The Prince of Paradise

by John Glatt

  FORTY-TWO

  THE LETTER

  Soon after Ben Novack Jr.’s murder, Meredith Fiel phoned Narcy to offer her condolences on her cousin’s death.

  “So I started talking to Narcy,” Meredith recalled. “I said, ‘Well, what happened?’ and then, oh my God, she befriended me.” Narcy complained of police harassment, accusing the press of ruining her and Ben Jr.’s good names. “She talked to me for hours about how they’re accusing her,” Meredith said, “and they’re besmirching her name.”

  Then Narcy invited Meredith to Florida, offering to give her some of her late aunt Bernice’s things to remember her by.

  When Meredith said she was scared of flying, Narcy said her brother Carlos could drive her down to Fort Lauderdale, as he was coming to take care of her. “She was talking about him being her bodyguard,” Meredith said. “And that she was afraid.”

  Over the next year, the two women talked on the phone regularly, as Meredith tried to gather enough evidence against Narcy to reopen the investigation into her aunt’s death.

  “I was suspicious of Narcy,” Meredith said, “The police never even [interviewed] me about her. So I was trying to get information from her all on my own.”

  Several times, Meredith asked Narcy about the morning of her cousin’s murder. Narcy told her a different version of events from the one she’d told investigators—and Meredith found her very persuasive.

  Narcy said that Ben was still up working that Sunday morning when she finally went to bed at around 5:00. Two hours later she got up and went down for breakfast. The hotel manager told her they had run out of silverware because of the bigger-than-expected turnout, and they would have to use plastic knives and forks. Narcy said she knew how Ben despised plastic cutlery.

  “Her story was that she called him to say they had to go to plastic,” Fiel said, “and when he didn’t pick up the phone, she got a little angry. She thought that he must have gone to bed and went up to tell him about the plastic and found him [dead]. So when she told me that story, I believed it.”

  Narcy also reached out to Bernice’s best friend, Estelle Fernandez, telling her a similar story with slight variations.

  “Narcy called me,” Fernandez said, “and kept me on the phone for two hours, feeling me out. I knew what she was doing, but I wouldn’t let on.”

  Narcy said she and Ben were asleep in bed when he had woken her up, telling her to go and do the convention breakfast. “So she went downstairs,” Fernandez said, “and there was a problem with the silverware, because they’d overbooked. So she called him and he said, ‘Okay, I’ll be down in a little bit.’

  “When he didn’t come down, she called again, and he didn’t answer. So she left May in charge and went back upstairs, and that’s when she found him. That’s what she told me.”

  At the end of the conversation, Estelle asked Narcy what she planned to do, as Narcy was now rich and no longer had to work. Narcy replied that she had no intention of winding up the business, and was already booking new conventions.

  * * *

  On Tuesday, July 21, the Miami Springs Police Department received an anonymous letter containing details only the police knew about Ben Novack Jr.’s murder and his mother’s death. Dated July 21, the five-page letter, handwritten in Spanish, accused Narcy and her brother Cristobal of masterminding a murderous plot to gain control of the Novack family fortune. It also warned that Narcy’s daughter, May Abad, would be the next victim.

  “I am a person who had heard rumors,” it began, “but true without a doubt. I write out of respect for God and the precious life of human beings. [These murders] were undoubtedly committed by the wife of Mr. Novack and her brother.

  “Together they killed … his mother Mrs. Bernice Novack in the most ruthless way [with] an overdose of medication to make her mad or extremely nervous. That night they went to her house. The daughter-in-law had keys to the house and had taken the cellular phone. They beat her up so bad that she could not call her son Ben. The killers assassinated the defenseless [old woman] that they had pursued for months. For weeks they had scared her through the windows and doors.”

  The letter writer knew that Bernice Novack had fallen a week before her death, and had been treated in hospital.

  “That’s what made the murderers’ crime so perfect,” the anonymous correspondent wrote, adding that the killer had laughed at Fort Lauderdale Police for failing to realize Bernice Novack had been murdered.

