The Prince of Paradise

by John Glatt

  Maxine labeled as rubbish the Fort Lauderdale detectives’ theory that Bernice had fallen and then tried to drive to hospital before changing her mind. “My sister would never have gone out in a nightgown,” Fiel said. “It seemed to me that she was being chased, not that she was falling around the house. There was blood smeared everywhere, and her injuries were horrific.”

  Fort Lauderdale Police spokesman Frank Sousa repeated that there was absolutely no new evidence to warrant the case being reopened. “That letter doesn’t prove anything,” he told The Miami Herald. “At this point, there is nothing to indicate anything different from our [initial] finding.”

  Broward County medical examiner Joshua Perper agreed, reiterating that Bernice Novack had died from a series of falls.

  * * *

  Soon after Alejandro Garcia began cooperating with the government, investigators realized that May Abad was in great danger. At the beginning of June, Westchester County Police flew her to New York, warning her that her life was in danger. Then they sent her straight back, promising to relocate her and her two sons to a safe house. Unfortunately, they explained, this could take months, due to all the paperwork involved.

  “They told me I was in danger,” said Abad, who was now waitressing at a Chili’s restaurant at the Fort Lauderdale Airport, but “they didn’t do anything about it except to tell me to protect myself.”

  Over the next several weeks, Abad called Fort Lauderdale Police numerous times reporting strange men hanging around outside Chili’s. On one occasion, she told them, someone followed one of her sons home from school.

  Finally, Westchester County Police detective Alison Carpentier, who had become close friends with May Abad during the investigation, became so concerned for her safety that she loaned her $5,000 out of her own pocket to get an apartment in Naples, Florida.

  “If Alison didn’t help me,” Abad said, “who knows what would have happened.”

  FORTY-EIGHT

  THE ARRESTS

  At 6:00 A.M. on Thursday, July 8—just days before the one-year anniversary of Ben Novack Jr.’s murder—the FBI descended on 2501 Del Mar Place. Narcy Novack was still asleep when agents burst into the house and arrested her. Simultaneously, in Brooklyn, New York, Cristobal Veliz and his son-in-law, Denis Ramirez, were also taken into custody. An FBI arrest warrant was then issued for twenty-five-year-old Joel Gonzalez, who was considered armed and dangerous.

  As there is no federal murder statute, they were all charged with conspiracy to commit interstate domestic violence and stalking. Federal prosecutors said further charges were likely. The 1994 federal domestic violence law—which was passed after the murder of Nicole Brown Simpson—meant that they all faced life in prison if convicted.

  In the unsealed federal indictment, prosecutors accused fifty-three-year-old Narcisa Veliz Novack of plotting her husband’s murder, as she feared he was about to walk out of the marriage, leaving her penniless. The indictment alleged that on the morning of July 12, 2009, Narcy opened the Rye Town Hilton suite door to Gonzalez and Garcia, who beat and slashed her husband to death. She even handed them a pillow to hold over her husband’s face while he was being assaulted. Finally, she gave Garcia her husband’s favorite diamond bracelet on the way out.

  Later that morning, a handcuffed Narcy Novack, wearing a black top and patterned skirt, was led into federal court in Florida, where she was arraigned in front of U.S. magistrate Barry Selzer. She was then extradited to Westchester County, New York.

  During her brief court appearance she said nothing, beyond acknowledging that she understood the charges against her. A bond hearing was set for the following Wednesday, and her lawyer Robert Trachman said she would not be appealing the extradition.

  As Narcy appeared in federal court, the FBI and the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office held a joint press conference, announcing that they had solved the Ben Novack Jr. murder case.

  “The plot that led to the brutal death of Ben Novack was a family affair,” U.S. attorney Preet Bharara declared. “Today, just four days short of the one-year anniversary of the heinous killing … we announce the indictment of four individuals allegedly responsible for his death.”

  Questioned about Narcy’s motive, Bharara replied that prosecutors were filing a civil complaint seeking the forfeiture of the estate, in addition to Ben Novack Jr.’s $1 million life insurance policy, to prevent Narcy from benefiting.

