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The victim was Benji Novak. He had been beaten bad on the torso, his head was almost overkill. This case was twisted, even from Miami. Benji was from a rich Miami family. They owned the Fontainebleau Hotel. It was big back in the 60s. He was king of all the world. And my daddy owns this place and you'll do as I tell you to do. He had a lot of enemies. He was a cutthroat. Blundling, he was a brat. He wanted people to fear him. Mengyu was a successful businessman and if people needed to be held accountable, he had no problem doing it and that's the arrogance that a lot of people saw in him. He had a lot of fetishes. He had the second largest Batman collection in the world. In his own right. He managed conventions. He would set them up from the beginning to the end. It was an all-cash business. He was scared to death he was going to be robbed.

He always claimed to be a little sexually kinky. Prostitutes and strip clubs and. And that's in fact where he met his wife, Narsee. - He definitely was in love with Narsee. Benji was who he was. His wife was who she was. If they did things, that was between them. We really pound the payment on this case. It was apparent that they wanted him to suffer. Such lengths to inflect such serious injury. Somebody with a really cold heart, I can tell you that. There was a lot of cast of characters. We found hit men. We found money trails. And when it was all over, the oldest motive in the world, money and sex. I'm Troy Roberts. Tonight on 48 Hours,

I can't believe this. It was horrific. Detective Sergeant Terry Wilson of the Rybrook, New York Police Department. He's on the ground. He's basically hogtied. And Detective Allison Carpentier of Westchester County had never witnessed a crime scene this gruesome. It was a brutal scene. His eyes had both been cut out. 53-year-old Benji Novak was a multimillionaire Florida businessman. His mutilated body was discovered in the early morning hours of July 12, 2009, in a hotel room in Rybrook, a suburb just 40 minutes north of New York City. A knife like this was placed on his legs, his arms, and around his mouth. When they put it, they did it really tight. Police believed there was more than one killer. Was there any sign of struggle? He was in the bed. They came up on him. They hit him multiple times, maybe a dozen times or so.

Police learned from Benji's wife Narcy Novak that she and her husband were from South Florida. At the Rye New York hotel all weekend running a large Amway convention. Police in New York began their investigation. They soon learned their victim, Benji Novak, came from a fascinating background. His parents once owned the famous Fontainebleau Hotel, once the hottest spot on Miami Beach, in the swinging '60s. It was absolutely magnificent. The glamour, the people that were there. Were there from all over the world. It was just incredible. Michael Aller, a director. Of tourism for Miami Beach knows everybody. I lived at the Fountain Blue Hotel. It was just the place to be and to be seen.

The fountain blue was the creation of Benji's parents Bernice and Ben Novak. They were Miami Beach royalty and everybody... From JFK to Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack stayed at their hotel. It was like Vegas really. Shoulders with everybody there. Maxine feel was Banges aunt. She spent Lot of time at the hotel with her sister Bernice. It was amazing. They had this stairway to nowhere, which was like some kind of thing for the brides that would walk down. It would look like it was just coming out of these clouds. Everybody wanted to see what Mrs. Novak was wearing. She always had to go down and look absolutely bae. Her than anyone else. Ben wanted that. She was part of the final blue. But Ben and Bernice's son Benji was not as charming as his famous parents. He was a loner. He was a little prince. Ben was very...

Secretive in many ways. He was not at ease with people. He would go trick-or-treating with a chauffeur and no kids went with him. I knew the Novaks. I knew Benji. Benji was not a nice man. He was a tough, I want it now type of guy. He was not pleasant to deal with. I was the only one that could really confront him and say that because I Known him from when he was this big. A former Miami Beach homicide detective also knew Benji. As a young boy, we're intimidated by him because he would fire housemaids or valet people or whatever he wanted to. He had complete control of the hotel. He sounded like a tyrant. He was.

