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Trial of Alleged Murderer of Hasidic Landlord Menachem Stark Begins

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Hasidic landlord Menachem Stark (left) was allegedly murdered by Kendel Felix (right).

On Wednesday, September 7, in a State Supreme Court in Brooklyn, the trial began of the man charged with the murder of Hasidic landlord Menachem Stark. 

28-year-old Kendel Felix is facing life in prison for Stark’s killing, which is now being presented to the jury as a “robbery gone wrong.” Prosecutors described how Felix, a carpenter who had done some work for Stark, and “a team of kidnappers,” which was comprised of many of Stark’s own relatives, participated in a plot to abduct Stark and “shake him down for money.”

The main evidence against Felix is a videotaped confession. According to the New York Times, “In the confession, parts of which were played during pretrial hearings, Mr. Felix described how he had been approached by his cousin Erskine Felix, another laborer who claimed that Mr. Stark owed him money, and had been persuaded to participate in a scheme to scare the landlord and recover the debt.

Prosecutors from the Brooklyn district attorney’s office added details to the narrative in their opening argument. They said that in the middle of the snowstorm, the Felix cousins forced Mr. Stark into the minivan after a violent struggle on the street outside his office and drove him to the home of another relative of theirs named Irvine Henry. When Mr. Henry noticed that Mr. Stark was dead, Kendel Felix and a fourth relative drove to Great Neck, doused the body with gasoline, set it on fire and left it in the trash bin, the prosecutors said.”

Back in April 2014, Felix was questioned after an investigation that lasted four months. Felix eventually confessed to his part in the abduction after being interrogated the whole night. During opening arguments, Jack Goldberg, Felix’s attorney, asserted that his client’s confession was coerced. Six years ago, Felix was in a motorcycle accident and suffered brain trauma, which left him “vulnerable to this type of intense interrogation,” Goldberg told the jury. The prosecution’s theory of the case was criticized by Goldberg, who pointed out that no request for ransom was made and no money was taken from Stark.

The trial is expected to continue through the whole month of September. On Wednesday, assistant district attorney Emily Dean told the jury that it would be presented with evidence aside from Felix’s confession. NYT reports, “Ms. Dean said traces of Mr. Stark’s DNA had been found inside the minivan along with an envelope containing rent from one of his tenants. She also said cellphone data had been used to track Mr. Felix at the scene of the abduction and at the gas station where Mr. Stark’s body was found.

There are also likely to be heated arguments over the confession. Mr. Goldberg promised to call as a witness a psychologist who would testify that Mr. Felix had been manipulated by the police because of his brain injury and low I.Q. Ms. Dean told the jury that she would call an expert witness who would testify that Mr. Felix’s confession was legitimate.”

On Wednesday, Stark’s widow, Vashi Stark testified about the night her husband was killed, telling the court that he should have been at a wedding. “I was expecting him to be home by 11,” the widow told the jury, according to the New York Post, “or 11:30 at the latest.”

By that time, Stark had already been abducted outside his Williamsburg office, tied up and shoved into a Dodge Caravan, then suffocated. Later on, his partially-burned body was discovered in a dumpster in Great Neck.

On Thursday, September 8, as a video of the gruesome scene was played for the court, Felix leaned forward looking upset, while members of Stark’s family were brought to tears and some even left the court room. 

The Post reports, “Now-retired NYPD Detective Bruce Schurman who filmed the crime scene, also held up a ski mask with its sales tag still attached, and a pair of gloves, saying they were found discarded near the dumpster.”

“There was snow, regular items found in dumpsters like cardboard boxes,” Ross noted. “[Stark’s] entire stomach had been eviscerated, and his organs were exposed. You could smell the gasoline’’ from when it had been poured over him and torched.

So far, Felix is the only person charged in the killing and faces 50 years to life in prison if convicted. Officials say their investigation is still underway into Felix’s purported accomplices.

By Mark Snyder

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