By Shayna Jacobs
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN SUPREME COURT — Barbara Kogan stood stonefaced as she was sentenced Friday to 12 to 36 years in prison for the contract murder of her husband nearly 20 years ago.
But signs of the widow's complicity in his homicide were there from the day George Kogan was gunned down in front of 205 East 69th Street where his new girlfriend lived, prosecutors said.
As doctors treated the dying real estate mogul at New York Presbyterian, Barbara Kogan treated herself to a $500 hair appointment, a far cry from the lifestyle she's accustomed to now, Assistant District Attorney Joel Seidemann said at her sentencing Friday.
"Recently, Barbara had her hair done at Rikers Island for three dollars," Seidemann said. "How the mighty have fallen."
Dubbed the "Black Widow" in the tabloids, Kogan pleaded guilty on April 29 to hiring a hit man to fire three close range shots at her estranged husband in front of his 25-year-old mistress's apartment in 1988.
Although the crime is a generation old, the emotions were raw in the courtroom on Friday, as the Kogans' son and other family members relived the heartbreak that has plagued them since Ronald Reagan's presidency.
"For nearly 20 years I have suppressed strong thoughts of suspicion, anxiously focusing elsewhere," their son, Scott Kogan, said in State Supreme Court.
Their son — now 43 — wept as he described the pain and anguish that his mother's actions had caused the rest of his family over the course of two decades.
Barbara Kogan, now 67, did not even look at her son as he tearfully recalled his father's love and the relationship cut short by his murder.
She admitted to arranging the murder so she could inherit her husband's life insurance policy as their acrimonious divorce was pending.
She was, after all, accustomed to a luxury having been married to a millionaire for a quarter century.
Records show the "Black Widow" made phone calls to the insurance provider almost immediately after George was killed, to confirm she was the still the beneficiary.
"It seemed like nothing was ever enough for her," her son concluded.
Still, Scott Kogan said he forgave his mother for what she had done.
George's niece, Taryn Kogan, said she will never forget her uncle's funeral which she attended at 12 years old.
"Barbara occasionally smirked at me as I mourned and wept," said Taryn, who is now 31.
"I have fantasized about today — the day that I could face you, Barbara, and be able to call you a murderer," Taryn added.
Kogan was sentenced to 12 to 36 years in prison, the term promised to her as part of the plea deal, but she is eligible for release after ten years.
When offered the chance to speak, she whispered, "No."
