By Shayna Jacobs
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN SUPREME COURT — At the time of her brutal death, 62-year-old celebrity realtor Linda Stein was a weakened breast cancer survivor, unable to perform simple daily functions like buttoning a blouse and holding up a blow dryer, prosecutors said Monday as opening statements of Stein's accused killer and former personal assistant began.
Stein's cold body was discovered bludgeoned on Oct. 30 2007, inside of her 965 Fifth Avenue apartment by her daughter Mandy. Her daughter took the witness stand Monday against Natavia Lowery, 28, who confessed to the crime in an in an NYPD interrogation room in 2007.
Lowery, Stein's temp-agency assigned assistant, had been stealing from her boss for months, using Stein's credit cards to make large charges and withdraw cash, prosecutors said.
Lowery even paid off Stein's American Express bills shortly after fatally beating her with a yoga stick, in an effort to cover up the expenses, said Assistant District Attorney Joan Illuzzi-Orbon.
Prosecutors hope to prove Lowery was the only person to have access to the apartment by showing surveillance video from Stein's tightly-secured building across from Central Park. Stein lived in apartment 18C for about 12 years before her untimely death, according to prosecutors.
"Not a human being could enter or exit that building without being caught on surveillance video," prosecutor Illuzzi-Orbon said in her opening statement.
Attorneys for Lowery said their client is far from a clever criminal, but guilty of robbing Stein for months.
The person responsible for Stein's murder is someone adept enough to execute a traceless killing, defense attorney John Christie said.
DNA evidence found at the crime scene did not link Lowery to the crime. Lowery's clothing was clean of the widely-spattered blood discovered later at the crime scene, Christie said.
"She's not capable of what happened to Linda Stein," he added.
Lowery's attorneys did not suggest another suspect, but argued her confession was coerced by homicide detectives.
Christie also said Stein's marijuana dealer made monthly visits to the apartment to deliver about $600 worth of pot.
Prosecutors admitted Stein battled an alcohol dependency and had smoked marijuana "from time to time."
Lowery's trial is expected to last up to two months and Stein's other daughter, Samantha, is also expected to take the stand.
