On the morning of July 12, 2009, 53-year-old Ben Novack Jr., a male and heir to the Fontainebleau hotel fortune, was discovered brutally murdered in the penthouse suite of the Hilton Hotel in Rye Brook, New York. He was in New York for a convention his company was organizing. The scene was one of extreme violence; Novack had been bound with duct tape, beaten with dumbbells, and his eyes had been gouged out.
The cause of death was determined to be a combination of blunt force trauma and asphyxiation.
The investigation into the gruesome murder quickly focused on those closest to him, particularly his wife, Narcy Novack. Initially, Narcy claimed to have discovered her husband's body after returning from breakfast. However, inconsistencies in her story and her behavior following the murder raised suspicion. The investigation revealed a troubled marriage, with Ben Novack Jr. engaged in an affair and Narcy fearing a divorce that would leave her with a relatively small settlement due to a prenuptial agreement. Prosecutors would later argue that her motives were a volatile mix of 'hatred, greed, and vengeance.'
The case took a significant turn when investigators linked Ben Novack Jr.'s murder to the death of his 87-year-old mother, Bernice Novack, just three months earlier in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Her death had initially been ruled an accidental fall, but the new investigation revealed she too had been murdered, bludgeoned with a wrench. It became clear that Bernice's death was part of a larger, sinister plot. Had she lived, she would have inherited her son's estate, a detail that provided a powerful motive for her elimination.
In July 2010, Narcy Novack was arrested and charged with orchestrating the murders of her husband and mother-in-law. Her brother, Cristóbal Véliz, was also arrested and accused of helping her hire hitmen to carry out the killings. The individuals enlisted to perform the brutal acts were identified as Alejandro Gutiérrez-García, Joel González, and Denis Ramírez. Gutiérrez-García later confessed to bludgeoning Bernice Novack and participating in the attack on Ben Novack Jr., providing crucial testimony against Narcy and her brother. He revealed that Narcy was present during her husband's murder and had even directed the assailants to gouge out his eyes.
The subsequent trial in White Plains, New York, was highly publicized, painting a picture of a dysfunctional and violent relationship fueled by greed. Prosecutors laid out how Narcy and Véliz had plotted the murders to secure Ben Novack Jr.'s multi-million dollar estate. The defense attempted to shift the blame onto Narcy's daughter from a previous marriage, May Abad, suggesting she was the one motivated by the inheritance. However, the evidence and the testimony of the hired killers proved to be overwhelming.
Ultimately, a federal jury convicted Narcy Novack and Cristóbal Véliz of murder, conspiracy, and other related charges. Both were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The hitmen, having cooperated with the prosecution, received lesser sentences for their roles in the heinous crimes. The case concluded with the unraveling of a cold-blooded scheme for wealth that resulted in the violent deaths of two members of a prominent family.
