With Gore, Glitz and Sleaze, a Series of Sensational Criminal Cases Has Manhattan Spellbound

They range from the glitzy to the gruesome, from the steamy to the sleazy. They feature casts of larger-than-life figures whose faces are splashed on television and across newspaper front pages for weeks at a time.

On occasion, they have created mob scenes in lower Manhattan where crowds have flocked to them as if they were hit Broadway shows.

They may, indeed, be the best dramas in town. For months, New Yorkers have been spellbound by a remarkable series of sensational criminal trials:

- In one courtroom, there’s the “Bess Mess,” with Bess Myerson, a former Miss America, accused of bribing a state Supreme Court judge to lower alimony payments for her millionaire boyfriend.

- Down the street, in the most graphic and heart-wrenching of the cases, lawyer Joel (The Monster) Steinberg has been charged in the fatal beating of his angelic 6-year-old daughter, Lisa, in their Greenwich Village apartment.

- Earlier this year, in a case that exposed the freewheeling night life of rich New York teen-agers, Robert (The Preppie Murderer) Chambers pleaded guilty to strangling 18-year-old Jennifer Levin during a steamy late-night tryst in Central Park.

- And for corruption buffs, the recent Wedtech trials of New York Congressman Mario Biaggi and Bronx big shot Stanley Friedman were prime attractions, as were the extortion proceedings against underworld crime boss John (The Godfather) Gotti.

But for sheer gossip value, the best may be yet to come. Waiting in the wings are embezzlement trials for Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos and an eagerly anticipated court date for hotel magnates Harry and Leona (The Queen) Helmsley, accused of income tax evasion.

Each Trial More Amazing

“I’ve never seen anything like this, because we’ve had what amounts to a circus of criminal trials in this town, one more amazing than the next,” said Arthur Browne, metropolitan editor of the New York Daily News, which reaches more than 1.4 million readers. “People have been mesmerized by these cases, and they’ve dominated the local news for months. Maybe it’s because they seem to touch on almost every human sin imaginable.”

Titillated by mass-media coverage, including live television broadcasts from the witness stand, New Yorkers and tourists who never set foot in a courtroom have been drawn to the big trials.

The Myerson and Steinberg cases have played to overflow crowds in Foley Square, the site of the city’s main courts. Hundreds of people have hustled downtown during the morning rush on the chance that a prized seat might open up.

“Frankly, I feel like a voyeur,” whispered Elaine Silbert, a retired schoolteacher who recently parked herself in a long line outside the Steinberg courtroom at 8 a.m. but was too late to get inside. Undaunted, she raced up the street and got a back-row seat for the Myerson trial.

Silbert, a quiet woman in a tweed suit, allowed that she doesn’t usually hunt for seats at highly publicized trials, but added: “Who can stay away? This sure beats going to a movie.”

Some New Yorkers have even rearranged their schedules around the trials. Carol Blades, an advertising executive, said she traveled to Paris this year with a friend who was apoplectic at the thought of missing the verdict in the Robert Chambers case.

“It was all she could talk about,” Blades said. “Luckily, we got back in time.”

At times, the trials have riveted millions of New Yorkers, seeming to stop the city in its tracks, as when Hedda Nussbaum, Steinberg’s lover-turned-accuser, took the stand and described the vicious beatings he had inflicted on her and Lisa. In harrowing testimony, the former Random House editor claimed that Steinberg had brainwashed and beaten her into a zombie-like state, preventing her from dialing 911 to get help for her daughter, who was lying comatose on the bathroom floor.

A Ratings Bonanza

Three local television stations took the unusual step of interrupting their programming to broadcast Nussbaum’s testimony live. They also recruited psychiatrists, lawyers and social workers to provide instant analysis for viewers during breaks in the action. The gamble paid off, as afternoon TV ratings soared.

Meanwhile, the city’s tabloids had a field day. “Hedda Gets Ready” shouted the New York Post just before she appeared. “Hedda Speaks” boomed the Daily News after her testimony began. “A Tear for Lisa” sobbed New York Newsday, running color photos of the sad-eyed, sandy-haired little girl. Soon, front pages began referring to Steinberg as “The Monster.”

On the first day of Nussbaum’s testimony, almost 300 people waited outside the courtroom behind rows of police barricades. Only 60 seats were reserved for the public and they were snapped up by 7:30 a.m. But the excitement level remained high, almost like an opening night, and few onlookers wanted to leave.

“I’ve been waiting weeks for this,” said Marie Schwartz, a teacher who stood in line for several hours. “This story broke New York’s heart. What Joel Steinberg did is horrible.”

‘Beat Him Up’

A woman standing next to her was more blunt. “I hope they chop his hands off,” she said. “I hope they chop his head off. I hope they beat him up the way he beat her.”

The Steinberg story outraged New Yorkers when it broke on Nov. 2, 1987. Police responding to an emergency call found Lisa battered and comatose in a filthy, one-bedroom apartment. The couple’s other child, 16-month-old Mitchell, was tethered to a dirty playpen, wearing soiled diapers and clutching a bottle of spoiled milk.

Officers arrested Steinberg, 47, and a dazed, incoherent Nussbaum, who looked as if she had staggered through 10 rounds. Her nose was broken, her lip was split, she had a badly ulcerated right leg, a cauliflower ear and bruises and broken bones from what appeared to be numerous beatings.

