Designer Murder Suspect Fears Religious Violence in Jail After Watching ‘Oz’

Sounds like Nick Brooks has been watching too much TV. While police grilled him about the murder of his swimsuit-designer girlfriend, Sylvie Cachay, found strangled in a bathtub at the Meatpacking District’s tony, members-only Soho House, the 24-year-old blabbered that “I watch the show ‘Oz.’ I’ve seen what happens in jail,” according to the NY Daily News. “I’m Jewish and I’m worried about getting beat up by white supremacists.” In the HBO prison drama Oz, the white supremacist gang – based on the real-life Aryan Brotherhood – is led by inmate Vernon Schillinger, played by J.K. Simmons, according to Ask.com.
“Brooks’ panicky statements were released after he pleaded not guilty in a clear voice to second-degree murder, a charge that could mean 25 years to life in a real prison if he is convicted,” the News reports. “How long can I get for something like this,” Brooks also asked detectives after his arrest, according to newly-released police statements cited by the New York Post. “Will I get bail? I have money in a trust fund, but I have to get the money in person,” he announced. “Should I pay someone for protection while I’m in?” the paranoid-sounding Brooks asked detectives during the drive to Central Booking, according to the police statements quoted in the Post.
Brooks, 24, has insisted that Cachay was alive and sleeping when he left her room at the swanky hotel on Dec. 9 to party with a friend, according to AMNewYork. Hotel workers later found Cachay dead in an overflowing bathtub. Defense attorney Jeffrey Hoffman did not ask for bail and Brooks is due back in court Feb. 8.
Brooks is the son of Joseph Brooks, Oscar-winning composer of the ’70s dirge ballad “You Light Up My Life” and “an accused violent felon like his son,” according to the Post. “The elder Brooks is charged with luring 13 young women to his Upper East Side apartment under the pretense of giving them movie roles – only to pounce on them in attacks ranging from rape to forcible touching.”
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion The dangerous Nazi legend behind Trump’s ruthless grab for power
- 2
News Who is Alan Garber, the Jewish Harvard president who stood up to Trump over antisemitism?
- 3
News Student protesters being deported are not ‘martyrs and heroes,’ says former antisemitism envoy
- 4
Opinion What Jewish university presidents say: Trump is exploiting campus antisemitism, not fighting it
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward A federal agency survey reportedly asks Barnard employees if they’re Jewish
-
Opinion A Palestinian leader just gave Trump an unprecedented opening to pursue peace
-
Fast Forward NIH bans grants for schools that boycott Israeli companies
-
Fast Forward An elite Jewish society at Yale fractures over its director’s embrace of Itamar Ben-Gvir
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
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 comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag 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.