Linda Stein, a New York real estate known as “broker to the stars,” was found dead, apparently bludgeoned to death in her Manhattan apartment.
[photopress:Linda_Stein.jpg,thumb,alignright]Her body was found on Tuesday by her daughter but the cause of death was not confirmed until an autopsy Wednesday. Linda lived by herself. The building featured heavy security and there was no sign of forced entry or robbery. Reports say that all people entering the building use the elevator and there is an elevator operator. Officials have not announced any motives or suspects in the case.
Linda was the ex-wife of Seymour Stein, former president of Sire Records, which was the launching pad for the Ramones, Talking Heads and Madonna.
Before real estate Stein was a pivotal figure in the early New York punk scene, co-managing the Ramones with Danny Fields, and was a friend to David Bowie, Talking Heads, The B-52s and Madonna as wife of Sire Records founder Seymour Stein.
Her career continued into the world of expensive real estate, as she brokered property deals for stars like Sting, Billy Joel, Harrison Ford, Rolling Stone editor Jann Wenner, LaToya Jackson, Sylvester Stallone and Andrew Lloyd Webber, amongst others.
For many local Seattle-area agents this brings up painful memories of Windermere agent Michael Emert who was murdered in January 2001 in a Woodinville home listed for sale. Mr. Emert was showing the home or previewing it for a buyer at the time of his murder. Mr. Emert’s body was found by the seller, who is represented by another real estate firm and was a stranger to Mr. Emert. Police believe that Mr. Emert’s late-model Cadillac SUV was taken by the perpetrator and later abandoned in Kirkland. As far as I know this murder was never solved. But it caused a major change in many agents behavior when meeting prospective clients and help inspire SKAR‘s (Seattle-King County Association of Realtors) “Safety Week
I don’t think this murder had as much to do with her career as it did with her life style and friends. Nevertheless it does bring to light once again the need to be cautious when dealing with unknown prospects.
http://nogimmicksrealestate.blogspot.com/
We fear the stranger, yet a person is more likely to be killed by someone he/she knows than by a stranger. It will be interesting to see how this story unfolds. How sad. The Prudential website has a nice obituary posted. Anytime we lose a punk rock pioneer, I will wear black the next day.
http://www.prudentialelliman.com/mainsite/agents/agents.aspx?BID=LSSS
CNN is reporting that the police have arrested the alleged killer…
…and it was Col. Mustard with the wrench in the foyer, or if we’re playing The Simpsons version, it was Krusty the Klown with the poison donut in the garden.
No, it was the personal assistant, with a blunt object, at the apartment.
Now we’ll all be wondering about motive. The obvious guesses are sex and money.
No, it sounds like it was more of a “Nanny Diaries” or “Devil Wears Prada” type situation, except the ending isn’t a happy one. Demanding boss drives harried assistant into a murderous rage.
I was thinking more like Selena, the singer who was killed by her embezzling assistant.
I read the article (maybe in the Times or PI, can’t remember) and apparently the assistant is saying that Stein “wouldn’t stop yelling at her.”
Sounds pretty crazy but it reminded me of those books. Except in those books they did the intelligent thing and found a better job!
Well it looks like the Linda Stein murder mystery has been solved. Her personal assistant, Natavia Lowery, was arrested and charged yesterday (Friday, Nov 9th) with second degree murder. I read the same thing as Sandy had – that Stein had been verbally abusive to her. Apparently she confessed after being brought in for questioning by the NYPD.
Most agents who have assistants work pretty closely with them. My assistant Gina has been with me about three years and I owe much of my success to her dedication and hard work. There can be a lot of stress and details to deal with. But its sad when you see something like this happen.
It will be interesting to see how the assistant arranges her defense.