NYC Comedy Club Owner & Nanny Murdered; Suspect is NJ Boyfriend – The Jewish Voice

By: Chester Andersberg

It was the
stuff that headliner writers’ and crime reporters’ dreams are made of:
Manhattan comedy club owner and his live-in nanny murdered, and her boyfriend
is a suspect.

Joseph
Porter, 27, of Elizabeth, N.J., has been charged with two counts of murder and
weapons possession in the murders of David Kimowitz and nanny Karen
Bermudez-Rodriguez at Kimowitz’s home on Walton Road, Essex County, according
to prosecutors.

“I heard a
woman screaming, ‘Oh my god!’ over and over and over,” Kathy Cantwell, 63,
told a reporter from the New York Daily News. “It was at 6 a.m. My window
was open. I didn’t see anything. Someone was screaming from the top of their
lungs.”

Police
reportedly arrived at the scene to find 26 year old Bermudez-Rodriguez on the
ground several houses away, according to Essex County Chief Assistant Prosecutor
Thomas Fennelly told the Daily News.

“Kimowitz,
a father of two baby girls, was found dead inside the house, authorities said.
His wife and children were not home at the time of the attack, Fennelly told
the Daily News. “Kimowitz was an owner of the Stand Restaurant and Comedy Club
in Union Square in Manhattan. The popular venue first opened in Gramercy in
2012, then moved to a larger space on E. 16th St. last month. It’s hosted such
comedians as Tracy Morgan, Janeane Garofalo and Judah Friedlander.”

Comedians
in the area weighed in on social media. Comic Matt Davis tweeted, “God damn
this news about David Kimowitz. RIP, sir.” Fellow comic Daniel Lobell noted on
Facebook, “RIP David Kimowitz the world will miss you!” Added comic Chris
Millhouse, “RIP David Kimowitz, such a tragedy & my condolences to his
family.” Laurie Kilmartin noted tweeted, “I’m so sad and horrified to hear of
the death of David Kimowitz. A club owner who loved comedy and comics. A
terrible loss for his young family, and the NYC comedy community. RIP David.”

NorthJersey.com quoted a Kimowitz neighbor as saying that the family had
relocated to the area roughly a year and a half ago. “The neighbor said that
Kimowitz had extended family in the area, which was part of the reason the
family had relocated there. The neighbor continued, “There was always a nanny
around, his wife was pretty quiet. He was a very happy guy, they had just
renovated the house, which had been abandoned for a couple of years… they were
young and just starting out in the suburban life after having lived in
Manhattan. He was always very nice,”
reported heavy.com.