Murder of Andrew Kissel

Andrew Kissel (August 23, 1959 – April 3, 2006) was an American former real estate developer who was found murdered at his rented Greenwich, Connecticut estate. Kissel had been accused of defrauding a New York co-op board of millions of dollars.

His body, found by workers from a moving company, was stabbed to death in the basement of the home. Details of his death remained a mystery, as there are many people who had problems with him, including those from the U.S. Justice Department, several multi-billion dollar corporations/conglomerates, and his own wife.

Kissel was a resident of Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey and later of Saddle River, New Jersey.^[1]

His brother, Robert Kissel, was murdered on November 2, 2003 in the infamous "milkshake murder" in Hong Kong by his wife, Nancy Kissel.

Fraud charges

From 1994 to 2002, Kissel had been the treasurer of the co-op board at 200 East 74th Street in Manhattan. He had a great deal of autonomy and sole signing authority over the Board's bank account. He arranged a refinancing plan, to create a reserve fund and pay for renovations to the building, but also siphoned money into his own account, forged signatures, cut and pasted bank statements and eventually embezzled $3.9 million. When the Board confronted him, he confessed and agreed to pay $4.7 million if they agreed to not go public. He paid in October 2003, "confident that the matter had been resolved and the board would not go public."

At the time he was under house arrest and awaiting sentencing in a $20M fraud scheme.

Collections

Kissel was known for his interest in collectibles and expensive possessions. He owned an 80-foot Lazzara yacht that has been valued at $2.8 million. Among the vehicles in his classic-car collection was a 1957 Mercedes valued at $420,000.^{[citation needed]}

Another item in his car collection was one of the original four 1984 Pontiac Trans Am automobiles used in the TV series "Knight Rider". In order to pay off some of the estimated $30 million debt owed to various creditors (including the Internal Revenue Service), many pieces of his collections were sold off. On December 20, 2007 the K.I.T.T. car was listed on eBay for sale with a starting bid of $20,000, which was met by an unspecified bidder.^[2] The eBay auction was later canceled after questions were raised over the authenticity of the vehicle, at a point when numerous bids had pushed the price for the car over $40,000.^{[citation needed]} With its authenticity verified, the car was re-listed on eBay on June 12, 2008, again with a starting bid of $20,000.^{[citation needed]} The auction ended without the previous enthusiasm of the first auction and it was purchased by a friend of George Barris, the car's creator.^{[citation needed]}

Murder and arrests

Kissel and his wife, Hayley, were in the process of moving from the Greenwich house in March 2006. The Kissels were behind in their rent; their landlord had filed a lawsuit claiming the couple had neglected to pay the $14,300 rent for six months. The Kissels had agreed to vacate the premises by March 31.^[3]

Members of a moving crew arrived at the mansion to complete the move and found Kissel's body, hands and feet bound, in the basement. He had been stabbed to death.

Kissel's chauffeur, Carlos Trujillo, and Trujillo's cousin, Leonard Trujillo, were arrested in March 2008 and charged in his death.^[4]

Carlos Trujillo is currently on trial, as of November 2010, in Connecticut State Superior Court in Stamford, CT. He is being defended by attorney Lindy Urso. As of December 16, 2010 he was acquitted of his murder charge but the jury was hung on the attempted murder charge. The state intends to pursue the second charge and Trujillo will remain behind bars on $1 million bond until a trial or plea bargain is brought about. ^[5]

References

1. ^ Hsu, Eric and Kim, Yung. "Family mourns real estate broker fatally stabbed in Conn.", The Record (Bergen County), April 8, 2006. Accessed May 13, 2007. "William Kissel, a chemist, was a manager for Sun Chemical Corp., before starting his own copier toner company in 1972. He moved the family to a small house in Woodcliff Lake from Manhattan before settling in Saddle River. Robert Kissel grew up to become a wealthy investment banker at Merrill Lynch and was sent to Hong Kong with his wife and three children."
2. ^ Original 'Knight Rider' Car for Sale on eBay - MSN TV News
3. ^ Cloud, John (April 9, 2006). "When Murder Runs In The Family". TIME. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1181631,00.html. Retrieved June 23, 2009. 
4. ^ Samuels, Tanyanika (March 22, 2008). "Two charged in Andrew Kissel murder". Daily News. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2008/03/22/2008-03-22_two_charged_in_andrew_kissel_murder.html. Retrieved June 23, 2009. 
5. ^ http://www.greenwichtime.com/local/article/Kissel-trial-Acquittal-on-murder-charge-903973.php

External links

• WhoKilledAndrewKissel.com
• Newsday Story
• Court TV story
• Blood And Money: '48 Hours' Looks At The Killing Of Two Brothers Thousands Of Miles Apart
• http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15061897/

Persondata
Name	Kissel, Andrew
Alternative names
Short description	Murdered businessman
Date of birth	August 23, 1959
Place of birth
Date of death	April 3, 2006
Place of death	Greenwich, Connecticut, United States