He wasn't really an easy guy to like. He was attracted to all the cops. He spent all of his time at the police station. So he aspired to be a police officer? For all intents and purposes, he thought he was a police officer. While the prince of the fountain blue played cop, his father's entire empire started collapsing. Hotel to bankruptcy in 1977. Benji was so distraught, he refused to ever drive past the landmark again. His father's failures, though, fueled his ambitions and at 22, he started his own empire. He was ambitious, man. Become a millionaire several times over with his convention staging business. Wealthy man at a very young age. - Yes, he did. I'm not surprised at that, and I'm sure a big chunk of it was cash that he kept.

I know he always had a lot of cash. He kept a lot of cash in the house and he spent it on himself quite freely. In 1991, Benji began sharing his good fortune with Narcey Veliz, a young single mother from Ecuador, a former exotic Dancer with a young child, May Abad. The two married, and eventually Narcy helped Ben run the business, as did May. In fact, both-- Women were with Benji at the convention the weekend he was murdered. It was attended by more than a thousand people and that made the investigation tricky. Tell full of possible suspects. - Right, right. And we didn't know which way to go. Is this a robbery? Is it domestic on wrong? Is it isolated? to your target. Police soon established a timeline from phone records. Benji was alive at 654 AM. And was alive because he receives a phone call from a worker in the hotel saying there was a problem that was overcrowding for breakfast.

Narcy left the room to sort out the seating problem in the dining room. You can see her on video down there at her room. Around 7.17 a.m. Thirty minutes later, she told police she returned to the room and discovered Ben's body. - Describe her demeanor for me. - I think the first thing she said to me did Ben have a heart attack? All she had seen him. There was blood everywhere in this room. I mean, it was a bloody mess. So you saw Ben tied up, you know. What do you mean did he have a heart attack? Worried?

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After the murder of Benji Novak. Detectives Alison Carpentier and Terry Wilson Into as many people as they could. Show me when you see Narcy. Investigators videotaped this hotel guest who encountered Narcy in the hallway minutes He said she had just discovered Benji's body. He told police that Narcy was acting suspicious. And that he noticed the door to the room didn't show any signs of a break-in. Neither of the doors to the Novak suite showed any signs of force entry. So then police look. Of the card key history leading up to the murder. What did the card key records show? They showed that there were no card keys used to enter that room between, say, five after 12 at night.

And 7.40 in the morning. At 7.45, a card swipe is logged. That card swipe was from Narcis Key. And that's when she supposedly discovers the body. It was obvious that he'd been sleeping when he was attacked. So he didn't believe he had walked to the door and opened the door up to somebody. So how does this happen? Did the killers gain access to Benji's room? The only one else that had access to that room was Narcy. I left the door open. In her interview the day after the murder, Narcy Tullis was arrested. Police police she's not sure if she closed the door when she left Benji to go downstairs to the dining room. - Tell me about the interview that you conducted. - With no RCS.

It lasted hours. She wouldn't go to the bathroom. She didn't want a glass of water. She didn't want a coffee. You know, she just She held her own all night You know what happened. I have nothing to do with my husband's death. Narcy was emphatic. He had always loved Benji. The couple had met almost two decades earlier on an unlikely first date. When he met her, she was a new dancer in a kind of a sleazy strip joint in Hialeah. To me, she looked like a girl that worked the streets. And worked her way up to be a new dancer. Worked her way up to be a new dancer. That's Joe's opinion.

Had been a far cry from Benji's privileged past at the fountain blue. And were they in love? Was in love with Narsi, yes. Charlie Serrater was close to both Benji and Narsi for almost two decades. Attended Sir Rader's wedding. And do you believe Narsi was in love with him? I would believe in the beginning, yes. Narcy was afforded an extravagant lifestyle. They lived in a multi-million dollar estate. She drove expensive cars. Beautiful jewelry. She enjoyed the best of the best. And as Benji's convention business grew and gross millions, he splurged. On one of his childhood fantasies. I think he was probably one of the biggest collectors of Batman memorabilia.

