Son of Fontainbleu Hotel Owner Murdered In Suburban NY Hotel

[lillyanna]

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/sfl-ben-novack-killed-bn071309,0,4725657.story

"Ben Novack Jr, who grew up in a penthouse suite at the famed Fontainbleu Hotel in Miami Beach, has been murdered in a suburban New York hotel, police said today."

Also from the article:

"His body was discovered by his wife when she returned from breakfast Sunday, Rye Brook Police Chief Gregory Austin told the Journal News."

[kelloggirl]

Does ruling out the wife as a suspect mean they ruled her out of having done the killing physically herself, or of having been involved at all, through the hiring of someone else to do it? If she has been completely ruled out then could it be related to a business rival, perhaps? Very puzzling indeed.

[Kip]

"Ben Novack Once Said Wife Tried to Have Him Killed"

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/broward/story/1145350.html

"Seven years ago, the slain millionaire, Ben Novack, once known as the "Prince of the Fountainbleu" accused his wife of plundering away his inheritance and trying to have him killed, according to court documents obtained by The Miami Herald."

Yikes! And he stayed married to her!

I wonder if LE can tell if Novack opened the door to someone or if he was attacked in bed.

[kelloggirl]

"Ben Novack Once Said Wife Tried to Have Him Killed"

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/broward/story/1145350.html

"Seven years ago, the slain millionaire, Ben Novack, once known as the "Prince of the Fountainbleu" accused his wife of plundering away his inheritance and trying to have him killed, according to court documents obtained by The Miami Herald."

Er, yeah, she sounds like a good suspect for hiring someone to do it. Police are doing the "not a suspect but..." song and dance. They can never imply anything until they have solid evidence to charge.

[Kip]

Novack's mother died under suspicious circumstances in April. I wonder if the wife had her MIL killed - son inherits - then has her husband killed.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/miami-dade/story/1146837.html

[Short_kid]

I'm from the county where this all happened and Rye Brook is a nice, upscale town. It is about 30-40 minutes from Manhattan and it's mostly occupied by professional people. Nothing major really goes on there so robbery was not my first thought when I heard it happened in Rye Brook. According to the local news and news stories the cameras were working, but there was nothing of value on them apparently.

My personal opinion is the wife was involved, but didn't do it herself. She could have very easily left the door ajar, if he was sleeping, when she left for breakfast to let the attacker in, or it was someone he knew and just opened the door for them.

[Kip]

I'm from the county where this all happened and Rye Brook is a nice, upscale town. It is about 30-40 minutes from Manhattan and it's mostly occupied by professional people. Nothing major really goes on there so robbery was not my first thought when I heard it happened in Rye Brook. According to the local news and news stories the cameras were working, but there was nothing of value on them apparently.

My personal opinion is the wife was involved, but didn't do it herself. She could have very easily left the door ajar, if he was sleeping, when she left for breakfast to let the attacker in, or it was someone he knew and just opened the door for them.

If the cameras were working, wouldn't they show people in the corridors? :confused:

I'm leaning toward the wife being involved too. I wouldn't think that 7-7:30 am would be a prime time for thieves to be operating. There are still a lot of people in their rooms at that hour.

On the other hand, if it was a hit, hit men don't usually bludgeon their victims to death - though some do when instructed to make it look like a burglarly. That happened in a local case here. If Novack was in bed when it happened, then either the wife left the door open for him or he had a key to get in. If Novack was up, it will be harder to tell what happened - he could have opened the door, he could have already been up, or he could have heard the intruder and gotten up.

[Short_kid]

If the cameras were working, wouldn't they show people in the corridors? :confused:

I'm leaning toward the wife being involved too. I wouldn't think that 7-7:30 am would be a prime time for thieves to be operating. There are still a lot of people in their rooms at that hour.

On the other hand, if it was a hit, hit men don't usually bludgeon their victims to death - though some do when instructed to make it look like a burglarly. That happened in a local case here. If Novack was in bed when it happened, then either the wife left the door open for him or he had a key to get in. If Novack was up, it will be harder to tell what happened - he could have opened the door, he could have already been up, or he could have heard the intruder and gotten up.

I'm not sure about the cameras, all I know is that according to the local news the cameras yielded nothing of value, but they did view the footage from the floor corridor. I found that odd too.

From what they are saying the only key used that morning to access the room was the wife's key, so the door was either ajar or he opened it or something else entirely, but the fact that the corridor footage showed nothing is very odd.

[Kip]

"Details of Ben Novack's Home Invasion Involve Sex Games"

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/southflorida/story/1150247.html

"After his wife threatened to expose his sexual secrets, Ben Novack Jr, murdered in a New York hotel room nine days ago, decided not to prosecute her for an alleged home invasion."

omg. This just gets weirder and weirder. :ohmy:

No kidding. "surprise breast implants"! I never thought I'd see those three words strung together!

[kelloggirl]

"Details of Ben Novack's Home Invasion Involve Sex Games"

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/southflorida/story/1150247.html

"After his wife threatened to expose his sexual secrets, Ben Novack Jr, murdered in a New York hotel room nine days ago, decided not to prosecute her for an alleged home invasion."

omg. This just gets weirder and weirder. :ohmy:

OMG, indeed. From the article:

"Narcy Novack accused her husband of physical abuse and also claimed that one time he broke her nose then took her to a plastic surgeon. When she woke up, she told police, not only was her nose repaired but, to her surprise, she had received breast implants.

Finally, in an interview with an investigator, Narcy Novack displayed a large number of sexually explicit photographs and threatened to ``expose [Novack's] sexual habits as well as other intimate secrets,'' the report said. There were also photos of naked women with artificial limbs.

After a detective told Novack about his wife's threats, he immediately agreed not to prosecute.

Narcy promised to return the money and items she had taken.

But the pair continued to argue about money and possessions. For days afterward, Novack called police dozens of times, telling them one moment his wife was going to kill him and that he wanted her arrested -- then the next day telling them they were reconciling and everything was fine.

His mother, Bernice Novack, at one point accused Narcy of poisoning her -- a claim that was not substantiated in the report.

An acquaintance of the couple not identified in the police report admitted she saw what happened the night of the home invasion, including Ben Novack bound and gagged. But she refused to cooperate with police.

``She stated that she is moving out of the area as fast as possible,'' the report noted."

This is really bizarre and twisted, but I think she killed him for money. She's probably good for the killing of the mother-in-law too. IMO.

[trigger]

OMG...Bizarre,,,and more bizarre He had photos of females with artificial limbs...WTH,,,What a sicko. I would of ran far far away from him but she stayed, not saying much for her either...

[forensicpsy~]

"The mother and daughter fighting over the estate of Ben Novack Jr did not interact at his funeral as he was laid to rest in the same Queens mausoleum as his renowned father."

"Family of Rye Town Hilton Slaying Victim Still at Odds, Even at Funeral"

http://www.lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009909030346

[Kip]

What a family! I guess LE hasn't made any progress in the case.

[forensicpsy~]

What a family! I guess LE hasn't made any progress in the case.

Apparently LE is keeping mum. Narcy Novack remains a person of interest. And it gets weirder:

"Batman Memorabilia Goes Missing as Ben Novack Mystery Grows"

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/5min/story/1258660.html

From the article:

"Much of the Batman memorabilia owned by Ben Novack is missing from several warehouses in Broward County, the Miami Herald has learned. Sources close to the case say the locks on the warehouses were cut"

Also from the article:

On the day the will was made public, Narcy Novack, 53, and her daughter May Abad 33, engaged in a slugfest outside Novack's home in the affluent section of Las Olas in Ft. Lauderdale."

What a crew!

Full article at link.