  Then a reporter asked what, if any, significance the arrests would have on the case of Bernice Novack’s death.

  “We are taking a look at that, as you would expect we would,” Bharara replied, “and we may have more to say about that later.”

  Westchester County D.A. Janet DiFiore then spoke, describing the plot to kill Ben Novack Jr. as “diabolical.”

  “What transpired on the morning of July 12, 2009, in Ben Novack’s hotel room, was nothing short of a calculated plot,” she said, “[Narcy Novack] was intent on eliminating her husband and taking his family fortune for her own.”

  Then George Venizelos, who was in the charge of the New York FBI office, spoke about his bureau’s key role in the complicated interstate investigation.

  “The killing of Ben Novack was not a spur-of-the-moment crime of passion,” he told reporters. “It was the endgame of considerable planning. Likewise the case was solved by a great deal of dogged police work by a well-coordinated team.”

  The final speaker was Rye Brook Police chief Gregory Austin, who thanked the other law enforcement agencies for their help in breaking the case.

  “The stalking and violent attack of Ben Novack Jr. that led to his death,” said Chief Austin, “was an act of violence never before seen in Rye Brook, and I’m proud that these defendants will be held accountable for this crime.”

  * * *

  Late in the afternoon of July 8, Cristobal Veliz and Denis Ramirez were arraigned in federal court in White Plains, New York. During their appearance, assistant U.S. attorney Elliott Jacobson revealed that Bernice Novack had been murdered by hit men hired by Cristobal Veliz.

  “That was the assault that resulted in her death,” Jacobson told the court. He also disclosed that Veliz had tried to frame and assault May Abad, as she threatened Narcy Novack’s inheriting Ben Novack Jr.’s estate.

  Maxine Fiel told the Journal News that although she was glad about the arrests, the investigation should now widen to include her sister’s murder. “They need to connect the dots,” she said, “between my sister’s murder in April 2009 and her son’s murder a few short months later. Fort Lauderdale closed that investigation very quickly … that investigation needs to be reopened now.”

  Reacting to her mother’s arrest, May Abad expressed surprise that prosecutors were alleging that Narcy was actually in the hotel room during the murder and had participated in it. “I never thought she was actually there,” Abad told The Miami Herald. “I thought she went back to try and stop it. Maybe it’s me just trying to see the good in her. This is my mother. No matter what the investigators said, I was trying to see the last little bit of good in her—but maybe there isn’t.”

  * * *

  On Friday morning, Fort Lauderdale Police finally agreed to reopen the investigation into Bernice Novack’s death. Police spokeswoman Kathy Collins told the Sun-Sentinel that detectives had no further comment.

  However, Broward County medical examiner Joshua Perper told the Sentinel that he had already been contacted by Fort Lauderdale detectives about the case. “My understanding is police are continuing their investigation,” he told the newspaper.

  At 2:00 P.M. that same day, Joel Gonzalez walked into the Miami Police headquarters and surrendered. He was immediately booked and taken into custody. The FBI said he would be arraigned on Monday.

  * * *

  The following Wednesday morning, July 14, Narcy Novack was back in federal court, at a bail hearing. Looking unkempt in blue prison scrubs, with straggly, dyed red hair, Narcy remained silent throughout the bai
l proceedings, sitting passively in handcuffs. Several of her relatives and friends were in the public gallery.

  Arguing against bail, U.S. attorney Elliott Jacobson revealed new gruesome details of Ben Novack Jr.’s horrific killing, and the part Narcy had allegedly played in her mother-in-law’s death.

  The prosecutor said that during the investigation into Ben Novack’s death, he had asked the Westchester County medical examiner to take a look at the death scene photos and other evidence in Ben’s mother’s death. The medical examiner had done so and immediately declared it a homicide.

  Jacobson told federal magistrate Robin Rosenbaum that Narcy and her brother Cristobal Veliz had hired two men to assault Bernice Novack three months before her son’s murder. Then, using information provided by Narcy Novack, the men had savagely beaten Bernice to death with a monkey wrench.

