he put her up in a nice waterfront apartment and told bliss he was going to leave his wife for her. narcy, the story goes, learned of the affair and called bliss, saying if i can t have him, no one will. six months later, he was dead and without eyes to ever look at another woman. this case was about money and it was about narcy not wanting to be replaced. when defense attorney howard tanner put on his case, he zeroed in on the hit men s credibility and their motivation in testifying. he also attacked their allegation that narcy was in the room during the murder. they themselves stated they would do anything to help themselves. in my book, they would have been willing to lie. is narcy in the room? absolutely not. how about the disturbing direction she allegedly gives them, gouge his eyes out. it didn t happen. narcy s daughter may could have been involved in the murder so she and her sons could inherit ben s estate. if narcy novak disappears, she
takes and her children take under the will, those are facts. so that s the defense? jurors consider who is going to get this money here and it s not just narcy novak, it s the daughter here, may. there was an incomplete investigation done in this case. i m not claiming that anyone else committed this murder. the defense here is that narcy novak did not commit this murder. detectives concluded that may knew nothing about ben s will until well after the murder. i didn t even know that my name or the boy s names were in this will. after a nine-week trial, narcy and her brother were found guilty of racketeering and conspiracy in the death of ben novak jr. and his mother bernice. they were acquitted of only one charge, involving the theft of ben s diamond bracelet. for the crime that conspirator s almost got away with the murder of bernice novak, the conviction carried a mandatory life sentence for both. the best part was that bernice could finally rest in peace. after the ver
through. yes. when the cops were finally done with the two of them for the night, may confronted her mother. i asked her to her face what, did you have something to do with this? i did. i got in her face and they had pictures of like the crime scene and stuff and i smacked them in her face. you think your mother killed ben jr.? i think she definitely had something to do with it. you know, i didn t think she did it herself personally. the cops had only started to peel back the many layers of the novak family story. there was still so much about these people they didn t know. coming up i see my mother coming at me with a crowbar. when dateline continues. when dateline continues aim to say that more with aimovig. a preventive treatment for migraine in adults that reduces the number of monthly migraine days. for some, that number can be cut in half or more. don t take aimovig if you re allergic to it. allergic reactions like rash or swelling
narcy left behind her stripper pole to marry ben jr. she felt like excess baggage. she was dispatched to boarding school at the age of 8. did you feel you had been shipped off? kind of. you had a tough childhood. best thing is that it s over. ben jr. and her mother lived in a $2 million ft. lauderdale estate with a boat out back. his elderly mother bernice lived not far away. but may, the stepdaughter, was never going to be a rich man s trust fund kid. she grew up tough and hard, estranged from her mother, paying her own way with bar tending and waitressing jobs. she had two children young and sweated the bills. it was the grandchildren that ultimately thawed some of the ice between mother and daughter. she may have been a horrible mother, but she was the best grandmother. she did everything with them. and ben jr. warmed to may. the one time lonely prince belatedly seemed to recognize a kindred spirit in lonely
detective alison carpettier didn t think there was time. and here came a moment of big moral dilemma for you as a person and officer. yes, it was hard. i decided to give her the money and tell her to move. your money from your bank account. yes. the west chester detective loaned may $5,000 of her own money. may promised to pay her back. when prosecutors learned of it, they removed detective allison from the case. the defense,ed that they admonished would call it buying witness testimony. i can t sleep at night. i am very grateful to her because if i didn t move when i did, i wouldn t be here today. almost a year after ben s murder, narcy was indicted and walked before the cameras of america s most wanted. she and her brother were charged with racketeering and conspiracy for two murders, witness