Brunette Narcy Novaks relationship with the influential married rabbi is revealed for the first time by best-selling author John Glatt who has investigated the the brutal killing of Ben Novak Jr a close friend of Frank Sinatra -- and his 86-year-old mother Bernice. 'In the months leading up to his death Ben had fallen for heavily-tattooed ex hooker Rebecca Bliss, who was known by her porn star name Mona Love. Guests of the hotel can check out the staircase to this day as it has been preserved and refurbished. Bernice Novack, cropped from a handout photo. Bernice and Ben Novack Sr. owned the famous Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami. Prosecutors alleged that Narcy was afraid that Ben would leave her for Bliss, who testified at Narcy's trial; their prenuptial agreement would only leave her $65,000 in a divorce. Faced with the letter, Fort Lauderdale police scoffed, saying it wasn't credible because they didn't know who wrote it. It is also the home of INSEAD, one of the worlds most elite business schools. The . That's right -- a crowbar. At the conclusion of the trial, Narcy and Veliz were each convicted of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, domestic violence, stalking, money laundering, and witness tampering. The report also included police officers' doubts about the Novacks' credibility. Where was the pool scene in Scarface filmed? At the time, I didn't know that they were also stonewalling investigators in Rye Brook, N.Y., probing Ben's murder. She claimed his fetish was becoming dangerous she had gone under anesthesia to fix a broken nose and woke up with enormous breast implants. TimesMojo is a social question-and-answer website where you can get all the answers to your questions. She told the Herald that the fight on July 14 involved her and a niece getting into a slap fight and Narcy Novack hitting her with a crowbar. Detectives soon found out Novack was involved in aheated affair with former sex worker and porn actress Rebecca Bliss. An FBI agent testified that in December of 2008, Narcy Novack tried to implicate Bliss in an alleged sham-marriage plot by which foreigners would gain legal status in the U.S. During the past four years covering this story, I have come across events and records that even escaped police. Her large walk-in closet was lined with hundreds of ball gowns and dresses, each covered in plastic and labeled with the date and event that she wore it: President Kennedy's inauguration. 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.". Ben Novack Jr., president and C.E.O. The police investigation into the murder causes a rift between his wife and step-daughter. The first thing I found was a clipping. Narcy arrived at the family's Fort Lauderdale home around 4 pm. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. He also bought her a toy poodle, she said, and a new cellphone account so she could drop the escort number. READ: How a reporter uncovered the murder of Miami matriarch Bernice Novack. 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. At one point, they called my editor to berate me for harassing them with too many questions. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. Updated January 20, 2012 7:04 AM. Sgt. Lifetime's latest movie Beautiful & Twisted tells the ripped from the headlines story of Narcy Novack, a murderous housewife from Florida who married and killed hotel heir and Batman-phile, Ben . '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 was born poor in Ecuador but moved to America to make her fortune. Rebecca Bliss, formerly known as Mona Love, was all over the Internet. And we are likely to have a verdict by the end of the week. Wicked Games On July 12, 2009, Florida millionaire Ben Novack, Jr., was found bludgeoned to death at the Hilton Rye Town. I was the first reporter to uncover the story of Novack Sr.'s long-forgotten adopted son, Ronnie Novack, who was homeless, having lived on the street most of his life. Julie K. Brown - The Miami Herald. The guard then goes to the main house and alerts Narcy that May is on the property. A prenuptial agreement limited Narcy Novack to getting $65,000 from Ben if they divorced, the prosecution said. Who had bound, gagged and bludgeoned to death, Ben Novak Jr., the scene. 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. On: July 7, 2022. His mutilated body was discovered in a hotel room in Rye Brook in the early morning hours of July 12, 2009. Get an all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! [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. In 2009, Narcy Novack, the estranged wife of Ben Novack Jr., the owner of Miami's famed Fountainbleau hotel, was found guilty of orchestrating the murder of her husband and his elderly mother . With Bliss waiting in the wings, the question was whether Ben Novack was about to leave his wife. Narcy Novack, left, and Ben Novack Jr. in an undated photo. Related ArticlesFrom 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 fraudMother '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. By Gerry W. Beyer. [1], 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. 