Author: admin

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/crazy-love-who-murdered-miami-beach-hotel-heir-benji-novack/

Wow.  What a couple of days.  It started with Onassis, but there wasn’t much there.  American Greed Monday was cancelled so I had to do it myself.  There was the guy, Colin Something, who killed his father and stepmother in Slippery Rock.  Minkow and Petters.  There was the rehash of Pamela Phillips and the discovery of Dying to Belong.   The Highlands Ranch, CO guy with the perpetual grin who killed both his wives; how long do you have to be married to collect spousal social security?  And finally, but not the winner, was Fayed Fatso and Goldfinger, aka e-bullion in Moorpark, CA.  That is a good one.  The woman there, Pam Fayed, appeared to be every bit the equal or better of her husband yet she was stalked and finally killed.  It was brutal and right out in the open.  They had $24 million in the safe in gold and a 200-acre ranch.  He was a slob electrician; she was divorced with a daughter.

The winner is Narcy Novack.  Of course it isn’t funny at all.  I cannot think of a better title:  Crazy Love.  Maybe Demented, Violent, and Sick, but not love.

“He was one of those drivers who drove the route from Philly, to New York City, to Washington, D.C.”  the description from the detective sergeant goes.  You can watch the apartment in the show.

His colleague on the case (Alison Carpentier), you can see it in the screenshot above, retired after the arrests.  It took almost a year after the murder.  The Westchester County detective is one of the heroes in this story.  It took that much out of her, but she was right because it was over.  There was a mountain of evidence and there is no way the trial would be lost.  But the prosecution kicked her off the case.  She had given the third intended murder victim (Benji’s 85-year old mother was the first) $5000 of her own money for safety.

This was a poor, immigrant family from Ecuador.  Narcy is the youngest of six; Cristobal, the bus driver, is an older brother; a sister wrote the letter early-on to the PD in Spanish detailing the plot and the criminals.

That is where the high finance was orchestrated, right there on the kitchen table with Western Union money transfers.

Did they make mistakes, was it the perfect murder?  It was not even close.  Even the motive–money–was not obscure.  It was so completely obvious it only took one year for arrests and two years to go to trial.

There were money trails, corroborating confessions, photographs and video, credit card receipts. motel records, cellphone data, and more.  It was a clear-cut conspiracy.  Narcy had done it before in terms of a violent attack for money and these murders were planned and attempted multiple times.

The Miami police department, despite Novack’s very friendly ties, was virtually complicit in the first murder, that of the elder Mrs. Novack.  What about Ft. Lauderdale, don’t they have a police department?

Anyway, Narcy reminds me ever so slightly, just a tiny, tiny bit of my own mother.

Or should I say, I have known people like that.  I have known people who you cannot even have a conversation with; everything they say is jibberish.  Clearly they are trying to cover-up some flaw of their own but you cannot really tell what it is.  They are extremely outwardly- and money-conscious.  They are uneducated but smart, or should I say more like perceiving and even relentless.  They know nothing about money or finance, they are just afraid of being poor.  In terms of personal relationships, if they cannot have something or someone, no one can.  Their life really boils down to that one simple point:  if I cannot have it, I don’t want any part of it.  At some point it will come down to a reckoning, all or nothing but I, as the matriarch, have earned it.  I deserve it.  I’m your mother.

Say what you want about Ben Novack, Jr.  He was demanding and spoiled as a child is not that bad.  As a 10-year old he could and did fire employees at the Fountainbleu Hotel.  He also led a lonely life for a child.  He learned and related to prostitutes.  You could say the same about Gauguin.

I think Benji was a very hard worker who built Convention Concepts virtually by himself and he was the impetus behind the whole family’s employment and lifestyle.  By every account excluding Narcy’s, he was an outstanding stepfather and role model for May Abad:

Under Novack’s last will, with Narcy out of the picture, her daughter, May Abad, 38, is designated to receive $150,000, with the balance — and bulk — of his estate left to Abad’s two sons, Marcello, 21, and Patrick, 20, in the form of trusts. Abad also has a third son, Ben, born after her stepfather’s death.

… I don’t know.  I’ve never heard anything about where these children came from–I mean who the father is–or what her deal is.  She sounds honest and articulate.  Last I read she was seeking some money from the court–it is worth mentioning that she put the kabash legally on quick payouts to Narcy after the murder–for surgery for one of her sons because she is working two jobs and cannot afford it.  They are all pretty helpless and they are after money.  I don’t know.

Did I mention, they were poor immigrants and Narcy was a stripper?  That is how she met and clung to Ben, Jr.  One of the quotes in one of the shows is “She was promoted to stripper.”  As I mentioned earlier, for her none of it was the first time.

https://www.hotel-online.com/News/PR2009_3rd/Jul09_BNovack.html

the stories behind the accusations

Annaleece Merrill is someone I don’t want to mess with.  Or should I say mess around with.  Bad joke.  She pops-up quite a bit on Google.

I’m not entirely sure I follow her journey.  I think religion is a part of it but she does not write about that.  Three jobs is descriptive and there is nothing wrong with industrious effort.  And you cannot go wrong through education.

“I learned that I could use the coping skills that I had learned to help girls that are currently going through unplanned pregnancies,” she writes and that provides some direction.

And I fear that studying a little psychology doesn’t qualify you.  It could be difficult given that you love your birth daughter but she is adopted by another person or family.

The Torrey Green story is an interesting/awful one.  There is a lot about it on on the web.  I remember Auston Robertson at Michigan State.  Never have I seen such an obvious predator and the case against him.

Very sadly, he is probably going to spend most of his life in prison and that is a result of our (society’s) inability to protect ourselves from him.  It is more a sickness than a crime.  Hooray for the women because they have learned to stand-up for themselves and hopefully protect themselves too.

For Green it isn’t love, attraction, or even dating.  It is like football in that it is aggressive if not violent.  Texting someone you don’t even know for months is very strange.  The whole thing was as premeditated and continuous as can be.  What really was the goal or problem with Torrey Green?

A very telling sign of something really out of kilter is saying afterward “Don’t report it.”  You shouldn’t have to say that.  You certainly shouldn’t plan to say it or say it repeatedly as an ordinary matter after a “date.”

What it means, if you follow college sports, is if he gets in trouble he could be kicked-off the team.  He would lose his scholarship and his “career” as a student-athlete.  He wasn’t even a starter for the most part.  He was not an NFL prospect.

Parts of this story stick out.  First is the long-time predatory behavior which probably goes back to high school.  Then there is the intransigence of the university and police department (see below).  Something else is the unique atmosphere; this is Utah, not East Lansing.  And, as mentioned previously, what really is the mental disorder that Torrey Green is dealing with?

As for Logan, Utah, what is probably going to happen–what should happen–is Utah State University will be sued for failing to provide adequate and appropriate Title IX resources.  Hopefully the sheriff’s department will receive a wake-up call too.

The women?  Of course they are victims.  Just look at the trauma.  First, report it even if you know they are not going to do anything.  Next, rest easy that he is behind bars and know that your community is now aware.  You are aware too.  Go ahead and write on birthmom.com if it helps.  You survived and eventually there was support.

Remember the coping lessons?  Per Annaleece, things can and will get better.

First, two things and then maybe more.

There is a woman I know who I learned a lot from and I tried to help.  I contacted the social workers and psychologists involved to no avail.  I want to get this off my chest.  Our last “talk” was barely talking.  It was really just two people saying loudly what was on their mind.  It was not constructive and there was no point.  From her all I really remember is “What about him, what about him!” referring to her ex and the source of all that ruin.

I knew what was coming.  “What about you?”

Is that narcissism?  In the court system and in a big part of her life she got killed.  For some reason it just didn’t work.

And the thing is, it is completely different when one is on their own.  Kids and a spouse (and dependent family members) make all the difference in the world.

Second, I wrote a story about 17 years ago about alcoholism in my family.  It was especially for my siblings, to whom I sent copies.  It was pretty upbeat and there was a happy ending, but that part was fiction of course.  For me it was a reckoning as I chose a life away from that; I understood addiction and I decided against it.  Obviously I had to also choose a lifestyle managing and confronting a family that would not change.  Selfish?  I had to for my own survival.  I made every effort not to hurt anyone else in the process.

For years and still to this day I pondered the notion of How can anyone be so cruel?  How can someone not pay attention?  Only recently have I realized that with alcoholics you are dealing with only a portion of a person because another large part of them is consumed by the addiction.  They’re not whole, and you are fighting for a portion of a portion of their attention, and what is left may be jaded too.  Why no attention?  My attention is consumed elsewhere.  I’m not doing it because it is fun, occasional, or social, I am doing it to reach a different state and place for my attention.

The two are related, I think.

Third bullet and to no one’s immediate concern whatsoever.  In online dating I will reply when I know what to say.  I warned you this last part isn’t worth reading for anyone but myself.

I never do this.  This blog has not been about people who read it, and that was a mistake.

I have always thought that this website is about me making notes and that the whole thing was for my benefit.  That was wrong.  People read it.  I want them to read it.  It is actually about sharing.

It is also about becoming a better writer and that is certainly related.  I realize that it is often cryptic and that it is hard for the reader to follow.  I would like to think that I can improve on that.

I love customer satisfaction.  If I had to name a pet peeve (I suppose there are others), it would be small businesses who say ‘It is my business and I’ll do what I want.’  Maybe that too is a little like sharing, but it is also true that any business works off of customers and reputation.  A bigger business or one with professionalism and more at stake would be more likely to at least get through the transaction.  And they would be a whole lot more likely to have heard it before, want to listen, and to want to improve.

I have never been inclined to narrate my way through or to explain a lot of things here.  The whole thing was more or less my calendar as I could look back and be reminded of the things I was working on, if you, the reader will.  Occasionally I would refer someone to it because I thought it contained something factual, useful, or helpful; people who know me know this is here.  I do not even know who reads it or finds it as I have turned-off all website statistics.  I believe Youtube and others may use cookies but otherwise there are no cookies.

All that is no reason not to write for the reader, and write better.  As some have said for many other and different reasons, the time is now.

As for Steve Gillette, it is a happy song for me.  The song came through loud and clear on an old cassette and I had to look on the internet to find who the singer is.  I probably still have the album, but I didn’t remember.

What’s more, it proves that the cassette player in the big black Mercedes still works great.  What an amazing song!

I guess the song is pretty sad, but there’s nothing wrong with memories.  I believe if you try your best to do the right thing and if you make an effort not to hurt people, memories are just fine.

And there is nothing wrong with wondering.

Meng Wanzhou.

The warrant had been there since Aug. 22.  It is really just timing or, put another way, a lot of balls in the air.

Fraud.  According to an American Greed episode (!) it is the hardest crime to prove.  Proving intent to commit fraud is very difficult.

Recently, there was the documentary on Stanford Bank from the perspective of Toronto Dominion bank.  Apparently, other banks were wary and Toronto Dominion was not.  It is pretty darn complex and a lot of people in China will not understand it.  You cannot operate an illegal business without an illegal bank.

That is what I am working on.

Also, the pattern shows the crime and intent.

That is surely what we all need, a paleofuture blog.

It has not been a good year for the T. Rowe Price Communications and Technology fund, formerly the Media and Telecommunications fund.  Normally it is up about 20% a year.

As far as I can tell, not a whole lot has changed in terms of the growth.  Computers, smartphones, they are virtually one in the same and they are still getting better.  A lot of people have them; some still don’t, particularly in developing markets.

I had never heard of Huawei.  I know a little about ZTE because I have a ZTE phone.

Did you receive the presidential text?  Just imagine such a world.

It is a lot more than just a computer.  It is about communication, real people in everyday life, and every possible ramification within that.

So you are going to steal our technology and use it against us?

There is no question about it.  It is the new cold war.

I do not like Trump.  Perhaps Russia really isn’t a threat and China is.  But this has been going on a long time.  I like that his hard-headedness and forceful negotiations are showing up here.

Unindicted co-conspirator?  That is worth a read.

Michael Cohen.  Maybe that is the difference between a 2nd-level white collar criminal and an everyday blue collar one who spends their life in and out of jail.  For decades Cohen led the high life as Trumps fixer and having your boss and (former) protector elected president doesn’t hurt.

Then the fall came hard.  You can see it in his face and in his actions.  He only wants to preserve his family and do his best to avoid prison.  That life is over and he fully realizes it.

For a while he tried to continue with the old ways but it was over.  He was caught.

And there is no way he is a rogue lawyer.  It is one more giant stain on Trump, and it is one of many.  Could it bring him down or can he ride it out is the only real storyline.

Of all the stories that actually happened on American Greed and similar programs this one sticks out.

Nancy Pfister did not leave the greatest of legacies.  She went to college for a little while and never held a job.  Well into her fifties she was very attractive.  She was very well-versed in the ‘I am entitled to more’ syndrome.

All she really had was a $4 million house, mostly given the 36 acres, a $90K allowance, and a reputation.

The chances of success for her tenants and the man who murdered her were slim.  There was no lease or background check and they were paying $4K a month in rent, utilities, and expenses plus stress to satisfy Pfister and/or repair hassles and it was impossible.  And, they did not really have the money, at least not liquid.  Their brand new home spa business in tiny Aspen was a fiction if not a delusional fantasy.

But still, Nancy Pfister did not deserve to die, not like that or in any other way.

The hero of the story is Kathy Carpenter.

—

She is the former bank loan officer demoted because of problems including drinking.  Still, she was sharp enough and likeable enough to stay on as a teller.  How many people wouldn’t want such a job in Aspen?  Apparently the job also came with a subsidized apartment in town.

‘You’ve got something going for you but you are fat.’ Pfister said, or something like that, when they first met.  She used the bank and they saw each other.  Probably or hopefully she apologized and it was accompanied by something like I’m sorry but people who know me know I always say what is on my mind.

While Pfister never really did or accomplish anything, the story goes that she offered Carpenter a job as her personal assistant.  Carpenter turned it down by saying “You can’t afford me.”

Touche.

Put very simply, the poor woman said headboard–there is blood on the headboard–and had to go through the loss of her friend.  The police harassed her and destroyed her endlessly.  [I think she lost her job and home, and she moved in with her mother.] The police, led by the wise old (that is sarcasm) Lisa Miller, destroyed her.  All she did was find and try to help her now dead friend.

The police were gross.  Luckily, the murder weapon and thus the murderer fell into their hands.  Then he made things even easier by confessing.

Still they did not believe it and they harassed the brave Ms. Carpenter.  It reminds me of the little woman who broke the Eric Conn enterprise.  Her name is Jennifer Griffith.

I was going to write that apparently she and her (later) accomplice in doing the right thing Sarah Carver did not get anything out of it.  That still may be true.  But the whistleblower suit was instrumental in exposing and bringing down the ring.

Monday is American Greed day on CNBC.  It borders on obsession to watch the videos.  There are so many.

It helps to turn on the computer and let it go for a few hours.

I already had the video when I downloaded Season 12.  It helps to follow it if it is live TV.

There are a lot of similarities in the stories.  Many are about health care–oxycontin, hospice, addiction treatment, and medicare and medicaid fraud.  A lot are about financial fraud, like Madoff and Allen Stanford, both selling and buying it.  Some of the criminals are in their twenties or even teens and they have never accomplished or experienced anything else.  And some are older and they have done it in varying degrees for their whole lives.  Almost always there are outward signs of ostentation.

Usually the main characters are con artists–people who gain the trust of others and then abuse it.  They do not change.  They do not understand, or rather, they likely view it as the way of the world and it is worth it.  “Fun while it lasted,” may be the mantra.  That is the title of Bruce McNall’s memoir.

There has not been an American Greed episode on McNall.  But he was a crook from the get-go.  The coins and antiquities were swiped.

But the best thing about the show and stories like those it tells are the real people involved.  Sometimes they are stupid, sometimes they are not, and always they are real.  They give great interviews and they say wise things.  The whisleblowers especially are great.

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