Home where power broker Linda Stein was killed trades in penthouse deal

An Upper East Side co-op unit where power broker Linda Stein was murdered in 2007 has traded in a deal for the building’s duplex penthouse.

The apartment, at 965 Fifth Avenue, sold as part of a larger deal for three units at the Fifth Avenue tower; the units can be combined to form a large, six-bedroom penthouse. The sales price for the assemblage was $17.9 million, according to public records. The buyer appears to be Jamie Zimmerman, founder of the New York hedge fund Litespeed Management.

The sellers, Steven and Kathleen Carroll, bought unit #18C from Stein’s estate for $1.045 million in 2008. It was not immediately clear when the couple purchased units #18A and #19A.

Stein, a high-earning broker for Prudential Douglas Elliman, was found by one of her daughters bludgeoned to death in the 18th floor apartment. The death was soon ruled a homicide and Stein’s personal assistant, Natavia Lowery, was charged. In 2010, Lowery was sentenced to 25 years in prison. The Elliman broker was the former manager of punk band the Ramones and had celebrity clients such as Billy Joel, Sting, Steven Spielberg and Michael Douglas.

Prudential Douglas Elliman broker Joan Swift brokered the deal on behalf of the sellers. While Swift declined to confirm the identity of the buyer or seller, she said the buyer had not been dissuaded by the fact that the murder had occurred there.

“It’s such a gorgeous apartment, it wasn’t an issue,” Swift said, noting that the combination apartment had gone into contract just 14 days after it came on the market. It sold for its full asking price.

The penthouse spread, which has a wraparound terrace, features thee exposures and views of the Central Park reservoir. The pad also has a wood-paneled library, a powder room, an office and a wet bar.