The opinions expressed in the following episode do not necessarily reflect those of the minds

of Madness podcast.

Listener discretion is advised.

In July 2009, Ben Novak Jr. was on top of the world.

He was rich, he was successful, he also had no idea.

He was about to die in one of the most gruesome ways imaginable.

Join me now, as we take a look into a tragedy inspired by jealousy and greed.

You'll hear about a man who thought his money made him invincible and a wife who took

her vows of till death to his heart to a whole new twisted and sadistic level, stopping

it nothing to make sure that if she couldn't have him, no one could.

At the turn of the 20th century, Miami Beach was little more than a nine-mile-long barrier

island covered in swamps, festering with mosquitoes, alligators and snakes.

But by the booming 1920s, weren't it spread among America's wealthier class that Miami

Beach was where summer spends the winter, or at least that's what a billboard in Times Square

proudly proclaimed.

It soon became a favorite destination for President Warnchie Harding as well as gangster Al Capone.

By the 30s, roughly 50,000 tourists were visiting Miami Beach every year, and soon dozens

of Art Deco-style hotels began popping up to accommodate them.

Although tourism came to a sudden halt with the onset of World War II in the 40s, one

ambitious businessman saw the opportunity of a lifetime.

Ben Novak Sr. purchased five hotels in five years, filling them with US Marines who had

virtually taken over Miami Beach, preparing for the invasion of Normandy.

...