Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

Brooklyn Man Convicted in Murder of Hasidic Real Estate Developer Menachem Stark

— A Brooklyn construction worker was found guilty of kidnapping and murdering Hasidic real estate developer Menachem Stark.

Kendel Felix, 28, faces 25 years to life in prison for the murder of Stark, whose body was found on Jan. 3, 2014, in a dumpster on suburban Long Island some 16 miles from his Brooklyn office nearly a day after he was abducted. Police said he was suffocated and his body burned.

Felix, who was employed by a contractor hired by Stark, was arrested on April 30, 2014, and admitted that he and two accomplices accidentally suffocated Stark after forcing him into a minivan following a struggle on the street outside the office in the Williamsburg section and sitting on his chest.

He and his alleged accomplices reportedly were linked to the crime by evidence discovered in the van used to kidnap Stark, a father of seven. A security camera outside Stark’s office had captured a video recording of the kidnapping.

“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.”

The investigation is continuing into the alleged accomplices, who have not been charged, the District Attorney’s Office told the New York Daily News.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.