  The letter warned that Narcy and her brother would stop at nothing to get their hands on the Novack millions.

  “This woman is related to other crimes,” the letter stated. “She is also highly dangerous, ruthless and ambitious for Mr. Ben Novack’s money. This woman should not be at liberty at home. Her daughter is innocent and could be the next victim. Protect her.”

  After receiving the letter, the Miami Springs Police sent it to Rye Brook Police, who took it very seriously. They processed it for DNA and fingerprints, but were unable to identify the writer.

  “We believe that it’s probably [written by] a religious person,” Detective Sergeant Terence Wilson said. “Maybe an older person, possibly a Spanish female who is very close to the family and knows a lot of the players in the family.”

  Almost three years later it would be revealed that the letter was written by Narcy’s elder sister Letitia Turano, a very religious woman who strongly disapproved of what her siblings had done.

  * * *

  The same day the letter arrived, Broward County medical examiner Joshua Perper met with Fort Lauderdale Police to take another look at Bernice Novack’s autopsy results, after receiving numerous calls from Maxine Fiel and other relatives.

  After reviewing the autopsy results, Perper confirmed that Bernice had died from an accidental fall, and that there had been no foul play. He also refuted any suggestions that there was a connection between her death and her son’s subsequent murder.

  Bernice’s eighty-three-year-old sister, Maxine, was livid when a reporter asked for her reaction. “They both died suddenly and really violently,” she told the Westchester Journal News. “Both died from blunt force. At this point I’m very concerned my sister was murdered.”

  Maxine vowed to do everything she could to get her sister’s case reopened and to get justice for her. “I went on a mission,” she said. “I said, ‘My poor sister was murdered,’ and I kept calling the Fort Lauderdale Police and the Medical Examiner’s Office, refusing to take no for an answer.”

  * * *

  Soon after the meeting between the medical examiner and the Fort Lauderdale Police, somebody leaked the Fort Lauderdale Police’s 2002 report of the alleged Novack home invasion to The Miami Herald. With its lascivious details of bondage sex games, amputee pornography, and death threats, the story made headlines all over the world, taking things to a new level.

  “Details of Novack Home Invasion Describe Sex Games,” screamed the next morning’s Miami Herald front-page headline. The accompanying article went on to provide sensational details about the wealthy couple’s unusual sex life.

  “The turbulent marriage of Ben Novack Jr. and his wife Narcy,” began reporter Julie Brown’s story, “is detailed in a 2002 Fort Lauderdale police report that describes a home invasion planned by his wife and thugs with mob ties, robbery and death threats, surprise breast implants and peculiar sex games.”

  The Herald said that it had sent Narcy a certified letter seeking her comment on the 2002 report, which Rye Brook detectives were now examining, but had received no response.

  The Associated Press also ran a wire story, which was picked up by hundreds of newspapers coast to coast. “The wife of a man who was killed last week in a suburban hotel,” the story read, “told police in 2002 that he often hit her and once broke her nose. [She said they] had a very violent past together.

  “The 18-page report included references to the Novacks’ use of portable urinals, to nude photos of women with artificial limbs, to a roomful of Batman
collectibles and to a claim from Narcisa Novack’s mother-in-law that Narcisa tried to poison her.”

  * * *

  A few hours later, Narcy Novack appeared in public for the first time since her husband’s death with her new criminal attorney, Howard Tanner. She told reporters that the accusations against her were “getting wilder by the minute.”

  Tanner said his client was “distraught” over her husband’s murder and should not be considered a suspect. She had nothing to gain from Ben’s death and was cooperating with investigators, he added.

  “Any allegation that she was involved,” said the veteran defense attorney, “is absolutely ridiculous.”

  * * *

  In the last week of July, Maxine Fiel received a telephone call from a woman claiming to be the writer of the anonymous letter, warning her to be careful, as she was in danger.

  “I spoke with her on the phone,” Maxine recalled. “She was an old lady and very religious, and had this very heavy [accent]. I think she was a member of Narcy’s family.”

