Arrest in Stein murder

26-year-old Natavia Lowery has been arrested in the bludgeoning death of Linda Stein, real estate broker to the stars, for whom Lowery worked as a personal assistant. According to the New York Daily News (“New York’s Hometown Paper”), “Police said Lowery told them she flew into a rage after Stein subjected her to racist slurs and blew marijuana smoke in her face.” The News story has a photo of Lowery, who is black.

Interestingly enough, the New York Times’ story on the arrest does not mention the racist slurs, and also does not have a picture of Lowery. So there is no way the reader could know that she is black, and no way the reader could know that the constant addition of black-on-white murders in our society has been added to yet again.

However, to blow smoke deliberately in a person’s face, if that’s what Stein did, is a highly provocative act. A reader writes:

I could understand someone feeling murderous when someone like Stein, who sounds like an overbearing egotistical arrogant kind of person, blows smoke in your face, but not to think of the implications of actually killing her!

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James P. writes:

“Police said Lowery told them she flew into a rage after Stein subjected her to racist slurs and blew marijuana smoke in her face.”

That will be the defense, but will it succeed? Is the penalty for uttering “racist slurs” death, and are persons subjected to racist slurs excused all consequences for their actions?

A reader writes:

It seems probable to me that the “racist remarks” defense is a sham. Given the background of Lowery, it seems more probable that she was stealing from Stein and was found out. Possibly in the heat of an argument, murder seemed an opportune way to avoid arrest.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at November 10, 2007 11:45 AM | Send