School gunman spent hours in windowless basement playing violent video games: report

AP

Crime scene tape surrounds the home of Nancy Lanza, where school gunman Adam Lanza lived.

Before crazed gunman Adam Lanza slaughtered two dozen young kids and educators, he lived out bloodthirsty fantasies in his windowless bunker dedicated violent video games and gun worship, according to published reports.

Lanza killed countless hours playing “Call Of Duty” in the basement of his slain mother’s home and decorated the underground hangout with posters of guns and military hardware, plumber Peter Wlasuk told The Sun.

Over the years, Wlasuk did several jobs at the Lanza home and noticed how much Adam and his brother Ryan both adored the military.

AP

Adam Lanza

“It was a huge poster with every tank ever made,” he said. “The kids could tell you about guns they had never seen from the 40s, 50s and 60s “

The handyman stopped short of linking violent video games to Friday’s carnage -- when Adam Lanza blew away his mom before going to Sandy Hook Elementary School and killing 20 little kids and six educators.

The bloodshed only ended after Adam Lanza blew his brains out before cops could stop him.

“I’m not blaming the games for what happened,” Wlasuk said. “But they see a picture of a historical gun and say ‘I’ve used that on Call Of Duty’.”

Aside from the basement’s gun-and-war theme, Wlasuk said he admired the setup.

“It was a beautiful house but he lived in the basement. I always thought that was strange,” he said.

“But he had a proper set up down there — computers, a bathroom, bed and desk and a TV. There were no windows.”

Most of the “Call of Duty” versions are rated “M’ for mature because of their over-the-top violence. “M” is recommended for players 17 and older.

Even more damaging than any blood and guts spilled in “Call of Duty” could have been all the hours Lanza spent playing -- instead of talking to other people.

“All the time he spent locked away playing the game would have been isolating,” child psychologist Teresa Blitz told the paper.

.”When children are on their own they can’t develop social skills. Without alternative viewpoints, his perspective will have been skewed.”

Considering mom Nancy Lanza, a well-known gun enthusiastic in the neighborhood, probably didn’t do much to help socialize her painfully shy kid.

“Friends and family portrayed Adam Lanza’s mother Nancy as a paranoid person who stockpiled guns,” Bliss said. “It is unlikely that she would have been able to give him the influence he needed.”

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Pipeline Brickell, a new co-working space, reaches 70% occupancy

Pipeline Brickell, the shared workspace at 1101 Brickell Avenue that opened last month, announced it has reached 70 percent occupancy and is now home to dozens of startups, established companies and professionals. Company founders Todd Oretsky and Philippe Houdard said members of the 14,000-square-foot high-design co-working center include The Founder’s Institute, the world's largest startup accelerator; Pininfarina, an Italian-based design firm with clients including Ferrari and Maserati; Virgin Unite, a non-profit foundation founded by Richard Branson for the venture capital conglomerate Virgin Group; LearnerNation, a provider of interactive learning tools; and GuestBooker, a New York-based firm that specializes in booking high-profile talent on national TV networks. Pipeline, one of a wave of co-working spaces already opened or planned for Miami, also offers its members classes, workshops and networking events and has been hosting programs for community organizations.

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Narcy Novack gets life in prison for killing her hotel heir husband

An epic family murder saga ended Monday when Narcy Novack, wife of Fontainebleau hotel heir Ben Novack Jr., was sentenced to life in prison.

Three years after she and her brother, Cristobal Veliz, planned and helped execute Ben Novack and his mother Bernice, the convicted killers, who had remained loyal to each other throughout the trial, made it clear their family ties would not extend to prison. Cristobal also was sentenced to life in prison Monday.

Each blamed the other for masterminding the murders, and their lawyers each asked the judge for leniency, claiming they were less culpable because the other sibling was pulling the strings.

But U.S. District Judge Kenneth M. Karas, was not swayed, calling the crimes “vile.” The former Hialeah stripper, 56, did not attend the sentencing, a move that Karas called “a final act of cowardice,’’ according to those in the courtroom.

Novack, who ordered the hitmen to cut out her husband’s eyes, will now see little more than the inside of a federal prison. She will spend her days in a yellow jumpsuit and sneakers and sleep on a jail cot. Known as a late riser, Novack will be forced up at the crack of dawn each day to do chores, like washing floors and peeling potatoes.

