Police Believe Stein May Have Let Killer In

The police have been, or are interested in, talking to a number of people who knew music manager-turned-real estate broker Linda Stein. Stein, apparently bludgeoned to death, was found in her exclusive Fifth Avenue apartment by her daughter and a friend earlier this week.

Since then more details have come out. Detectives believe Stein knew her killer and let him/her into the apartment, or that the killer is someone with access to the building. They believe she spent time with someone that afternoon, followed by a number of phone calls - however they have yet to narrow down what time the murder may have taken place. According to a NY Post graphic, elevators at 965 open directly into apartments. The police have spoken to construction workers who were on the roof of 965 Fifth Avenue; the foreman emphasized their cooperation and told the Times that all workers had "signed forms allowing DNA tests and that investigators had fingerprinted them and vacuumed their clothes."

The police have interrogated Stein's ex-lover, Francisco Arena, who said they were still friends after they broke up, and her ex-assistant Raoul Bernal, who Stein fired a few months ago after a dispute over commission. Additionally, the Daily News reports that Stein's friends told the police to also look for "high-end marijuana dealers" (Stein survived cancer twice). The police are also interviewing residents.

Stein was previously married to Seymour Stein, the music mogul who founded Sire Records. They met when Linda Stein was Linda Adler, a schoolteacher from the Bronx - a fifth grader set her up with his uncle Seymour. Seymour Stein told Roger Friedman of Fox News, "Our marriage was like a rollercoaster. Only a good one, like the Cyclone at Coney Island."

Photograph from a 1991 New York magazine profile of Stein, written by Michael Gross; Gross wrote on his website, "The city is poorer without her, though my guess is the tabloid stories to come will be more than a little rich."

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on November 2, 2007 2:11 PM

Comments [rss]

newsyspice

I miss Columbo and Kojack.

Rocknrope

Please. If anonymous comments were still active, this thread would be 100 times worse, particularly with that photo.

Apparently, most racists are both stupid and too lazy to register.

cool

apparently the apartment was not so exclusive

Monster_mash

I'm starting to miss anonymous commenting with this kind of vitriol.

Monster_mash

What did Stein do to deserve the kind of comments here?

mikeNYC,

Yeah, it is pretty much OK to smoke pot on 5th Avenue or otherwise, at least in my book. Who was making a double-standard?

And it doesn't seem she was a loser. She was a highly successful businesswoman, whose kids apparently loved her dearly.

mikeNYC and Snoopy,

Knock brokers if you want, but try navigating New York real estate market without one. And she was dealing with people who could clearly pay for her services and sought her out. Good for her.

virgil

What do you suppose people will say about you when you die, Snoops, old dog: "Valiantly and anomymously mocked of the recently deceased while online"? Your family will be so proud.

Snoopy

I find it interesting as I look at the photo of her at the age of 46 as the lead into this blog and I can just see her saying, "Trust me! I vouldn't steer you vrong for a minute. I've been in this business a wery wery long time and tell me? Vat could I do for you? Vould I steer you avay to a vrong path? Trust me. I should die on my mothers grave if I can't help you." "Got smoke?"

Snoopy

Somewhere I thought that the building had elevator operators. Yes, No? If not why would anyone allow just anyone to come off the elevator directly into your apartment?

This is a no brainer. The murderer either lived in the building and had access to the apartment or it was an aquaintance who she let in and that individual should be easily acknowledged on the surveilance tapes of the security cameras.

This is no Columbo Kojak kind of thing. The bitch had probably made a lot of enemies over the years dating back before that 1991 photo they posted of her, but she was living on the edge for too long.

Whoever it was had a strong dislike of her to kill her in that fashion. If it was a simple robbery then there would have been a weapon left at the scene.

mikenyc2001

one less broker,

its a good start!

...

oh 2x cancer survivor??!?

shes not a pothead? a raging drug addict?

a loser?

so now its ok to smoke pot from High-End dealers as long as its in your luxury doorman fifth ave bldg...

double standard never ceases to amaze me...

good riddance, say hello to that drunk gothbaum bitch who choked herself in the airport jailcell

VanessaNYC

CR. Wow. You're kind of mean.

I was simply making an observation, not criticizing Jen.

thedroog

monster mash - exactly! as if cancer the only reason she used drugs. come on, gothamist . . .

navinjohnson

whomever killed her should be awarded the key to the city – one less real estate broker!

matty

total law and order script.

TK

i thought there were cameras in the elevators. If that's the case why is the investigation taking so long?

Blairy Blair

This makes it sound like the daughter and her friend killed Stein. Uh oh!

JRod5417

Linda was punk rocker.

Monster_mash

"Additionally, the Daily News reports that Stein's friends told the police to also look for "high-end marijuana dealers" (Stein survived cancer twice)."

Please. Stein used to party with the Ramones. Are we really suggesting she smoked marijuana because she had cancer? I mean, maybe it provided some therapeutic value, but this women was certainly very familiar with the drug scene prior to that.