Linda Stein murder trial to begin today

The trial of Natavia Lowery, the personal assistant accused of murdering her boss, celebrity real estate agent Linda Stein, is set to begin today, with jury selection getting underway this morning at 100 Center Street. Lowery’s videotaped confession, revealed last year at a pre-trial hearing, is expected to be the main evidence. Stein, a broker for Prudential Douglas Elliman, was found dead in a pool of blood in her Upper East Side apartment on Oct. 30, 2007. In the tape, Lowery, 28, confesses to bludgeoning Stein with a yoga stick after Stein launched into a tirade about a $30 million sale. “I was mad,” Lowery told prosecutors in the confession. “I was confused. I was angry. I was paranoid. I was feeling like I never had before. I felt like she was my worst enemy. How do you go from being someone’s best friend to, like, enemy? You know?” The defense is expected to argue that Lowery, who faces charges of murder, manslaughter, and stealing thousands of dollars from Stein before her death, as well as $800 afterward, was coerced into her confession, questioned for hours without a lawyer. The yoga stick has not been found, and there is no forensic evidence tying her to the crime, but legal experts say false confession claims are a hard-sell before a jury. The trial is expected to go on for six weeks. [NYDN] and [Post]