Her new life will be far cry from her jet-setting days drinking champagne and having servants to do her cooking and cleaning.

With her conviction, Narcy Novack loses all rights to the bounty she hoped to claim after the murders. While she was designated as the sole beneficiary of his estimated $10 million estate, under Florida’s Slayer Statute, she now forfeits all rights to his fortune and Karas also ordered that any of her own personal assets be seized.

Novack, and her brother, both natives of Ecuador, were convicted in June of plotting the July 12, 2009, killing of her husband, 53, son of the late Ben Novack Sr., who built Miami Beach’s storied Fontainebleau hotel. Narcy Novack believed that her husband was going to leave her for another woman and that she would be left with a fraction of his wealth.

Under Ben Novack Jr.’s will, his mother, had she lived, would have been appointed as curator of his estate and received $200,000 in cash plus $2,500 per month. Though Narcy Novack would receive the balance of her husband’s property and money, as curator, Bernice Novack, 86, would have exercised great control over the purse strings, and likely would have made life difficult for her daughter-in-law, whom she had once accused of trying to poison her.

Novack’s attorney, Howard Tanner, argued that his client should be sentenced to 27 years, instead of life, arguing that her brother planned her mother-in-law’s murder. As he did during trial, Veliz claimed that Narcy’s daughter, May Abad, planned the killings, an allegation that prosecutors had dismissed years ago.

In sentencing the siblings, Karas spoke about a letter he received from one of Bernice Novack’s neighbors, Doug Reynolds. Reynolds pointed out that if Novack received just 27 years, as her lawyer suggested, she would conceivably see freedom in her mid-80s, or about the same age Bernice Novack was when her life was taken from her. Karas agreed that it would be an injustice if Bernice Novack’s killers would be able to live out their lives in freedom when Bernice wasn’t able to.

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Massachusetts fines Morgan Stanley over Facebook research

BOSTON (Reuters) – Morgan Stanley, the lead underwriter for Facebook Inc’s initial public offering, will pay a $ 5 million fine to Massachusetts to settle charges that its bankers improperly influenced its research analysts when the Internet company went public.

Massachusetts’ top securities regulator, William Galvin, charged that Morgan Stanley improperly helped Facebook disclose sensitive financial information selectively, perpetuating what he calls “an unlevel playing field” between Wall Street and Main Street.

Morgan Stanley has been under criticism since the social media company went public in May for having revealed revised earnings and revenue forecasts to select clients on conference calls before the media company’s $ 16 billion initial public offering. A Morgan Stanley spokeswoman did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Galvin, who has been aggressive in policing how research is distributed on Wall Street ever since investment banks reached a global settlement in 2003, said the bank violated that settlement. He fined Citigroup $ 2 million over similar charges in late October.

Massachusetts says that a senior Morgan Stanley banker helped a Facebook executive release new information and then guided the executive on how to speak with Wall Street analysts about it. The banker, Galvin’s office said, rehearsed with Facebook’s Treasurer and wrote the bulk of the script Facebook’s Treasurer used when calling the research analysts.

The banker “was not allowed to call research analysts himself, so he did everything he could to ensure research analysts received new revenue numbers which they then provided to institutional investors,” Galvin said in a statement.

Retail investors were not given any similar information, Galvin said, saying this case illustrates how institutional investors often have an edge over retail investors.

(Reporting By Svea Herbst-Bayliss with additional reporting by Suzanne Barlyn in New York; Editing by Theodore d’Afflisio)

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Diet Pepsi adds new fake sweetener to formula

Diet Pepsi secretly added a new artificial sweetener to its formula, in a desperate flavor-saving move to can declining sales.

The Purchase, NY, beverage maker quietly added acesulfame potassium to Diet Pepsi, to boost its base sweetener aspartame -- which is sensitive to heat and is susceptible to breaking down.

Cans of the newly formulated Diet Pepsi were found this weekend in New York, Omaha, Neb., and the San Francisco Bay Area.

PepsiCo officials said the new Diet Pepsi will be gradually rolled out, as retailers move their current inventory.

"It's not like a light switch. It'll start appearing as shelf space clears," company spokeswoman Andrea Canabal said yesterday.