2 men found drugged after leaving NYC gay bars were killed, medical examiner says. Rebecca Bliss, 40, her arms and legs heavily tattooed, said she met Ben Novack Jr., whose father built the Fontainebleau hotel in Miami Beach, through an online ad for sex. Ben Novack was found dead and handcuffed in the Rye Town Hilton Home | About | Contact | Copyright | Report Content | Privacy | Cookie Policy | Terms & Conditions | Sitemap. Yet she converted to Judaism when it suited her purposes.'. (Courtesy of United Please enter valid email address to continue. Fort Lauderdale home. Virginia Caudill is housed on death row at the Kentucky Correctional Institute for Women in Pewee Valley. Bliss, of Grand Rapids, Michelin, said she went to Miami in 2002 or 2003 looking for work as a tattoo artist. 15:03 GMT 25 Apr 2012. As police began their investigation, they soon learned their victim came from a fascinating background -- his parents once owned the famous Fontainebleau Hotel, once the hottest spot on Miami Beach in the swinging 1960s. (Courtesy of United 'Bens murder was even more gruesome. Suite, where Ben It was a horrible murder, as Bernice did not go quietly. I was also the first to question the death of Bernice, who was found dead in her Fort Lauderdale home in April 2009. 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. its day. Fort Lauderdale police were forced to reopen the investigation into the family matriarch's death. Now May Abad, Narcys daughter, stands to inherit $150,000, and the rest of the fortune stands to go to her two sons. To keep creating Back in Florida, she said, she turned to prostitution. I was also told she had funneled large amounts of cash from the estate and valuable Batman comics through him. He had his own suite at the hotel. In her later years, Bernice lived a life of relative obscurity in a soberly upscale community where few neighbors knew about her storybook past. When detectives questioned her, Narcy denies hitting May with a crowbar. Ben Novack, Jr. was born into a hotel empire, Miami's lavish Fontainbleau. Terence Wilson, a detective with Rye Brook, New York, police. Set on a vast wall was a large oil painting of her son, Ben Novack Jr., painted when he was about 20 years old. Ben Novack Jr. found his mother sprawled in her utility room, face down on the floor, wearing a nightgown drenched in blood. You can see Roberts' exclusive interview with Ben Novack's mistress, who police believe was part of the motive for murder, on Saturday night on "48 Hours" at 10 p.m. on CBS 2. 50,000 first printing. 2013 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. There are blockbusters like Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War for sure, but we're also recommending excellent indie films like First Reformed and brilliant docs like Won't You Be My Neighbor?. Bernice (Stempel) Novack, 87, formerly of Miami Beach FL, passed away in her Ft. Lauderdale home on April 4, 2009. 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. 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 . Bernice was discovered bludgeoned to death inside her Fort Lauderdale mansion in 2009. As an adult he built his own lucrative company, Convention . While the search warrant doesn't go that far, it noted that Narcy Novack was given a polygraph test by New York State Police the day after her husband's murder and the results "showed indications of deception when questioned pertaining to her knowledge of this homicide.". 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. iTunes has an . 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. Alexandro Guitierez-Garcia, 33, a Nicaraguan national who lived of Fort Lauderdale-based Convention Concepts Unlimited, was found dead in his hotel room in Rye Brook, New York, on Sunday morning. It worked. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Narcy waived her right to appear in court when the guilty verdict was read. More than five years after Bens death, the fight for his fortune still continues. Thank you very much in advance. 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. 'At first police believed Bernices death was an accidental fall but after Bens murder three months later they dug deeper and discovered her head had been smashed in with a monkey wrench. Ben Novack Jr.'s estate, valued at $4.2 million, is expected to go to Novack's daughter, May Abad, and Abad's two sons. After learning Novack was planning to divorce his wife and that she would have beenbarred from the Novack family's multimillion-dollar estate due to a prenuptial agreement police began investigating her possible involvement in the murder. This photograph will be [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]. Narcy Novack, his wife, was convicted of orchestrating the slaying in addition to killing his mother. The Welcome Home Elvis Show. 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. The report, according to the AP, also included other bizarre details about the Novacks, including Ben Novack's supposed collection of pornography featuring amputees. in murder of Ben Novack. Novack.". Ben Novack Jr.'s first wife was a beautiful Las Vegas showgirl in her late twenties named Jill Campion. According to Rye Brook police chief Gregory Austin, Novack's wife found him . * The Prince of Paradise by John Glatt is published by St. Martins Press on Tuesday April 16. to order a copy,click here. I loved my husband. But Karas said it was also important "to acknowledge Mr. Garcia's heinous criminal conduct. In 2009, Bernice Novack and her son, Fontainebleau Miami Beach hotel heir Ben Novack Jr., were murdered three months apart. Advertisement. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. The blood-stained bed in Ben Novack's room at the Rye Town Hilton, New York. I said, yes, I did. in Miami, accused [5] At the time of his death, he was having an affair with porn actress Rebecca Bliss. Paradise Lost: Crime in Miami is a conversation between friends, both South Florida natives, about the notorious true crime cases that have occurred in their home state. Mugshot of Crostobal Veliz, brother of Narcy Novack, implicated shares 'He denied it and acted like he was very offended -- but ultimately led us to some of the memorabilia,' the officer said. 02:26 GMT 25 Apr 2012 "I want her to . In Oxygen's " Dying to Belong ," investigators and reporters recounted the brutal murder of 53-year-old Fontainebleau Miami Beach hotel heir Ben Novack Jr., who was found blugeonded to death in a New York hotel room. Bliss said in July 2009, her bills were no longer being paid because Ben Novack had been killed in New York. Photos taken by police show a large bruise where May claims she was hit with the crowbar. MIAMI (CBS4) - From the start, the Narcy Novack murder trial has been a family affair. Prosecutors displayed hotel and spa bills of over $3,900, paid by Ben Novack. 'Ben had the second largest Batman memorabilia collection in the world, including an original Batmobile he bought just months before his murder. They had been sent an anonymous letter claiming that Bernice had indeed been murdered. After 30 Years the Fontainebleau Wont Be a Hilton; New Owner Turnberry Associates Plans on Running the 1,400-room Resort Itself / February 2005. The real story of how Narcy and Ben Novack, Jr. fought over his hotel inheritance and ultimately were both denied would be enough for a Lifetime movie even if it had never turned violent and deadly. NY Daily News: Confessed killers of hotel heir and his mother expected to testify that the millionaire victims wife paid them to commit the double murder. 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. Why Do Cross Country Runners Have Skinny Legs? Novack stared straight ahead, not at Bliss, through most of the testimony. June. "It was a horrific scene," a detective told "Dying to Belong" about Ben Novack's murder. 'Yet, despite playing the hard-done-by spurned wife, Narcy herself quickly embarked on a relationship with the married rabbi. 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. They both slept with loaded guns under their pillows. EMMY NOMINATIONS 2022: Outstanding Limited Or Anthology Series, EMMY NOMINATIONS 2022: Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series, EMMY NOMINATIONS 2022: Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Comedy Series, EMMY NOMINATIONS 2022: Outstanding Lead Actress In A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie, EMMY NOMINATIONS 2022: Outstanding Lead Actor In A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie. [9] Novack is currently incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution Tallahassee in Tallahassee, Florida. ', Miss Bliss, one of the key prosecution witnesses, testified that Narcy tried to buy her off for $10,000 saying: 'If I cant have him, no other woman is going to have him.'. Her husband Ben Novack Sr., who built the hotel and owned it until 1977, had died in 1985. He was a playboy always juggling girlfriends until Narcy came along. 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. 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. A year later, she and her brother were also indicted for Bernice's murder. 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. Abad, she said, has requested to have the body released into her custody, but because Narcy Novack is next of kin, the county morgue will wait for her instructions before releasing the body to anyone. / CBS News. He had been hog-tied, blinded in both eyes and beaten with gym dumbells. An argument ensued and according to the police report, May claimed Narcy attacked her, swinging the crowbar at May's head -- but May said she blocked it with her right arm.
Narcy claimed . Lauderdale. Mary Jane Fine. He appeared to be hit over the head with some sort of an object. to batter eighty-six-year-old Bernice to An ex-stripper who arranged the murder of her playboy husband and his hotel heiress mother siphoned off a vast chunk of his $10 million estate through a rabbi she was allegedly having an affair with, according to a new book. The author isn't content simply recounting the tempestuous relationship between Ben Novack Jr. and his wife, Narcy, and how it ultimately led to his death. Create your free profile and get access to exclusive content. 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. 'Then she calmly went downstairs for breakfast before returning to the room and raising the alarm. She also did not appear in court when she was sentenced to life in prison without parole. According to the police report, Narcy had hired a security guard to keep May from getting in the guest house. His body had been pummeled with dumbbells, his eyes slit with a knife. Yet no one was ever charged in the incident. had never witnessed a crime scene as gruesome, emphatically denied involvement in the murder. MIAMI (CBS4) - From the start, the Narcy Novack murder trial has been a family affair.