A murdered Long Island millionaire may have gotten the last laugh on his much-younger bride accused in his slaying – he left her virtually penniless.
Sources said that even as the couple’s relationship crumbled, Michael Forbes, 50, of Merrick, tried to impress his new wife, Kelly, 29, boasting to her that he was a millionaire who owned a barbershop and multiple homes and was about to open two franchise restaurants.
She didn’t learn until after his Nov. 21 murder that she would not inherit that fortune.
Virtually all of her husband’s assets – including a Mercedes and their dream home – are in the names of his parents, Willie and Aretha Forbes. That means Kelly – whom he married in September – may inherit essentially nothing.
“This is all about money,” said Yvette Dudley, a lawyer and cousin of the dead man.
Kelly Forbes, accused of strangling her much-larger husband with an electrical cord, is now in jail charged with first-degree manslaughter.
Her lawyer, Anthony Capetola, denied the charge, although he confirmed she did not know until after her husband’s death that he did not own their million-dollar Merrick mansion, the business, other homes or the 2008 Mercedes-Benz he gave her.
“After the incident, she found out,” Capetola said. “She doesn’t have any money.”
Those who knew the couple say Michael Forbes had spent the days before his murder filling the luxurious home with expensive gifts for his bride, whom he still loved, even as their relationship was racked by accusations of adultery.
At one point, Michael Forbes complained that his wife would swipe the keys to his Mercedes from his pants pocket while he was sleeping and stay away for entire weekends. He was certain she was cheating on him.
“Imagine, she’s a thief. She’s dishonest. I can’t trust her with money,” Michael Forbes told a friend just days before his murder. “I’m giving her everything, and look how she’s treating me. She must have someone.”
The morning of Forbes’ murder, he was to meet a friend at 8 a.m. at a Home Depot in Freeport to get items to hook up a video projector and big-screen TV in his home.
When Forbes failed to show, the pal repeatedly called his cellphone but got no answer.
At 8:56 a.m., Forbes’ wife dialed 911 to report the strangulation. Her husband was still alive but dying.
“It’s a missing hour” or more, said Michael Forbes’ ex-wife, Nadene Dunnavant, a retired correction officer. “What happened in that time? Was there someone else in the house who left? I think it was a botched job.”
Dunnavant said she did not believe her ex-husband could have been overpowered by a woman 9 inches shorter and 100 pounds lighter than he was and suspects there may have been an accomplice. Police declined to comment.
“It’s all a lot of nonsense,” said Capetola, who denied his client was cheating on Forbes.
“She had male friends, but they were not boyfriends.”