The actual taste of Diet Pepsi shouldn’t be any different, but the sweetness could have longer shelf life with acesulfame potassium. The ingredient boost was meant "to ensure consistency with every sip,” according to the company.

"A change in sweetener does not change the flavor," said John Sicher, editor and publisher of the industry trade mag Beverage Digest.

Diet Pepsi is now the nation’s seventh most popular carbonated drink, with 4.9 percent of the market -- down from 5.3 percent in 2000, according to Beverage Digest.

.In that same time frame, rival Diet Coke -- which uses just aspartame -- has surged from 8.7 percent to 9.6 percent.

Diet Coke has climbed to No. 2 among all soda pop in 2010, second only to regular Coke and pushing regular Pepsi down to No. 3.

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Ryder CEO Greg Swienton retiring, COO getting promoted

Trucking giant Ryder will get a new CEO in two weeks, as the Miami-Dade company announces the retirement of Gregory Swienton and the promotion of current COO Robert Sanchez to the top job.

Ryder, which leases commercial trucks and manages supply operations for companies around the world, saw revenues and profits increase this year, but has also been cutting costs and selling part of its fleet to combat slowing sales. Swienton, 63, joined Ryder as president in 1999 and was promoted to CEO a year later. Sanchez, 47, will become the company’s fifth CEO since its founding in 1933 by a Miami Beach construction worker named Jim Ryder. One of three Fortune 500 companies south of Palm Beach County, Ryder employs about 700 people at its headquarters in western Miami-Dade.

Sanchez becomes CEO on January 1, and Swienton will retain the title of chairman of the board until Ryder’s annual meeting in May, when that title will pass to Sanchez, too, the company said in a press release issued Monday morning.

E. Follin Smith, an independent director on the board, said in a statement in the company press release: “We sincerely thank Greg Swienton for leading Ryder to an improved sustainable business model, significantly enhanced financial performance, and an organization-wide commitment to business integrity.”

Swienton said Monday he was ready to end his career and begin enjoying a retirement with family, particularly grandchildren living in Texas, where he and his wife own a home.

“I had my seventh grandchild on Nov. 28th. There are many things pulling you in life,’’ Swienton said in a joint telephone call with his successor, Sanchez. “I’ve been working for 41 years straight.”

A 19-year veteran at Ryder, Sanchez has served as head of the company’s largest division, global fleet management solutions, and as chief financial officer. He was born in Miami, a graduate of Christopher Columbus High School and the University of Miami.

Sanchez said his main goal would be “to continue the good work Greg has done here at Ryder.” He noted that Ryder’s primary business is as an out-sourcer — with companies turning over their supply operations to Ryder as a cost saver. That leaves Ryder plenty of room to grow, since “there is still a very large part of the market that is not outsourced.”

Following the news Ryder stock dropped almost 2 percent by midday Monday, to $48.75 a share, on a day when most stock indices were posting gains.

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Narcy Novack to be sentenced Monday in killing of Fontainebleau Hotel heir husband, mother-in-law

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) – Fort Lauderdale resident Narcy Novack, convicted of arranging the killings of her millionaire husband and mother-in-law will hear her sentence Monday – if she's in the courtroom.

A disgusted Novack, apparently certain she'd be found guilty, decided not to attend in June when a federal jury's verdict was read.

“We all wondered, `Where's Narcy?“’ one juror said.

She and her brother, Cristobal Veliz, were convicted of hiring hit men to carry out the 2009 beating deaths of Ben Novack Jr. in a suburban New York hotel room and Bernice Novack at her Fort Lauderdale home.

Ben Novack was the son of the man who built the Fontainebleau hotel in Miami Beach, which appeared in the movies “Scarface” and “Goldfinger.”

The sentence will be bad news too – the U.S. attorney's office has asked Judge Kenneth Karas to send Novack to prison for life, and her own lawyer is suggesting a 27-year stretch. He argues that she had only a minor role in Bernice Novack's death and was “substantially less culpable than other participants.”

He also said her crime-free background and her age should be considered.

Veliz's lawyer has not submitted a sentencing recommendation.

Novack, 56, an Ecuador native, would likely die in prison even under the 27-year scenario, defense attorney Howard Tanner said. But it would give her at least “a chance of reformation and rehabilitation.”