  The woman, who wouldn’t give her name, told Maxine that Narcy had planned everything.

  “She told me that I should be very careful,” said Maxine, who never reported the call to police, “and she wants me to know that my sister had been stalked before her death.”

  After the call, Maxine vowed to have her sister’s death reexamined, and began calling all the various law enforcement agencies involved in the Novack case.

  “I wouldn’t stop,” she said. “I just kept calling everybody and clawing like a dog with a bone.”

  * * *

  At the end of July, Rebecca Bliss was evicted from her luxury apartment at the Falls at Marina Bay, as she could no longer afford the rent.

  “Ben was no longer there,” she said, “and my lease was up.”

  Down and out, she lived in a women’s shelter for a couple of months, before moving into the garage of the same ex-boyfriend who had once shot her and ended her career as a tattoo artist.

  FORTY-THREE

  FAMILY FEUD

  On August 1, three weeks after Ben Novack Jr.’s murder, his body was still on ice at the Westchester County Medical Examiner’s Office. Judaism dictates that a body should be buried within twenty-four hours of death, and Ben Novack Jr.’s had been ready for release to a funeral home since his autopsy.

  “Nobody has claimed it,” said Westchester County deputy medical examiner Kunjlata Ashar. “It’s up to the family members … we are done with whatever we had to do.”

  Maxine Fiel said she was shocked that her nephew had still not been buried. “Here is the Prince of the Fontainebleau,” she told The Miami Herald, “and he is being treated no better than a homeless person.”

  Maxine said that Kelsey Grammer had even offered to pay for his friend’s burial, but Narcy refused permission.

  “Kelsey offered to pay,” said Fiel. “When I heard I wanted to call him and thank him, but [Narcy] was stalling and let him lay out there.”

  Howard Tanner explained that his client was attempting to resolve “certain issues,” so a proper memorial could be held.

  “She’s been through an unbelievable trauma, the murder of her husband,” he told a reporter. “This [delay] has caused unspeakable grief, and she wants to resolve the matter.”

  * * *

  After Ben Novack Jr.’s killing, there was some confusion over whether his widow would inherit his estimated $10 million estate.

  In his June 2006 will, Ben had left everything to Narcy, including all his yachts, cars, Batman collection, and the proceeds from his late parents’ respective estates. He also bequeathed her all his business interests, although Convention Concepts Unlimited was not mentioned by name. There were also likely millions of dollars more squirreled away in offshore accounts.

  In the event that Narcy were to die first, he had bequeathed $100,000 to her daughter, May Abad, and $250,000 each to her grandsons, Marchelo and Patrick Gaffney. He had also provided for his mother, if she survived him, giving her $30,000 a year for the rest of her life.

  Fort Lauderdale probate attorney Carl Schuster, now handling both Bernice and Ben Novack Jr.’s estates, said probate courts usually appointed a personal representative whom the decedent had named in his will. But in this case it was complicated, as Bernice Novack had appointed her late son as hers.

  “Because of the circumstances of [Ben Jr.’s] death,” Schuster told the Journal News, “it’s muddied up the waters, for sure.”

  Then on July 29, Narcy Novack officially asked Broward County Circuit Court to appoint her as her late husband’s executrix. She also asked for permission to have Ben’s body cremated. But the court refused, as his will requested that he be buried, with Narcy’s remains, next to his father in the Novack-Spier family mausoleum in Mount Lebanon Cemetery in Queens, New York.

  * * *

  On Wednesday, August 5, 2009, Cristobal Veliz had Francisco Picado drive him to Miami in his black Murano to retrieve Ben Novack’s bracelet. With the ongoing police investigation, he and Narcy did not want the bracelet being found and linking them to Ben Novack’s murder.

  “He wanted the bracelet back,” said Garcia. “I said, ‘You gave it to me as a gift.’”

  When Veliz offered Garcia something else in exchange, Garcia replied he wanted the rest of the money still owed him for the Ben Novack job.

  “So he agreed and he came to Miami to give me my money,” said Garcia. “He said to meet up at the gas station where Melvin used to have the car wash.”

