The beautifully restored house near this corner may be a law office now, but it was once the site of murder and intrigue.
Florence Kalbach, an 84 year-old near-blind widow, supported herself by running a boarding house at 96 S. Broadway in South Nyack. She was found brutally murdered in her home on May 24, 1971 -- strangled with a scarf, beaten, with her throat slashed. The suspected motive was robbery as Mrs. Kalbach kept her cash rents in the house.
Police charged Kenneth Hansen, 18, a tenant, with murder and burglary. Hansen admitted to the burglary but denied killing his landlady. A Rockland County Court jury convicted him of burglary but acquitted him of murder after a 1973 trial in New City led by the Rockland District Attorney's Office.
Another suspect emerged during the investigation. Samir Zada, then 17, : had a violent reputation and lived in the neighborhood on Elysian Avenue. Around the time of Hansen's acquittal, Zada had been convicted in the murder of Jerry Stout. Zada had beaten him and shot him in the head over a $20 ring. Two weeks prior, Zada had killed a local plumber after phoning in a fake emergency. He shot Christian Gunther in the head and robbed him of $90.
In March 2014, Zada was paroled and deported to Jordan. Mrs. Kalbach is still waiting for justice and her murder remains an open case.
History obtained by an article by Steve Lieberman at https://www.lohud.com/story/news/crime/2014/09/15/cold-case-south-nyack-murder/15682737/
Congratulations to Ovaron on the FTF !