“She would be released from prison an elderly woman with virtually no possessions or home,” he told the judge. “Her future is in all respects bleak and limited.”

Prosecutor Elliott Jacobson said it should stay that way forever. He told the judge in court papers that Novack and Veliz “engaged in the very worst criminal conduct imaginable.”

“They are evil; they are dangerous; they are remorseless; and they are relentless,” he wrote. He said the killings “involved particularly cruel, sadistic and gratuitous savagery seldom seen in the annals of crime.”

Prosecutors said Novack feared that her husband, who was having an affair, would divorce her, and that a prenuptial agreement would bar her from the multimillion-dollar family estate.

She recruited her brother and he hired a group of thugs who testified about slamming Bernice Novack in the teeth and head with a plumber's wrench and beating Ben Novack with barbells and slicing his eyes with a knife.

Veliz denied any involvement and blamed Narcy Novack's daughter for the killings. Her two sons stand to inherit the bulk of the family estate, which includes Ben Novack's large collection of Batman memorabilia.

Narcy Novack did not testify. But before her arrest she gave police a striking account of her marriage, including that her husband had a fetish for amputees. She also said she once went into a hospital to have a broken nose repaired and awoke with breast implants she hadn't requested.

In addition to the murder charge, the defendants were convicted of domestic violence, stalking, money laundering and witness tampering.

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Riveting Details Emerge from CT School Rampage

As morning turned to afternoon on Friday, further details continued to emerge from Newtown, CT, a tight-knit community shaken by a massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School that took the lives of innocent students and teachers, in addition to the gunman, reportedly identified as Adam Lanza.

RELATED: President Fights Tears as He Addresses Nation

As President Barack Obama touched on in his tear-jerking press conference, this is not the first time the nation has witnessed a tragedy of this kind. The recent mass shooting at an Aurora, CO movie theater is just one instance of such violence. Columbine High School and Virginia Tech also resonate as prime examples.

Hollywood's biggest stars were quick to react to the news on Twitter and made an outcry for stricter gun control regulations.

Watch the video for ET's complete coverage of today's biggest headline.

RELATED: Celebs Tweet Reactions to CT School Shooting

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Another sorrowful trip for Obama to grieving town

WASHINGTON — For President Barack Obama, it was another sorrowful visit to another grieving community full of broken hearts from unimaginable violence.

The spot, this time, was Newtown, Conn., where on Friday a man opened fire inside Sandy Hook Elementary School. The toll: 26 dead, including 20 boys and girls just 6- or 7-years-old.

The president planned a private meeting Sunday afternoon with families of the victims and with emergency personnel who responded to the shootings. In the evening, he was to speak at an interfaith vigil at Newtown High School.

REUTERS

President Barack Obama departs the White House today to travel to Newtown, Conn., the scene of Friday's senseless rampage that left 20 elementary schoolchildren dead.

"As a nation, we have endured far too many of these tragedies in the last few years," he said in his weekly radio address Saturday. "An elementary school in Newtown. A shopping mall in Oregon. A house of worship in Wisconsin. A movie theater in Colorado. Countless street corners in places like Chicago and Philadelphia."

Just last summer, Obama went to Aurora, Colo., to visit victims and families after a shooting spree at a movie theater in the Denver suburb left 12 dead. He went to Tucson, Ariz., in January of last year after six people were killed and 13 were wounded, including then-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, outside a grocery store.

In November 2009, Obama traveled to Fort Hood, Texas, to speak at the memorial service for 13 service members who were killed on the post by another soldier.

"We have to come together and take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this. Regardless of the politics," Obama said in his broadcast remarks.

After the Colorado shooting in July, the White House made clear that Obama would not propose new gun restrictions in an election year and said he favored better enforcement of existing laws.

The Connecticut shootings may have changed the political dynamic in Washington, although public opinion in favor of gun control has declined over the years. While the White House has said Obama stands by his desire to reinstate a ban on military-style assault weapons, he has not pushed Congress to act.

Several Democratic lawmakers, during appearances on the Sunday talk shows, said the gruesome killings at the school were the final straw in a debate on gun laws that has fallen to the wayside in recent years.