  At the appointed time, Garcia sat down with Jefe and Picado at a Subway restaurant near the car wash for the exchange. During lunch, Veliz told Garcia to go to the restroom, where Picado would hand him the money.

  “I went into the bathroom with Frank,” Garcia recalled, “and waited until some people left. Frank handed me $3,000 [in $100 bills], which I put in my pocket. I counted it later.”

  They all then went back to the Murano, where Garcia gave Picado back the bracelet.

  Suddenly Garcia demanded another $10,000, saying that as Ben Novack had died, he was owed more. Then he warned Jefe that if anything were to happen to him, he had written a letter to Crime Stoppers detailing Veliz’s part in the two murders, and it would be mailed out.

  “I was nervous,” Garcia later testified. “I said if anything happens to me, then someone will send that letter. He said everything is cool and he’s going to give me more money.”

  The next day, Veliz and Picado were back in Brooklyn, going straight to Laura Law’s house in Bay Ridge.

  “He took out Ben’s bracelet,” Picado said, “and put it in a yellow envelope with bubble wrap inside. Then he went to take it to someone in the house.”

  Then, after filling up the Murano’s gas tank and getting an oil change, Veliz had Picado drive him back to Miami.

  * * *

  On Friday, August 7, May Abad filed a legal objection to her mother being appointed executrix of Ben Novack Jr.’s estate. Abad had now hired a Fort Lauderdale attorney named Stephen McDonald to represent her in the estate dispute.

  “Considering Narcy’s … still a potential person of interest … in the murder,” explained probate attorney Carl Schuster, representing Ben Jr.’s estate, “it just seems inappropriate for her to be the one appointed under these circumstances.”

  While her daughter was filing papers to prevent her gaining control of her late husband’s estate, Narcy Novack was visiting the North Federal Highway branch of the Bank of America. Although she had no right to do so, she had persuaded a bank employee to allow her to access Ben Jr.’s and Bernice’s safe-deposit boxes, using a key she had brought with her.

  Then she removed valuable items of jewelry and other family heirlooms, including the diamond necklace Frank Sinatra had given Bernice.

  * * *

  Five days later, Rye Brook Police launched a special Web site, seeking information from the public to try to crack the case. The new site, www.bennovackjr.com,* asked for tips and
any new details about the murder. It also sought information about anybody near the hotel who had been wearing imitation Valentino sunglasses. There was also a photo of the victim’s treasured gold bracelet, with “BEN” set in diamonds, and text stating that it may have been taken from the hotel room.

  Rye Brook Police chief Greg Austin told The Miami Herald that it was by far the biggest case in his tiny village’s history. He had now assigned three detectives and a uniformed officer to work on it full time. Additionally, said Chief Austin, Westchester County Police and investigators from the district attorney’s office were assisting his team.

  Austin refused to discuss any details, except to say that the Web site had already generated a few tips, which were now being pursued.

  “This is a complicated case,” he explained.

  * * *

  In the weeks after her husband’s death, Narcy Novack attempted to dispose of Ben’s property. She emptied all three safes in the house and tried to sell off the boats and several antique cars.

  On Friday, August 14, May Abad’s attorney persuaded a circuit court judge to freeze her stepfather’s assets. Narcy Novack was also removed as the executrix of her husband’s will, while the murder investigation was going on.

  The Broward County Probate Court then appointed attorney Douglas Hoffman, of the Fort Lauderdale firm of Rudolf and Hoffman, as curator of Ben Novack Jr.’s estate. Hoffman’s first order of business was to arrange for Ben Novack’s burial in the family mausoleum, according to his wishes.

  “It was horrible,” Hoffman recalled. “He’d already been left in the morgue for like thirty days before I was appointed. All this time Narcy’s not cooperating with people. She’s refusing to pay for [his burial,] and other members of the family are accusing her of killing him. It was very emotionally charged and a media circus.”

  Hoffman was also empowered to “collect and preserve” all the decedent’s assets and deliver them to the legally appointed personal representative for his estate.