Suspect arrested in connection with body found in GN

Anthony Oreilly

A suspect in the murder of a Brooklyn real estate developer, whose body was found partially burned in a dumpster at a Great Neck gas station, was arrested on Wednesday, New York City police said. 

Kendal Felix, 26 of Brooklyn, was arrested late Wednesday night and charged with second-degree murder in connection with slaying of Menachem “Max” Stark, police said. 

Felix, a construction worker, was allegedly hired by a contractor who worked for Stark. 

Police would not confirm a motive, but Stark was reportedly in debt to multiple creditors and contractors. Stark was also cited in multiple lawsuits for defaulting on loans amounting up to more than $60 million.

Stark was grabbed by two men outside of his Williamsburg office on Jan. 2, according to surveillance footage released by the New York Police Department. Police did not say whether Felix was one of the two men in the video.

The footage shows the men getting into a fight with Stark and throwing him into a light-colored late-model Dodge Carvan and driving away. 

Felix reportedly told cops he and two other suspects, who have not been arrested, planned to rob Stark and that he was accidentally suffocated during the fight.

Stark died from asphyxiation, according to a January autopsy report that indicated Stark also suffered from bruises on his neck and back, with burn marks on his torso and hands. 

Stark’s body was found on Jan. 3 at the Getty Gas station in Great Neck, located at 120 Cuttermill Road, by gas station owner Fernando Cerff while he and his crew were plowing snow.

Felix reportedly told cops that he planned to go further out on Long Island to get rid of Stark’s body, but changed plans when heavy snow started falling. 

New York City Councilman David Greenfield (D-Brooklyn) praised the NYPD for the arrest.

“I applaud the NYPD and Mayor Bill de Blasio for putting every resource into solving this heinous murder,” Greenfield said. “We will now have to work hard to make sure that these murderers never see the light of day again.”

Detectives were called by the Shomrim, an Orthodox volunteer patrol, at 2:30 a.m. on Jan. 3, after Stark’s family had not heard from him.

Stark’s body was found later that day by Cerff.

Cerff told the Great Neck News in a January interview that he saw smoke coming from one of his dumpsters and, thinking it was a cigarette, threw piles of snow on top of it at about 7 a.m. that day. 

At about 3 p.m., Cerff said, the smell from the dumpster became unbearable. 

“I called the cops to see what the smell was,” said Cerff, who said he had not heard of Stark’s disappearance until he turned on the news the next morning.

Police responded to the scene around 4 p.m. and had the body transported to the Medical Examiner’s office where the victim’s identity was confirmed, police said in January.

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