Police Scour for Suspects In Real Estate Broker’s Death
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Investigators so far are coming up empty in their search for a suspect in the death of a famed real estate broker.
“We’re still in the process of interviewing residents, workers in the building, and construction workers in the area,” Commissioner Raymond Kelly said.
Linda Stein, a real estate broker to celebrities and rock stars, was found bludgeoned to death inside her 18th-floor apartment on Fifth Avenue Tuesday night. The apartment had a private elevator and doormen on patrol at all times.
“All I can tell you is there were no signs of forced entry, there were blunt trauma wounds or marks on the victim’s head, and the investigation is moving forward,” Mr. Kelly said.
Over the past two days, investigators questioned nine construction workers who were making repairs on a 16th-floor balcony and the roof of the building, one of the workers who was questioned, Miguel Chiqui, 35, said moments after exiting the 19th Precinct house last night. Police wanted to know the whereabouts of the workers at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, he said.
Police vacuumed the construction workers’ clothing in an attempt to discover carpet fibers matching those in Stein’s apartment. They also took DNA samples from inside the workers’ mouths, Mr. Chiqui said.
The men, who worked for Wonder Works, entered the building through a service entrance located on 78th Street, Mr. Chiqui said. To reach the work sites, they used a service elevator; they had no access to the stairwells of the building, Mr. Chiqui said.
“No, we’re not scared, we didn’t do anything,” Mr. Chiqui said about the investigation.
If a suspect is eventually convicted of murdering Stein, it would be the first committed this year in the police precinct that encompasses the Upper East Side. In 2006, there was one murder in the neighborhood, according to police statistics.
While Stein was sometimes described as caustic, her close friends said it was an abrasive charm. They said Stein was an incredible friend and a giving philanthropist who did not have enemies.
However, speculation swirled yesterday over a possible suspect after several press reports mentioned a former lover with whom Stein, 62, had a rocky relationship.
A close friend of Stein, Faith Hope Consolo, who also worked with the victim at Prudential Douglas Elliman, said the reports — one by the Daily News describing the ex-boyfriend as a “Latin lover” — were likely referring to a former business associate named Raul. She said she did not recall his last name.
A listing for a Prudential Douglas Elliman property in Europe identified Stein and Raul Diaz-Bernal as the broker contacts.
Ms. Consolo said that while office rumors flew that the two were having an affair, their relationship was strictly platonic.
“People were jealous of her,” she said. “They were more friends than anything else.”
However, the business relationship went sour after the two had a fight over a business deal, and Mr. Diaz-Bernal was fired, Ms. Consolo said.
Calls placed to an Upper East Side residence listed as belonging to Mr. Diaz-Bernal went unanswered. The police would not say whether Mr. Diaz-Bernal had been questioned.
As celebrities such as Madonna and Elton John publicly mourned Stein’s death yesterday, her family did not comment.
“Thank you for checking in, but unfortunately we are not commenting on what is going on,” Stein’s daughter, Samantha Lee Wells, said.