Possession, a replica of the 1960s Batmobile. I guess, you know, he could afford it. Stacks and stacks and stacks of first edition toys. Anything related to the superheroes. And friends say collecting memorabilia wasn't Benji's only indulgence. Benji had an appetite for other women. Benji didn't care. He was a party boy that thought for the moment. Was he always cheating? He was always cheating. Did Narcy know? Narcy always suspected Ben of cheating. She was a very jealous woman. And early on, before Ben and Narcy were married, Charlie Sorater got a taste of Narcy's jealousy. Benji had received a phone call and she was extremely upset and she was threatening to burn his house. Down and he was pleading with her that he's not cheating. But cheating was just the beginning. Benji

His sexual taste could have been ripped right from the pages of the most recent erotic bestsellers. Marcy tells us he likes to be tied up. - Benji was who he was. This nobody really knows what goes on behind closed doors but it's Happened behind this closed door that concerns homicide detective Ellison Carpentier. This found in a way that he enjoys sexually. Carpentier asked Narcy about the couple's bondage games and the strange coincidence of finding Benji bound and tied. Don't you think it's cause. He dies in a position that he finds sexually around. -And I bet he was not tied up. -When you would confront her with allegations -- She would just not really respond to it at all. It was odd. -Then from police in Florida, detectives got a --

about a bizarre incident involving bondage. - We learned that she had tied him up and stole, he says, between three and $400,000. In 2000, the first world war was over. In 2002, Benji was the victim of a home invasion that according to him, was orchestrated. By Narsi. He called me up and he said he had just been robbed. He says, 'I've been tied up in a chair for 20 years.' Hours and I think my wife was involved. Why would Narsi stage... This home invasion in Robin. - She was fed up with him, fed up with cheating, fed up with everything, and wanted to prove. Point. For reasons unknown Benji never pressed charges and amazingly the couple reconciled. After all is said and done he went back with her because he loved her. But the similarities of the 2002 incident and Benjy's murder seven years later convey

Investigators to turn up the heat on Narcy. There is a next electrical chair in Amazapat. -Give it to me right now. Put me out of my misery. I want to die. -She tried to act like a grieving widow. It didn't come off like that at all to any of the investigators, I don't think. It was involved in Benji's death. What could be her motive? I think she knew she was gonna be replaced. The carpentier learned that Benji had taken up with another woman. He was sort of looking for a bad girl, but I was too bad of a girl for him. Rebecca Bliss. Formerly known as Mona Love, was all over the internet. She admits being a prostitute of pornographic movies. What began as a dream came true. As sexual trysts as Rebecca grew into a serious, ongoing relationship of two years.

He used to make me laugh every day, you know, talking to him about personal things. Benjamin Franklin. Moved her from Miami where she was dancing in a strip club to a condominium in Fort Lauderdale. About me a lot you know he would tell me he loved me every day. With Rebecca in the wings was Benji about To leave Narsi. If Narcy Novak had anything to do with it. She said if she couldn't have him, no one will. you

In the days after Benji Novak's murder, detectives began casting a wider net. And the investigation would start to expand. We knew that we had to go to Florida. Detectives began to piece together Benji's life, uncovering his complicated connections to several women and their relationships with each other. other. We found a family in Turmoil. There was no love lost between Benji's wife Narcy and his mother Bernice. It was Narcy's relationship like with Bernice. From day one, extremely strained. That up until the day Bernice tragically passed away after a fall just three months earlier. His wife. I mean, they really hated each other. The direct opposite of. A very close bond between Bernice and Benji. And he would talk to his mother daily.

Obviously was a loving son, and he stayed very close with his mother up until her death. Then there was May Abad, Narsi's daughter from a previous marriage. May was shipped off to different people throughout her life. She lived with aunts. Friends may was just 10 years old when Benji and Narcy got together and her mother had a pretty stormy mother-daughter relationship. Reporter Julie Brown has written extensively about the Novak murder case and was a consultant for CBS News. Having a 10-year-old daughter at the time that she met. Had. And just after Benji's murder, she became convinced her mother may have played a role in his death.

