Ex-stripper found GUILTY for orchestrating 'gruesome' killings of her millionaire playboy husband and his 86-year-old mother - Daily Mail

Ex-stripper found GUILTY for orchestrating 'gruesome' killings of her millionaire playboy husband and his 86-year-old mother - Daily Mail

By Hannah Rand

PUBLISHED: 16:12 EST, 20 June 2012 | UPDATED: 16:52 EST, 20 June 2012

A Florida woman has been found guilty of orchestrating the brutal killings of her millionaire husband and his eighty-six-year-old mother in a grab for the family estate.

Former stripper Narcy Novack, 55, ordered the savage beatings by hitmen of Ben Novack Jr in a New York hotel as well as Bernice Novack in another calculated incident in her Fort Lauderdale home.

Her brother Cristobel Veliz, 58, was also charged with racketeering, which prosecutors pushed for both siblings, rather than murder, as it carries a mandatory life sentence.

Brutal murder: Narcy Novack [left] has been accused of ordering the gruesome murder of her millionaire husband Ben Novack Jnr [right] and his eighty-six-year-old mother

The horrendous 2009 killings were shockingly gruesome - involving Mr Novack having his eyes slashed with a knife while he was still alive. His ex-model mother had her head bashed in with a plumber's wrench, reports Associated Press.

U.S. attorney Preet Bharara said Novack and Veliz 'will now have to answer for the blood of Ben Novack and his elderly mother'. He also called the slayings 'sadistic'.

Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore called the defendants 'modern-day public enemies'.

Prosecutors said Novack and Veliz were motivated by 'jealousy, retribution and greed' when they hired the thugs who carried out the killings. 

They said Novack feared that her husband, who was having an affair with porn star Rebecca Bliss, would divorce her, and that a prenuptial agreement would bar her from the multimillion-dollar estate.

Rage: Novack [pictured] feared that her husband, who was having an affair with porn star Rebecca Bliss, would divorce her, and a prenuptial agreement would bar her from the multimillion-dollar estate

Sadistic slayings: Bernice Novack [left] was also murdered by hitmen ordered by her daughter-in-law and her brother Cristobel Veliz [right]

Ben Novack Jr. had a successful travel company. His father built the iconic Fontainebleau hotel in Miami Beach, a celebrity hangout in the Fifties and Sixties that appeared in the movies Scarface and Goldfinger.

Novack paid her brother to hire hitmen to assault the victims and identified her husband to the killers by stroking his hair in a restaurant. 

Key witness: Former prostitute Rebecca Bliss was having an affair with Mr Novack and says he was planning on divorcing his wife

Key witness Rebecca Bliss, a former prostitute and porn actress, said she was having an affair with Ben Novack when he was killed.

Mr Novack became smitten with Ms Bliss after her paid her $600 for sex.

He wooed her with a $4,000 spa escape, set her up in Fort Lauderdale condo and bought her a cell phone, $10,000 in furniture, $10,000 worth of music equipment and a little toy poodle, reports the Miami Herald.

The couple planned to start a more serious relationship and Narcy Novack felt threatened.

Ms Bliss said Narcy Novack tried to buy her off for $10,000 and told her, 'If she couldn't have him, no other woman was going to have him'.

Another witness, hit man Alejandro Garcia, said he killed Bernice Novack by slamming her in the head with a wrench in the driveway of her home on April 4, 2009. 

He and Joel Gonzalez testified that they beat Ben Novack to death with dumbbells three months later.

He said Veliz promised him $15,000 and 'a good tip'.

The family intrigue in the case deepened when the defense strategy turned out to be blaming May Abad, who was Narcy Novack's daughter and Ben Novack's stepdaughter.

Defense attorneys said Ms Abad, who wasn't charged, could benefit by ordering the killings and framing her mother because her two sons would then inherit the bulk of the family estate - which includes Ben Novack's valuable collection of Batman memorabilia - if Narcy Novack were convicted.

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Source: www.dailymail.co.uk

Divorce woman wins house-move fight - Belfast Telegraph

Wednesday, 20 June 2012

A woman embroiled in a divorce fight is celebrating after overturning a court ban which prevented her from moving house.

The woman, who has two children, was ordered to live at a specified address nearly two years ago by a district judge overseeing divorce proceedings.

But a High Court judge lifted the restriction after ruling that the woman should be allowed to find work and support her children as she wished.

The woman compared the restriction to being under "house arrest" and complained that it limited her chances of finding work, hampered her children's relationship with relatives, and left her struggling to pay bills.

Mr Justice Charles disagreed with the "house arrest" comparison but told a High Court hearing: "It seems to me that she should have the opportunity to seek employment, and therefore to support herself and her children, as she wishes."

He heard that the restriction was part of a "prohibitive steps order" made by a district judge in 2010. The woman's estranged husband lived near the specified address and the arrangement allowed him to have regular contact with the children, the judge was told.

The woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, challenged the restriction at a private hearing in the family division of the High Court in London. Mr Justice Charles gave permission for a journalist to attend the hearing and for parts of the proceedings to be reported after an application by the Press Association, which argued that coverage would be in the public interest.

The judge said the woman and her children had to remain in England or Wales - within the jurisdiction of the High Court - while legal proceedings continued. A further High Court hearing related to the divorce fight is scheduled to take place later this year.

Mr Justice Charles said he had to decide whether to continue the restriction to ease contact arrangements or allow the woman to move. He said the balance lay in allowing the woman to move. The estranged husband had argued the woman's "true agenda" in wanting to move home was to "frustrate" contact arrangements. Mr Justice Charles said the estranged husband had a right to regular contact and the woman had to comply with the provisions of a separate court order relating to access visits, regardless of where she lived.

"I'd tried to get the restriction discharged before but failed," said the woman, who was not represented by a lawyer at the High Court hearing. "I was a bit overwhelmed when it was actually lifted." She added: "It was a sledgehammer to crack a nut. I hope Mr Justice Charles' decision helps other people in similar situations."

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Source: www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk