Narcy Novack's Brother Denies Involvement In NY, S. Fla. Murders
WHITE PLAINS (CBSMiami/AP) -- One of two people, on trial for killing South Florida millionaire Ben Novack Jr. said in court Monday he had nothing to do with it.
Cristobal Veliz of Brooklyn is accused of helping his sister Narcy Novack, of Fort Lauderdale, of hiring hit men to kill her husband and mother-in-law in a play for their family fortune.
Veliz repeatedly denied accusations from the admitted killers that he had hired and paid them.
Veliz was in his second day of testimony. He and his sister are accused in the 2009 killings of Bernice Novack in Fort Lauderdale and Ben Novack Jr. in New York.
Novack Jr., son of the founder of the famed Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach. was found beaten to death at the Hilton Hotel in Rye Brook, New York in 2009.
For the most part, Veliz simply answered "no" to scores of questions as his lawyer asked if the killers' testimony was true.
Veliz denied paying for either attack, buying the weapons or giving the killers instructions.
Graphic crime scene photos showed Ben's hands and legs bound with duct tape and the bed stained with blood.
If convicted of murder in aid of racketeering, Narcy and her brother could be sent to prison for life.
The trial is expected to wrap up in mid to late June.
(TM and © Copyright 2012 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