"This conversation has been dominated in Washington by — you know and I know — gun lobbies that have an agenda" said Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the second-ranking Democrat in the Senate. "We need people, just ordinary Americans, to come together, and speak out, and to sit down and calmly reflect on how far we go."

Sen. Joe Lieberman, a Connecticut independent who is retiring, suggested a national commission on mass violence that would examine gun laws and what critics see as loopholes, as well as the mental health system and violence in movies and video games. Durbin said he supports the idea, and would add school safety to the list of topics to examine.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said she would push legislation next year to ban future sales of military-assault weapons like those used in the elementary school shooting. The bill will ban big clips, drums and strips of more than 10 bullets.

The proposals were among the first to come from Congress in the wake of Friday's shooting. Gun rights activists remained largely quiet on the issue, all but one declining to appear on the talk shows.

Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas defended the sale of assault weapons and said that the principal at Sandy Hook Elementary School, who authorities say died trying to overtake the shooter, should herself have been armed.

Authorities identified the shooter as Adam Lanza, a 20-year-old who police say first killed his mother before driving to the school, opening fire in two classrooms and then taking his own life.

Before leaving for Connecticut, the president went to watch a dance rehearsal for one of his daughters in suburban Maryland.

As he said in his radio address, "this weekend, Michelle and I are doing what I know every parent is doing — holding our children as close as we can and reminding them how much we love them. "

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Miami in spotlight at AVCC, other entrepreneurship events

Entrepreneurs from around the world took the stage during this packed week of entrepreneurship events in Miami: Florida International University’s Americas Venture Capital Conference (known as AVCC), HackDay, Wayra’s Global DemoDay and Endeavor’s International Selection Panel.

The events, all part of the first Innovate MIA week, also put the spotlight on Miami as it continues to try to develop into a technology hub for the Americas.

“While I like art, I absolutely love what is happening today... The time has come to become a tech hub in Miami,” said Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez, who kicked off the venture capital conference on Thursday. He told the audience of 450 investors and entrepreneurs about the county’s $1 million investment in the Launch Pad Tech Accelerator in downtown Miami.

“I have no doubt that this gathering today will produce new ideas and new business ventures that will put our community on a fast track to becoming a center for innovative, tech-driven entrepreneurship,” Gimenez said.

Brad Feld, an early-stage investor and a founder of TechStars, cautioned that won’t happen overnight. Building a startup community can take five, 10, even 15 years, and those leading the effort, who should be entrepreneurs themselves, need to take the long-term view, he told the audience via video. “You can create very powerful entrepreneurial ecosystems in any city... I’ve spent some time in Miami, I think you are off to a great start.”

Throughout the two-day AVCC at the JW Brickell Marriott, as well as the Endeavor and Wayra events, entrepreneurs from around the world pitched their companies, hoping to persuade investors to part with some of their green.

And in some cases, the entrepreneurs could win money, too. During the venture capital conference, 29 companies —including eight from South Florida such as itMD, which connects doctors, patients and imaging facilities to facilitate easy access of records — competed for more than $50,000 in cash and prizes through short “elevator’’ pitches. Each took questions from the judges, then demoed their products or services in the conference “Hot Zone,” a room adjoining the ballroom. Some companies like oLyfe, a platform to organize what people share online, are hoping to raise funds for expansion into Latin America. Others like Ideame, a trilingual crowdfunding platform, were laser focused on pan-Latin American opportunities.

Winning the grand prize of $15,000 in cash and art was Trapezoid Digital Security of Miami, which provides hardware-based security solutions for enterprise and cloud environments. Fotopigeon of Tampa, a photo-sharing and printing service targeting the military and prison niches, scored two prizes.

The conference offered opportunities to hear formal presentations on current trends — among them the surge of start-ups in Brazil; the importance of mobile apps and overheated company valuations — and informal opportunities to connect with fellow entrepreneurs.

Speakers included Gaston Legorburu of SapientNitro, Albert Santalo of CareCloud and Juan Diego Calle of .Co Internet, all South Florida entrepreneurs. Jerry Haar, executive director of FIU’s Pino Global Entrepreneurship Center, which produced the conference with a host of sponsors, said the organizers worked hard to make the conference relevant to both the local and Latin American audience, with panels on funding and recruiting for startups, for instance.

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