Worst thing in the world to have to believe that your mother might have killed your father. She said that she believed that her mother did do it. And the motive was? Money. It was money. Was the sole beneficiary of Benji's estate, then valued between five and ten million dollars. I think we've... Narcie's very smart. She knows how to manipulate people. She will do whatever it takes to get what she needs. Days after the murder, Narcy and May, now back in Florida at the Novak's waterfront home, had an ugly car. Confrontation recorded on surveillance camera. May had gone there to collect some of her things. She had a guest cottage on the property, and Narsi took a crowbar and started-- chasing around with crowbar. - I got a hysterical phone call sometime around six o'clock.

And for May's safety, Charlie Serrater raced to Benji's home. And when I pulled up-- Mae and Narcy were yelling at each other. Mae was screaming at her, You murdered Ben! and at that point a crowbar came into it. They just went at each other and I split them up. But not before Narcy whacked May with the crowbar. are. You have to go where your evidence leads you. It just kept leading back to Narsi. Despite all their suspicions, police didn't have enough hard evidence to charge Narsi. 10 days after the murder, investigators received a bombshell anonymous letter that would change everything. Translated from Spanish it read in part this crime without a doubt was committed by the wife of mr Novak and her brother Narcy's brother Cristobal

Was a bus driver in Pennsylvania. - So we drove down to Philadelphia, where Christopher lived. In his apartment. Christobalt denied knowing anything about Benji's murder. - As we enter, it's a small kitchen area. There was a table there and he invited us to sit down at the table. And detectives couldn't help but notice what was on that table. It was littered with papers and part of the papers were Western Union receipts. It was just we couldn't believe it. - Cristobal had been wiring money to various people. When he left the room for a moment, detectives made notes. Of some of the payees. There was one name that proved very helpful. Yes. Well, Andrew Garcia. Alejandro Garcia of Miami had been wired $500 by Cristobal just one month after Benji's murder. Detectives wondered if that was payment for the hit on a car.

Benji. Alejandro only had one eye, so a search of the data in Florida led us to Alejandro Garcia. Zach Garcia had a record, and with his mugshot in hand, detectives poured over the Rybrook Hotel surveillance tapes from that fateful weekend. There's Benji captured by-- The security cameras. I had detectives go over and over and over the video at the Hilton. And they hit pay dirt. You could see it was Alejandro. The shots on Friday were very clear photos. Two days before the murder, surveillance cameras show Garcia and another man. They are casing the hotel in preparation for Benjy's murder. This is Joel Gonzalez. Another man caught on camera was Joel Gonzalez, also from South Florida.

Leave Narsi's brother, Chris Abol, hired the two men to come to New York and kill Benji. Would spend months gathering evidence. We did everything from credit card statements, banking statements. Phones became huge in this investigation. Because once we had everybody's phone numbers, we were able to track the movement of the phones. The paper trail led... Them here to this motel in Queens, New York, where according to records, the... Two men stayed the weekend of the murder. We're going to be talking about a crime that happened. Four months after the murder, in November of 2018, the two men were killed. 2009 detectives brought in Alejandro Garcia for questioning. As we were talking to him he played. Stupid V was never in New York. He never left the state of Florida Did you understand?

At the hotel? You are at the hotel. No. No? We have him on film at the hotel. We have my phone going with Joel to the other hotel. I'm going to put it in the video with Joel. He's going to be seeing us. In reality, I don't know. And he was unraveling at that point. He says, I'd rather have an attorney. Tell me any questions. Come on, Joe. I'm Allison. But with Detective Carpentier, Garcia would later trip up and implicate himself. That he was scared for his family, and that the people that did this are very dangerous. We knew we had the right guy. He just confirmed it for us. Now, investigators went after Joel Gonzalez. Joel was on the run, but he eventually turned himself into Miami PD. And Gonzalez was... Ready to talk. Joel gave everything up. And he implicated Narsi?

