic and gratuitous savagery seldom seen in the annals of crime," Jacobson wrote. He said Novack and Veliz "engaged in the very worst criminal conduct imaginable."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/1...n_2234044.html

[Dakota Valkyrie]

he Fort Lauderdale woman convicted of orchestrating the murders of her millionaire husband and his mother was sentenced to life behind bars Monday.

Narcy Novack was sentenced Monday in a federal court in White Plains, N.Y., in the deaths of Ben Novack Jr. and Bernice Novack.

The 56-year-old wasn't in the courtroom to hear the sentence after she waived her right to appear.

"Because of Ms. Novack's greed and her selfishness and what she thought was her ability to manipulate other people, there are two innocent people — her husband and her mother-in-law — who are dead," said Judge Kenneth Karas.

"At the end of the day she's a coward," added Karas, referring to her absence in court.

Her brother, Cristobal Veliz, was also sentenced to life in prison. Both were convicted of murder, domestic violence, stalking, money laundering and witness tampering.

http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/Narcy-N...183773201.html

[Whisper]

48 hours is the update ..beginning to end tonight

really cool b.c lots of stuff that never made the papers etc,etc
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50139769n

[darich]

Thank you Whisper, I just finished watching the video & I have to say they all got what they deserved. What I want to know is what happened to May, she seemed like the only decent one in the bunch. I want her to get the money. lol

[Whisper]

Thank you Whisper, I just finished watching the video & I have to say they all got what they deserved. What I want to know is what happened to May, she seemed like the only decent one in the bunch. I want her to get the money. lol

yw..I was wondering too and thought at the end where each week they have little blurbs/updates they may mention her but they didnt
I believe she was the next one on the list

[Dakota Valkyrie]

Thank you Whisper, I just finished watching the video & I have to say they all got what they deserved. What I want to know is what happened to May, she seemed like the only decent one in the bunch. I want her to get the money. lol

From Jan 14 2013:

Ben Novack's will disputed; Stepdaughter, sons may inherit millions

The stepdaughter of a Florida millionaire who was brutally killed at the Hilton Rye Town — and her two children — are poised to inherit his multimillion dollar estate, including a fleet of classic cars, a luxury yacht, two homes and numerous bank accounts.

May Abad, whose mother, Narcy Novack, was convicted of orchestrating the 2009 slaying of Ben Novack Jr. at the Rye Brook hotel, is the frontrunner in a probate battle that would see her collect $150,000 and have the rest of the Novack fortune go to her two adult sons.

Douglas Hoffman, the administrator of the estate, said Abad and her children could land the bulk of the estimated $4.2 million fortune this month because Narcy Novack, the primary heir in her husband’s will, is likely to be disqualified as a beneficiary under Florida’s “slayer statute,” which prohibits someone who caused the death of an individual from benefiting from the death.

“If things fall out through the Florida probate law and the slayer statute is invoked, then assets will flow into Mr. Novack’s will,” Hoffman said. “It’s $150,000 to May, and everything else goes into these two trusts.”

Ben Novack’s relatives are still staking their own claims — his adopted half-brother, Ronnie, has filed a lawsuit seeking to invalidate the existing will. While earlier claims by the family have failed, he and other relatives continue to push to disqualify Abad, 37, and her sons as beneficiaries.
[...]

According to an order of forfeiture signed in federal court in White Plains last month by U.S. District Judge Kenneth Karas, Ben Novack’s estate includes:

• Two adjoining properties on Delmar Place in Fort Lauderdale and Bernice Novack’s home at 2757 NE 37th Drive in Fort Lauderdale.

• Nine cars, including a 1957 Ford Thunderbird, a 1962 Ford coupe, a 1970 Jaguar XK E Series II, a 1988 Jaguar XJ SC V12 and a 2004 Cadillac Escalade, plus a Honda scooter.

• A tenth car, a 1977 Lincoln that was remodeled into a Batmobile, the largest item in a valuable collection of Batman memorabilia.

• A yacht named White Lightning and a 35-foot, two-level barge.

• Merrill Lynch accounts and payouts from life insurance policies for Ben Novack Jr. and Bernice Novack.

• Comerica Bank and UBS Bank accounts in Ben Novack’s and Bernice Novack’s names, and a Bank of America account in the name of Ben Novack’s company.

• Cash totaling $95,500 stolen from Ben Novack’s suite at the Hilton Rye Town the day after he was killed.
[...]

Under the terms of Novack’s will, Abad would get her $150,000 in a lump sum.

The trust funds for Abad’s sons, who are both over 18, would be managed by Bank of America. Hoffman said he and a trustee from the bank would decide how the money is paid out and the assets are dispersed — the two could be given the actual cars, boats and homes, or receive the proceeds from their sale.

Hoffman said earlier attempts by Ben Novack’s relatives to land the estate by nullifying the existing will failed, and that the expected scenario is that Abad and her children will win out.

Mark Hanson and Jerry Wells, lawyers representing the relatives, said it won’t be without a fight. Wells said he is awaiting a hearing in Broward County Probate Court on the lawsuit filed on Ronnie Novack’s behalf. That lawsuit was initially dismissed but has been refiled.

Hanson described a two-prong legal strategy. First is to have the final will tossed, under the theory that Narcy Novack coerced her husband to include her and her daughter and grandsons.

The “undue influence” included threatening to publicly reveal her husband’s sexual proclivities, including a fetish for amputee porn, if he did not change his will, Hanson said.

If that fails, they would also try to disqualify Abad under the slayer statute using Veliz’s trial testimony that she was the one who orchestrated the killings.

Jurors rejected that outright, as the killers themselves testified they never met her and federal prosecutors insisted there was no evidence — save from Veliz’s self-serving claims — that she had any involvement.

Hanson called that “Plan B” and acknowledged it’s a long shot.

“If this nugget has been thrown out there and we can use it, we’re going to try,” Hanson said.

http://www.lohud.com/article/2013011...herit-millions