Arrest in death of Holocaust survivor, disco owner

NEW YORK — A woman was charged with murder in the strangling of an 89-year-old man who once ran a disco-era nightclub, and police said they were searching for a man seen with her in the victim’s car.

The victim, Guido Felix Brinkmann, regularly brought young women back to his apartment for sex, his family and authorities said, but his relationship with the woman wasn’t clear.

Angela Murray, 30, was being held without bail on second-degree murder and robbery charges. Her attorney did not immediately return a message left by The Associated Press on Monday.

Brinkmann was found Thursday in his bed with his hands bound, a sheet draped over his body. He had been beaten and was asphyxiated. His apartment was messy, but there was no sign of forced entry.

Police say a woman and a man in their 30s were seen going into his apartment the night before, and later left through the basement garage in Brinkmann’s car. Investigators are still searching for the man.

The car was found Friday in the Bronx. Police said Brinkmann’s safe, ID and some tax records were found in Murray’s Bronx apartment.

Phone records show she called Brinkmann as she arrived with the man at the apartment late Wednesday night, according to a criminal complaint. She handed the phone to the doorman, and Brinkmann told him she could come up to his apartment, the court papers said.

Brinkmann was the former owner of the Adam’s Apple nightclub and, until his death, was a manager for a commercial building in the Bronx. He also was a Holocaust survivor who had been sent to Auschwitz. His friends and family said he was a vibrant, amiable and dapper man.

Murray was arraigned on the murder and robbery charges Sunday. She has four prior arrests for petit larceny and other minor charges, police said.