Marci, Cristobal Alejandro. It wasn't long before Garcia, too, decided to cooperate. They told investigators was shocking. It was Narcy who let them into-- Benji's bedroom early that terrible July morning while he was sleeping. They came up on him and they positioned themselves on each side of the bed. They had these weights and they just started hitting the victim. They hit him multiple times, a dozen times or so. He ends up on the floor. Ben was duct taped on his legs. Was covered. - According to the hitmen, Narcy was not only just watching the brutal assault, but she was directing it. Marcy sends Alejandro back in to the bedroom and she wants him to take his eyes out.

He uses something very similar to this. Why? You'd have to really ask Narcy why. Finally, in July 2010, a year after Benji's death, Narcy, along with her brother Chris Abol are arrested in connection with Benji's murder. But Narcy would soon find herself facing not one, but two murders. Charges. I'm Angie Hicks, co-founder of Angie. When you use Angie for your home projects, you know all your jobs will be done well. Roof repair, done well. Kitchen sink install, done well. Done well. Electrical upgrade done well. Angie's been connecting homeowners with skilled...

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As reporter Julie Brown investigated the case, something in his family history was worth a second look. -So, shortly after Benji Novak's murder, you began digging into the circumstances Well, the first thing you do as a reporter when you have a case like this is you look at the clips and what has been written. And one of the first things that popped up was an obituary for his mother. And it said that she had died from a fall in her poor life. Of Dale home. Benji found his mother's body face down in a pool of blood in the hallway between the garage and the kitchen. Ben called me. - Sorry. - I just found my mom dead. - Did he say that he believed it was suspicious? He was overcome with grief at that point. What was Narcy's demeanor? I have to tell you, in all the years that I had seen her, she couldn't be any more consoling. And just--

Rubbing his hair and his neck and just actually being very tender to him. They right away said it, they felt it was a tragic accident, that she had died of natural causes. Lynn and John Offordal, who live next to her, Door to Bernice in Fort Lauderdale. Remember well the day their close friend died. Outside and stood in the driveway and Ben was there with Narsi and the police, two police And doing some investigation, and all we could see was into the garage, and we could see her car with the door open, her glasses -- were smashed on the ground. There was blood dripping from the car all the way up to the door. - And there were blood drops all over the house. And I was just curious. It just seemed odd coincidence that she died three months before her son. So I thought it couldn't hurt to get a copy of the autopsy report if there was one done. And you got the report.

The extent of her injuries just seemed enormous for a woman who had just taken a fall. She had fractures all over her body. Her skull was fractured. She had a broken finger. Her teeth were broken. It just seemed to... Too much for a fall. Benji soon had questions about what he had to say. He had seen at his mother's house. I just said, Wait until the investigation concludes before you make any judgment. Questioning whether or not this was an accidental death. Yes, at that time he was, and I don't think it ever left him. Bernice's sister Maxine also doubted that it was an accident. When you were told that your sister had died, were you suspicious?

Go, Oh, she did all that herself. She fell down and got up and fell down. Like a jack-in-the-box, right? What was it about the circumstances surrounding her death and the crime scene photos that that really set up red flags for you? Everything. Everything? Just about everything. More red flags appeared when Brown learned from the Offordalls about a suspicious incident at Bernice's house when their son saw... Two men standing next to Bernice's garage appearing to be casing her home. And we thought that was a. Unusual but we didn't overly react. John, a retired NFL player and his son went to investigate. As we opened up the door, the Door, the dog started chasing after the guys happily. And I said, hey, what are you guys doing? And they looked at us and for a second kind of were stunned. And then they started-- and then starting the sprint when the dog started chasing him. Two months later, Bernice was dead. When Narsi and Benji arrived at the house, Lin recalled she was acting strangely.

I remember Narcy was so odd. I mean, she just kept kind of jumping around the scene and wringing her hands and saying, I just-- Don't understand it and I just can't imagine and I just spoke with Bernice last night and we were gonna go... And shopping in the morning. And I kept thinking to myself, you guys don't get along. You don't like each other. Why, she wouldn't go vitamin shopping with you. None of that made any sense to me. And all the blood that investigated the murder of the man who killed him. Seemingly overlooked in Bernice's house made no sense to Julie Brown so she Ex-police officer Joe Matthews for his expert opinion. What did you see that the police did not? When you look at the crime scene, there's blood spatter on the walls. There's blood in almost every room of the house. The investigator felt that it was one of those things where she would stand up and fall down.

