Assistant Arrested in Stein Murder

The New York Sun ^ | November 9, 2007 | Christopher Faherty

[khnyny]

A personal assistant of famed realtor Linda Stein has been arrested in her slaying, police officials said today.

Police arrested Natavia Lowery, who worked for Stein at Prudential Douglas Elliman, after she made statements that implicated her in the murder, a police department spokesman, Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne, said.

Stein, a former manager for the punk rock band, The Ramones, who parlayed her links to celebrities into a lucrative real estate career that included clients such as Sting and Madonna, was bludgeoned to death on October 30th inside her multimillion-dollar Fifth Avenue apartment.

Ms. Lowery is alleged to have hit Stein over the head several times with a piece of exercise equipment called a Pilate stick, a lawyer for Stein's daughter Mandy Stein, Edward Hayes, said. The city's medical examiner has attributed the death to blunt force trauma.

"I've never heard of one woman beating another woman to death, and I was in homicide during the height of the crime wave," Mr. Hayes said.

During interrogations, Ms. Lowery, an African American, told investigators she had become enraged that Stein had made a racist comment toward her, sources said.

[AU72]

she had become enraged that Stein had made a racist comment toward her,

I smell a 'Race Rage' defense coming up.

[wideawake]

During interrogations, Ms. Lowery, an African American, told investigators she had become enraged that Stein had made a racist comment toward her, sources said.

She's a smart cookie.

That's about the smartest angle she could come up with for this otherwise open-and-shut case.

[Froufrou]

[ClearCase_guy]

Ms. Lowery is alleged to have hit Stein over the head several times with a piece of exercise equipment called a Pilate stick

Stein had been taking a self-defense class, but they had not progressed beyond fresh fruit ...

[Shermy]

The weapon:

Doesn't look Roman to me. Maybe the writer meant "pilates"

BTW, are the Ramones cursed like the Little Rascals?

[KSCITYBOY]

The old “Whitey got what she deserved” defense.

[snarks_when_bored]

While some people close to Stein acknowledged she could be rough on employees, including the staff at her 965 Fifth Ave. apartment building, they said there were no signs that her relationship with Ms. Lowery had become hostile.

Hillary Clinton might want to consider cutting back on her profanity-laced shreddings of her subordinates...

[rockabyebaby]

Well I’m sure Ms. Lowery will not face any jail time, afterall, she’s a minority and she probably was abused as a child and and and she never got her reparations so she took it out on “the man”, well, in this case “the woman”, yep, wait and see, it’ll all come out eventually.

[khnyny]

She's a smart cookie.

That's about the smartest angle she could come up with for this otherwise open-and-shut case.

Well, yes and no. She's smart to pull the race card, but dumb as a box of rocks to have murdered this poor woman.

Bottom line - if Lowery was really all that brilliant, she would have recorded Ms. Stein's supposed racist rants and sold them to the highest bidder. Although, in all fairness, it does sound like Ms. Stein was difficult at times, especially to those she considered beneath her.

[elli1]

Investigators worked around the clock questioning family members, building employees, and collecting forensic evidence from Stein's apartment, including pieces of the victim's bathtub.

[massgopguy]

When will Ms. Stein be accused of being the offspring of “Diamond Merchants”?

[elli1]

Ms. Lowery, an African American, told investigators she had become enraged that Stein had made a racist comment toward her, sources said.

So Lowery says. Probably be a good idea to check the accounting books...

[khnyny]

I imagine the perp is only being charged with 2nd degree murder because the police believe it was not pre-meditated?

[Sunshine Sister]

This is going to be interesting. Is there any other witnesses that heard what was said? A racist remark is not grounds for murder in my book.

[Francis McClobber]

I say, “Ms Lowery in the forier with the Pilates stick.”

Do I win?

[khnyny]

So Lowery says. Probably be a good idea to check the accounting books...

Yep.

[weegee]

“I’ve never heard of one woman beating another woman to death,”

Hmm, lesbians get into abusive relationships all the time. It isn’t just guns and knives that kill.

[weegee]

Tommy LIVES!

[jonrick46]

This takes the saying, “Sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me,” to a new dimension.