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Construction Worker Found Guilty of Kidnapping, Killing Menachem Stark

By Ben Fractenberg | September 26, 2016 6:30pm
 Kendel Felix was found guilty of kidnapping and murdering Williamsburg landlord Menachem Stark, the DA said Monday.
Kendel Felix was found guilty of kidnapping and murdering Williamsburg landlord Menachem Stark, the DA said Monday.
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Gregory P. Mango/Pool Photo

BROOKLYN — A construction worker was found guilty of kidnapping and murdering Williamsburg landlord Menachem Stark, the Brooklyn District Attorney announced Monday.

Kendel Felix, 29, was found guilty of second-degree murder and first-degree kidnapping for grabbing the developer after he left his office, suffocating him and burning his body in a Long Island dumpster in 2014.

“This defendant waited for Menachem Stark outside of his office and forcibly kidnapped him, killing him in the process,” Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson said in a statement. “As a result, his wife and seven children were robbed of their husband and father. The jury has now held him accountable for his actions.”

Felix worked for a building contractor Stark did business with and decided to rob the developer, believing he owed him money, prosecutors said.

The construction worker and another person approached Stark outside his office on 331 Rutledge St. on Jan. 2, 2014. The two struggled with Stark before forcing him into a van, prosecutors said.

One of the kidnappers sat on Stark’s chest, suffocating him, according to prosecutors.  

His partially burned body was found 17 hours later by Nassau County Police in a gas station dumpster in Great Neck.

Felix named other people he said helped with the kidnapping in a taped confession, but investigators were still gathering evidence against them beyond Felix’s admissions, sources said.

The Crown Heights man is facing 25 years to life in prison during his sentencing on Oct. 19 in Brooklyn Supreme Court before judge Alexander Jeong.

His lawyer did not return an immediate request for comment.