New York Lawyer Became Murderer

2 Articles follow:

1. New York Daily News: He's guilty in '90 slay of millionaire
2. New York Post: Lawyer Guilty in Contract Murder

He's guilty in '90 slay of millionaire
The New York Daily News bY BARBARA ROSS AND OWEN MORITZ - April 17, 2008

The shady lawyer of rich widow Barbara Kogan was convicted Wednesday of arranging the execution-style rubout of millionaire antiques dealer George Kogan outside his girlfriend's pad. Manuel Martinez, 57, faces 25 years to life when he's sentenced next month. Prosecutors were mum on whether they now plan to target Barbara Kogan, 65, who collected $4 million in insurance money after the murder of her husband. The widow never testified in the bizarre, two-week trial, and an alleged hit man was never identified.

Martinez reportedly collected $100,000 for hiring the hit man who fired three bullets into George Kogan on Oct. 23, 1990, as the victim lingered outside his girlfriend's E. 69th St. apartment. He died seven hours later. Martinez was "a lawyer who became a murderer," Assistant District Attorney Joel Seidemann told the Supreme Court jury in Manhattan. The jury deliberated three days before convicting the lawyer of second-degree murder and soliciting. Prosecutors said Martinez admitted his involvement in Kogan's death to his ex-wife and an ex-con pal.

The lawyer was actually indicted a decade ago while serving a prison term in Mexico on unrelated charges. Prosecutors had hoped to persuade him to testify against Barbara Kogan, who lives in Puerto Rico and was never accused in the murder. Martinez was her lawyer in the acrimonious divorce battle that preceded the millionaire's slaying. "We're happy justice is being served, even if it took 18 years," said a relative of George Kogan who attended the trial each day and asked not to be identified. bross@nydailynews.com

LAWYER GUILTY IN CONTRACT MURDER
The New York Post by LAURA ITALIANO - April 17, 2008

April 17, 2008 -- A crooked lawyer who hired a hit man so his client could get rid of her wealthy husband was convicted yesterday of the nearly two-decade-old murder. The sensational assassination of George Kogan took place on the Upper East Side in October 1990. He was shot three times in the back as he approached the front door of his mistress' East 69th Street apartment. He died hours later, with his girlfriend at his bedside. Prosecutors said the lawyer, Manuel Martinez, 57, set up the hit for his client, Barbara Kogan, who received of a $4 million insurance windfall. A jury deliberated three days in the tricky, circumstantial case complicated by the passage of 18 years.

Kogan was a millionaire real-estate investor who had interests in a casino in Puerto Rico and in several Brooklyn buildings. Cops at the time said he was also embroiled in a divorce battle with his wife, from whom he'd separated in 1988. They had two grown sons, Scott and William. The year after the couple broke up, Kogan moved in with Mary Louise Hawkins, 28, a Manhattan publicist for the Kogans' antique store on East 76th Street. They lived in her apartment on East 69th Street. The alleged hit man has never been charged. Nor has Barbara Kogan, who is believed to be in Puerto Rico.

"He had one foot in the legal world and the other foot in the underworld," Assistant District Attorney Joel Seidemann said of the shady lawyer in closing arguments. Martinez had been in a Mexican prison for drug charges for much of the last decade, and was extradited for the murder case in March 2007. laura.italiano@nypost.com