It began as a bitter family dispute in Queens more than 50 years ago: a wealthy Jewish grandmother, her Israeli son-in-law and a custody battle over a 4-year-old girl.
By the time it ended, police had staged a murder, a hitman had turned informant and a millionaire Holocaust survivor was standing trial for plotting to kill the father of her granddaughter.
Helen Rich was 55, a Holocaust survivor and successful real estate businesswoman living in Forest Hills, Queens. She owned property worth more than $4 million, a fortune that would be worth tens of millions today.
In 1971, Rich’s daughter, Marsha, married Dr. Avner Regev, a 30-year-old Israeli citizen working as a physician at a hospital in the Bronx. But the marriage unraveled quickly. The couple separated in 1973, and what followed was a long and ugly legal fight over custody of their daughter, Daphne.
As the battle intensified, Rich became convinced that Regev planned to abduct the girl and take her to Israel. According to reports published in Israel, she also claimed that Regev had been violent toward her and her daughter.
Rich first turned to Patrick Simon, 47, a former New York police officer hired to serve as a bodyguard for Daphne. But soon, prosecutors said, the arrangement became something far darker: Rich offered Simon $25,000 to have Regev killed.
Simon brought in a hired killer, Kenneth O’Donnell. Rich’s involvement was not limited to payment. At one point, she allegedly went to the Queens Botanical Garden and hid behind a tree so she could point Regev out to the would-be assassin.
The plan nearly became real. O’Donnell went to Regev’s home in the Bronx armed with a silenced pistol and wearing a ski mask. Then, at the last moment, he lost his nerve and went to police.
The Bronx district attorney’s office and police set a trap. They would fake Regev’s murder.
On May 20, with Regev warned in advance and fully cooperating, detectives and O’Donnell staged an attack outside his home. Regev was “beaten,” shoved into a getaway car and officially listed as missing to make the story convincing.
He was then taken to a police boat near the Whitestone Bridge, where officers staged a death scene and photographed him lying on the deck as if he had been killed. The photo would serve as proof for those who ordered the hit.
O’Donnell later showed Simon Regev’s wallet and the photograph of the “body.” Rich then transferred the $25,000 payment to Simon, who paid $14,000 to the hitman. Police arrested Simon as soon as the money changed hands.
When officers arrived at Rich’s Forest Hills home, she refused to surrender and barricaded herself inside for two hours before giving herself up.
The case drew wide attention. Simon was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Rich, whose lawyers argued she had acted out of fear for her family’s safety, was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder and sentenced to five years.
She was later released on $100,000 bail pending an appeal of the sentence.