They end up and fall down and walk all over the house. But then how do you explain the blood spatter? So these are crime scene photos from Bernice's home. Now what happened here? If you look at the crime scene, you'll see that there was a lot of blood on the seat, but I saw some blood spatter, so if there's spatter, that means she was struck more than once in the head while sitting here. Convinced she uncovered a murder, Julie took her findings to the Fort Lauderdale Police Department. department. Go to them with question after question to the point where they were getting extremely upset with me. It's an accident. Are you suggesting that this was a cover-up? Initially I don't think it was a cover-up. I think initially that they were really thought that it was an accident. I think that they made a lot of mistakes. I think that it was really a lot of mistakes.

Is about to change. As investigators were making a deal with hitman Alejandro Garcia to testify against Narcan Cristobal, hired him to attack Bernice beating the 86 year old woman with a wrench. And then he was approached by Christabel Valvuliz to kill Bernice. And he waited when it got dark on the side of her house by her garbage pails. And when she came out to move her car into the garage is when he struck her. Garcia told investigators he was hired by Cristobal for both attacks and once again, Narcy was the mastermind. Ten months after they were arrested for Benjy's murder, Christobal and Narcy were also charged in Bernice's death. But why would Narcy want Benji's mother dead?

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3 years after the murders of both Ben Novak Jr. and his mother, Narcy Novak, Jr. And Christabel Veliz went on trial in federal court in Westchester. She looked very gaunt. She went out of her way to not make herself look attractive. She was given the option of wearing regular clothing, and she chose to wear her orange prison jumpsuit every day. Garcia and Joel Gonzalez made deals with the prosecution to testify for the chance of receiving a lighter sentence. They all paid Basically ended up cooperating. And the prosecution had an overwhelming amount of evidence against the defendants. Cristobal used his credit card to purchase. The dumbbells that we used to beat Ben Novak, he also used his credit card to purchase the knife that we used to cut out Ben's eyes. The Jo--

Corey was also shown video taken at a Western Union, which prosecutors say shows crispable sending money to hit man Garcia, one of the many clues he left behind. - He used his own car for some of the. He used his own cell phone. So that left a trail that we were able to uncover. Against Narsi was also strong. Prosecutors told the jury about Narsi's secret cell phone. They called it a drop phone. - Now that particular phone was used. At 6.40, 6.39 in the morning at the right town Hilton. - Narsi used it to call the hitmen. As they waited at a gas station down the street. - We had located what phone Narsi used to call the killers and tell them, Come on in. And that was big. - And remember that video of Narsi - Prosecutors say Narcy tried to establish an alibi by intentionally standing before the hotel.

Security cameras around the time of the murder. the cameras were and where they weren't. I mean you could tell by that that particular morning how she plants herself directly right in front of a camera and that's where she stays she makes some phone calls because she Who wants to be seen on that camera. -The defense tried to hammer back. Hit men's credibility and reminded the jury they were testifying after making a deal with prosecutors and they dropped A bombshell. The possibility of another killer. I asked Cristobal about that in a phone call from jail. Did you orchestrate the murder of Benji Novak? No. Did you arrange for the murder of Bernice Novak? No sir. They pinned these murderers on you, sir. They be well paid by my niece, May Avad. Incredibly.

Christobal points the finger at Narsi's daughter, May Abad. Benji Novak and Bernice? I don't know about Mrs. Bernice. I cannot say nothing about that lady because so far I know she fell down. But I know she... Told me about my brother-in-law, yes, she came to me and she told me, Ben deserves to die because Ben was a bad, evil person. He told some wild story that didn't make any sense at all, trying to point the finger at her daughter. It was truly unbelievable. Chris Amal's story quickly flew to the US. Apart when Alejandro Garcia testified that in reality, Mayibad was next on his list. When we interviewed Alejandro and we took him into custody, he had a picture of me in his wallet.