As the case unfolded, prosecutors alleged that Steinberg had battered Nussbaum, 46, for years and that both had been cocaine users. They also revealed that Lisa and Mitchell had been illegally adopted by Steinberg, who had promised two unwed pregnant teen-agers that their children would get good homes but had kept the infants instead.

Affluent Professionals

New Yorkers are not strangers to stories about child abuse, but this case captured the public consciousness because it involved middle-class professionals living in an affluent neighborhood, editor Browne said. The Steinberg case, which has attracted national attention, prompted a re-examination of the need for neighbors, teachers and social workers to detect child abuse.

“Lots of people feel that, ‘There but for the grace of God go I,’ ” said Anthony Zitrin, a Brooklyn College law student who recently waited in line for a seat at the trial. “You wonder, ‘Could I snap like this guy did and kill an innocent little girl?’ ”

As Nussbaum told her jarring story, the city was spellbound. The trial was briefly bumped off the front pages by the visit of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev but it quickly recaptured the prime local news spot when he left.

“That’s the way it goes,” said Arnie Ercole, a security officer who stands guard outside the Bess Myerson trial. “One day, you’re a big deal in this town. The next day, you’re not such a big deal. But if you’ve got a good show, the people will keep coming back.”

Hot, Bizarre News

That certainly has been the case with the Myerson trial. It has been hot news for months, telling a story of greed, vanity and corruption in high places. Hundreds of people have packed the courtroom for a glimpse of the former beauty queen, who at age 64 has begun to take on a haggard look. But they have also lined up to see a bizarre supporting cast.

“This one’s got a lot of fruitcakes in it,” said Milton Ostrov, a balding U.S. postman who has been watching criminal trials in Manhattan on his days off for about 30 years. “I’ve seen it all, believe me, and this case is right up there.”

It began last year, when stories surfaced that Myerson, the city’s Cultural Affairs commissioner, had allegedly bribed Judge Hortense Gabel to lower the alimony payments for her boyfriend, Andy Capasso, a millionaire sewer contractor who was going through a bitter divorce. Later, in a separate case, Capasso was convicted of income tax evasion.

At first, New Yorkers were stunned that the popular, attractive Myerson was facing such sordid accusations. According to federal prosecutors, she had bribed the judge by offering a $19,000 job in her office to Gabel’s misfit daughter, Sukhreet, who had held few jobs in her life. Myerson and Gabel have contended they made no deal, saying Capasso’s case was entirely separate and insisting that Sukhreet was the best qualified applicant.

The Myerson trial was guaranteed to attract celebrity-watchers, but it quickly catapulted into Theater of the Absurd when Sukhreet took the witness stand and testified against her nearly blind 75-year-old mother.

Sukhreet, a troubled, rotund woman, gave damaging testimony against Myerson and her mother. She said her former boss had urged her to “keep my mouth shut” about the case. Very matter-of-factly--indeed, with a smile--she added that her parents had discouraged her from discussing any connection between Capasso’s divorce settlement and her new job.

It was all heady stuff for Sukhreet, 39, who for years had been upstaged by her mother’s brilliant legal career. Now, finally on center stage, she milked the moment for all it was worth. In nine days of astonishing testimony, she basked in media attention, even though she might wind up putting her mother behind bars.

Finally, a Leading Lady

Her stage props were also impressive. To beef up the prosecution’s case, Sukhreet had carted shopping bags filled with legal papers out of her mother’s apartment and had secretly taped their phone conversations. The evidence caused a sensation when it was revealed. No longer the understudy, Sukhreet was going to be the leading lady once and for all.

Then, without warning, she fell apart.

Under tough cross-examination, she admitted to past treatment for mental illness, including electroshock therapy. She conceded her memory of key events might be questionable because her brain had the quality of “Swiss cheese.” At one point, Sukhreet gushed that she loved the members of her defense team and the prosecutors, too.

“You couldn’t dream up a character like her; she’s just too amazing,” said postman Ostrov, who managed to catch every day of her testimony. “I still can’t believe what I saw up there.”

Parade of Witnesses

Meanwhile, the trial became a public relations disaster for Myerson. Former employees testified she was imperious and aloof; others said she freely spent Capasso’s money and enjoyed weekends at his Hamptons estate, while he angled for lower alimony payments.

In a widely read story, Capasso’s former wife, Nancy, accused Myerson of stealing furniture from her weekend home. Before the trial began, Myerson pleaded guilty to shoplifting in an unrelated case. She was caught putting $44.07 worth of earrings and nail polish from a discount store into her purse before visiting Capasso at the Allenwood, Pa., penitentiary, where he is serving time for tax evasion.

The trial is expected to end soon, and Ostrov said he will miss the drama. No more “Bess Mess” headlines every morning. No more television crews chasing Myerson down the courthouse steps at night.

But not to worry. Imelda and Ferdinand are coming to town, aren’t they? Then Leona Helmsley and her husband will stand trial. And after that, who knows? The spring and summer seasons haven’t even been announced yet.

“They say the circus is in town,” Ostrov said. “Well, down here at the courts, the circus is always in town. It’s been one helluva year.”