  “Narcy Novack was complicit in the homicide of Bernice Novack,” Jacobson declared. “She died after she was struck several times.”

  He also disclosed that Alejandro Garcia—whose identity was being kept secret—had already pleaded guilty to domestic violence charges, and was now fully cooperating with law enforcement. Jacobson said Garcia’s testimony implicated Narcy Novack in both murders. Joel Gonzalez was also helping police, said Jacobson, and had fully backed up Garcia’s version of the murders.

  The prosecutor told the court that Ben Novack Jr. had been beaten to death with dumbbells, and Narcy had ordered one of his killers to gouge out Novack’s eyes with a utility knife. “In Spanish, she urged them to cut out his eyes and finish him off,” Jacobson said.

  Both killers were then captured on Rye Town Hilton CCTV video leaving the Novack suite after the murder.

  Jacobson also accused Narcy of trying to mislead investigators by claiming that an arm of Garcia’s fake Valentino sunglasses had belonged to her.

  Howard Tanner protested his client’s innocence, in both deaths. He told the magistrate that Narcy had fully cooperated with police since her husband’s murder, and pointed out that she had been interrogated without a lawyer present.

  “They want to strengthen their case by implicating her in a so-called homicide,” he said, “that has no basis in fact.”

  Federal magistrate Robin Rosenbaum found more than enough evidence to hold Narcy Novack in custody. She was confused by Narcy’s response “It’s in good hands” when asked where her passport was.

  “I don’t know what that means,” the magistrate said, “and it is a concern.”

  * * *

  The next day, Thursday, July 15, medical examiner Joshua Perper, reversed his previous findings that Bernice Novack had died an accidental death. After an early morning call from Fort Lauderdale Police, he amended the manner of death on her death certificate to read “homicide.” Later he explained that the new evidence was “very solid” and there was no question “it is a homicide.”

  Perper also defended his earlier decision to rule it an accidental death, saying that he had taken into account Bernice’s recent history of falls. He maintained that there had been nothing to suggest that a weapon had been used in the blunt force trauma injuries she had suffered.

  “In view of the history of falls and no indication that anyone was assaulting her,” he explained, “accidental death was the likely determination.”

  The medical examiner said that when he had learned from Fort Lauderdale Police of Alejandro Garcia’s eyewitness testimony, it had completely matched the crime scene. “The evidence they have is very firm,” he told the Sun-Sentinel, “because it is consistent with our findings.”

  The Fort Lauderdale Police Department also defended its work on the case. “There is no physical evidence that would have got us a conviction as a homicide,” said spokesman Frank Sousa. “We received information due to Ben Novack’s investigation, but we had to hold off on our case until their case was done.”

  When Maxine Fiel learned that she had finally won her courageous fight to have her sister’s death declared a homicide, it was a bittersweet victory. In May, David, her beloved husband of more than fifty years had died, and she was now in the process of moving to upstate New York to be nearer her daughter Meredith.

  “My poor, poor sister,” she said on hearing how Bernice had died. “She must have been so scared. She was such a fighter.”

  FORTY-NINE

  VALHALLA

  At the end of July, Narcy Novack was brought back to New York and taken to the women’s unit of the Westchester County Jail in Woods Road, Valhalla, where she would remain until her eventual trial. It was a long way from the luxurious lifestyle she had grown accustomed to.

  On Monday, August 9, 2010, Narcy appeared in federal court in White Plains, pleading not guilty to charges related to her husband’s murder. Handcuffed and wearing gray prison garb, she looked tired and drawn.

  After Narcy made her plea, Howard Tanner asked federal magistrate Paul Davison to grant bail, saying his client would agree to be electronically monitored.

  Prosecutor Elliott Jacobson argued against bail, calling Narcy a flight risk and a danger to the community. He also revealed new damning evidence against her.

  “We have learned of efforts to kill another witness,” said the federal prosecutor without elaborating. He described Ben Novack Jr.’s killing as “extraordinarily grisly,” adding that the “Veliz Family” had also plotted to frame and assault May Abad.

