Steve Lieberman

slieberm@lohud.com

One of two women charged with killing Peggy Nadell on Thursday admitted to being offered $10,000 to help kill the 80-year-old Valley Cottage woman and said she strangled her with a pocketbook strap.

Andrea Benson, 25, of Washington D.C. pleaded guilty Thursday to second-degree murder in exchange for a promised sentence of 20 years to life and her agreement to testify against the victim's daughter-in-law, Diana Nadell, 50, of Florida.

Diana Nadell, the mother of Peggy Nadell's two young grandchildren, is accused of orchestrating the killing in a bid for a share of her mother-in-law's more than $4 million estate.

Benson – who is the third defendant to become a cooperating witness in the case – told Supreme Court Justice William Kelly and prosecutor Richard Kennison Moran that she and Diana Nadell killed Peggy Nadell early on the morning of Jan. 25 inside her Andover Road home after the pair talked their way through the front door.

She said as the three of them walked down the stairs inside Peggy Nadell's house, "I choked her" with a "pocketbook strap." Diana Nadell threw an object at her mother-in-law's head and then beat her about the head with another object. "She stabbed her more than twice," Benson continued, speaking very softly and almost inaudibly.

Peggy Nadell's usually stoic daughter, Susanne Nadell-Scaccio, bolted from the courtroom, followed by her supporters, as Benson described what she was supposed to be paid for the murder.

Nadell-Scaccio returned within minutes and listened to the rest of Benson's account.

Susanne Nadell-Scaccio was the one who police said found her mother dead on Jan. 25 when she went to the house around 9 a.m.

"When she heard the price of her's mother's life was $10,000, it was more than she could take," attorney Daniel Bertolino said later. He represents her husband, Robert.

Emotions heated up again as Benson walked from the courtroom, dressed in an orange jumpsuit and her wrists cuffed with chains around her waist.

"Andrea, Andrea, enjoy your trip," Robert Scaccio hollered at her.

Susanne Nadell-Scaccio of Airmont and her brother, James, 52, a Florida neuropsychologist, share the estate of their mother and late father. James Nadell is not a suspect and has not responded to requests for comment.

Benson had faced a first-degree murder charge and life in prison. Her sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 18. She is being held without bail.

Two other women initially charged in the murder-for-hire – Eltia Grant and Tanisha Joyner – also have pleaded guilty to reduced charges and agreed to cooperate with the prosecution. They each pleaded to hindering prosecution, down from a conspiracy to commit murder felony count.

Diane Nadell's arraignment on charges of first-and-second-degree murder is scheduled for Wednesday before state Supreme Court Justice William Kelly at the Rockland Courthouse in New City.

Rockland County District Attorney Thomas Zugibe has said he's looking for a life sentence for Diana Nadell.

Attorney John Edwards, who represents Susanne Nadell-Scaccio, said the three plea agreements put Diana Nadell in a precarious position. He said he's been told the prosecution also has wire taps, cell phone calls and other evidence.

Added Bertolino: "The Clarkstown police did a great job."

Benson's cooperation harkens back to another Rockland case, in 2003, where local prosecutors focused in on the person accused of paying for a murder while giving the actual killer a lesser sentence for cooperating.

Peter Visich of Chestnut Ridge was charged with first-degree murder for paying hit man Frank Thon $10,000 to kill his wife to settle a child-custody dispute. Thon got a 20-year-to-life sentence to testify against Visich, who was convicted at trial and sentenced to life without parole.

http://data.lohud.com/documents/nadell-benson.html