Obviously the hit was out on May. Only Narcy knows why she'd want her only daughter killed, but the apparent plot worried Detective Carpentier. She became so concerned about May's safety, she loaned her $5,000 of her own money so she could go into hiding. You got into trouble. Well, I didn't get into trouble. The prosecutor's office removed me from the case. Were you angry? I wasn't angry. I was disappointed because you worked so hard and obviously I wanted to be there for the takedown, the arrest. The carpenter was there for the verdict after a two-month trial when Narcy Novak and Christabel Veliz were convicted of orchestrating death. And Bernice's murders. And then I have earned guilty, guilty, guilty. So it was exciting for us. As elaborate and convoluted as the murder plots were, Narsi's motive was quite simple.

She knew he had a mistress. She was afraid he was going to leave her and divorce her. Ben and Narsi's prenup only guaranteed her $65,000 in the event of a divorce. Intentions were to be with me and he did not want me to be with anyone else. He asked me to just wait until he was finished with divorce. And that's why Matthew says, Narsi had no choice. But to arrange a double murder. She had to kill the old lady for him to get all the money and then kill him. To get all the money. And that's how simple it was. I mean, could this have been the perfect murder? Any murder could be the perfect murder, but then... Not. There's always something. She was sloppy. I think she thought she was smarter than the investigators. Narsi may not have outsmarted the investigators, but she did surprise them. We were surprised to learn that she stayed in the room and participated. That was the biggest surprise to see that she could be the best.

Vicious watching somebody that you live with and live in the same house with for 20 years and to watch them die like that. And even more... Surprising was the author of that letter to police which pointed the finger at both Cristobal and Narcy. It was written by... One of their own sisters. You have to question what type of family fabric existed for them to be able to get to this point. Just about everything from this case turned out to be surprising. From the relationship... This ambition of Benji Novak. I think that Benji was just a demanding individual. And in the roles that I had seen him while he was in business, it was always demanding because he wanted the best for his customers. Of his wife, Narcy. - This is somebody that is a monster. She was such a sociopath and such a great liar. - To the devotion of Benji.

She's mistress. I miss Ben every day. I love him very much. But in the end, all that... Left is the money. 10 million dollars by some estimates. dwindling fast Between lawyers and squabbling family members. For the Novak family, once-- royalty of Miami Beach. The lights are out and the party is over. In 2012, Narcy Novak and her brother, Christobal Veliz, were sentenced to life in prison without parole. If you like this podcast, you can listen ad-free. Right now by joining Wondery+ in the Wondery app. Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a quick survey at Wondery.com/survey.

- Steltoro, Panama. A secluded seaside hideaway, Scott Makeda has no idea that his tropical haven is about to become his personal hell. A serial killer pretending to be a therapist. Holbert rents a room and that's where he set up his business as a fake shrink. Accusations of a gringo mafia. Gunrunning drugs. A slaughtered family. And then he goes back and he plants another bullet. A killer on tape. Hey, man, I'm guilty. Everybody knows I'm a monster. The law of the jungle is simple. Survive. I'm your host, Candace DeLong. From Tree Fort Media and the City of Chicago, Village Roadshow Entertainment Group. This is Natural Selection, Scott versus Wild Bill.

Where ever you get your podcasts. New episodes drop weekly. ♪♪♪♪♪ Of one of her own novels. She was a romance mystery writer who happens to be married to a chef. But this story didn't end with a happily ever after. When I stepped into the kitchen, I could see that Chef Brophy was on the ground and I heard somebody say, Call 911. As writers, we'd written our share of murder mysteries. So when suspicion turned to Dan's wife, Nancy, we weren't that surprised. The first person they look at would be the spouse. We understand that's usually the way they do it. But we began to wonder, had no Nancy gotten so wrapped up in her own novels. There are murders in all of the books. That she was playing them out in real life. Follow Happily Never After Dan and Nancy. Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge all episodes of

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