  Tanner countered that it was “unfair” for the government to make such serious allegations without backing them up. “The government will simply throw out allegations that are not based on any fact,” he told the magistrate. “Anyone can say anything they want about plots, but there is going to come a time, and it will come at the trial, where they’re going to have to be put to their proof.”

  Tanner also denied that Narcy Novack was a flight risk. “My client allegedly committed these crimes a year ago,” he said. “She had a passport the whole time and could have left the jurisdiction, but she didn’t.”

  Magistrate Davison refused Novack bail, saying his decision had nothing to do with the government’s new allegations, but was based solely on the indictment.

  * * *

  In late August, Narcy Novack requested a public defender, claiming she could no longer afford to pay her attorney Howard Tanner. In a letter to U.S. District Court judge Kenneth Karas, now assigned to the Narcy Novack case, Tanner said his client was broke, as she was unable to access her husband’s estate. It would later be revealed that Narcy had already paid Tanner the “vast bulk” of the $105,000 Rye Brook convention money she had taken after her husband’s death.

  In a financial affidavit, Narcy claimed to have received no income in the previous twelve months, and to having just $1,500 in her bank account. She listed her assets as her marital home, worth $7.8 million, plus automobiles, collectibles, and other personal assets worth $500,000, along with $800,000 worth of jewelry. She also wrote that she owed $53,000 on credit cards, with monthly payments of $1,200, plus $480,000 in back payments on the $9,000-a-month mortgage for 2501 Del Mar Place.

  “The above assets are unavailable to me,” she wrote at the bottom. “All assets have been frozen or seized by the government.”

  In an accompanying letter, Tanner requested that Judge Karas allow him to continue to represent his client, and offered to work for the basic public defender’s salary. “Her inability to pay is due to the fact that all estate assets have been frozen,” Tanner wrote, “as a result of civil forfeiture actions initiated by the government and/or probate proceedings pending in Broward County, Florida. Accordingly, all funds have been rendered unavailable to her and she cannot borrow against these assets.”

  He told Judge Karas that a new counsel would be “unduly prejudicial” to Narcy Novack, and that he knew the case intimately, having represented Narcy in both criminal and probate matters since her husband’s death.

  After reading the letter, Judge Karas agreed to allow Tanner to remain, as long as he was compensated only as
a court-appointed public defender.

  * * *

  Even from jail, Narcy Novack and Cristobal Veliz were still trying to frame May Abad for Ben and Bernice Novack’s murders. Joel Gonzalez, who had now cut a deal with the government, saw Veliz almost every day at Valhalla jail. One Sunday morning, when they were attending church together, Veliz made him an offer.

  “He offered me money,” Gonzalez later testified. “He said once I went over to him, he would pay $150,000 into an account. Then, after Mrs. Novack [was free,] he would put another $150,000 in an account.”

  Veliz, who had no idea Gonzalez was cooperating with prosecutors, said if the government asked who had orchestrated the assaults, he should say May Abad had hired him and Garcia to do them.

  Gonzalez refused to commit himself, stringing Veliz along for a while.

  “He kept asking me, ‘Are we going to do it?’” Gonzalez said. “He kept telling me to give an account number to put the money into. I kept saying, ‘I’ll talk to you the next time I see you.’ I never gave him a direct answer.”

  Eventually, Cristobal Veliz resorted to threats.

  On October 10, Gonzalez was in his cell when another inmate handed him a handwritten note from Veliz. It contained Bible verses from Deuteronomy and Luke, which Gonzalez perceived as a direct threat.

  “One witness is not enough to convict anyone of any crime or offense they may have committed,” read the passage from Deuteronomy 19:15. “A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.”

  Gonzalez interpreted this to mean that if Alejandro Garcia was cooperating with the government and he, Gonzalez, was not, it would be enough to destroy the case against Narcy Novack.

  * * *

  At 10:00 A.M. on Thursday, December 16, Narcy Novack, dressed in a gray prison outfit and chained around the waist, was back in federal court for a routine status conference. Also in the courtroom were her brother Cristobal Veliz, his son-in-law Denis Ramirez, and Joel Gonzalez.