May 7, 2009 11:08 AM
- Text
Secrets Of Palm Beach
(CBS)
This story was first broadcast on Jan. 19, 2008. It was updated on Aug. 15, 2008.
Linda Fishman, a wealthy Connecticut widow, decided to uproot her life and move to sunny Florida to pursue a fresh start. But Linda, described by her family and friends as generous and giving, was also looking for love.
In early 2003, Linda was found murdered in her home, the house set on fire in an attempt to destroy crime scene evidence.
Did Linda's generosity and her quest for love contribute to her murder?
Correspondent Troy Roberts reports on the investigation.
For years, Linda had a successful career as the chief court administrator in Hartford, Conn., and it was there she met and married Superior Court Judge Milton Fishman, a man 16 years her senior.
Linda's older sister Bernice Ferency remembers that the marriage was very good. "He was funny, he always made her laugh," she recalls.
But their happiness would be short-lived: Milton died of heart failure just eight years into the marriage. Linda was 39, widowed and alone. Years later, determined to make a fresh start, she moved to Florida where she became a fixture on the charity circuit, even attending events at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago mansion in Palm Beach.
Barbara Wolff and Linda Marchese were part of Linda's inner circle of well-to-do women who were often part of the Palm Beach social scene. "If you were a person close to her, there wasn't anything she wouldn't do for you," Wolff recalls.
And one of those closest to Linda was her nephew, Michael Jamrock, who had also moved to Florida and made a name for himself as a radio disc jockey
Off the air, Jamrock had a reputation as a bit of a wild man, which sometimes got in the way of steady employment. "I like to go out and party, I drink a lot, you know, go out with a lot of girls. I'm just, sort of like, a party animal. …I'm like, sort of looked down upon as the lowlife radio guy," he admits.
That may be putting it mildly; Jamrock also had run-ins with the law, including two arrests for drunk driving, a jail term and a restraining order stemming from an old girlfriend who accused him of domestic violence.
But that didn't stop him from borrowing $40,000 from his aunt Linda to open the now defunct Jamrock Café. And when he was embroiled in a nasty custody battle, once again it was Linda who helped Jamrock out.
"This is a woman who, since I was a baby, has never said no to me about anything, for anything, ever. So if I needed money and asked her, 'There you go,'" he explains.
But did that generosity cost Linda her life?
"His alibi, he's about a mile away at a bar drinking heavily according to the people there," says Eric Keith of the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, the lead detective on the Fishman case. "So Michael is at the bar. His house is at the far end of Linda's home. And her house is right in the middle. So, he's passing by there, give or take, within 15 minutes of the murder."
And apparently Det. Keith wasn't the only one questioning Jamrock's possible involvement. "Some of the family members had some concerns based on the way he became isolated following the homicide. He wasn't socializing with the rest of the family. So, there were some definite concerns in the periphery of his family that he may have had some involvement," he says.
"It doesn't sound like he had too many defenders," Roberts remarks.
"No. No," Keith replies.
But Jamrock says, "I mean these are my family members. I mean, people don't understand that. It's my family that have known me since I've been born! You know, that's what the problem is."
To some degree, Keith says they, the family, all felt that Jamrock was using Linda for money, and Jamrock admits he was "always" in a tight position financially.
The detective believed Jamrock was capable of murder. "If she were to tell Michael 'Enough is enough, you know, the purse is closed. I've got my own problems.' You've got him inebriated. He's got the opportunity because he's passing by there at about the right time. It wasn't looking good. He's an obvious suspect at that point," he says.
Jamrock says that in the very beginning of the investigation he didn't have a clue he was a suspect. He agreed to take a lie detector test, but Keith says the result showed deception.
Jamrock says he can't explain those results. "It's a very bizarre process. They say 'Okay is your name Troy?' 'Yes.' 'Is this what you do for an occupation?' 'Yes.' 'Did you kill your aunt!?' Well of course you jump. It's sort of like you're on a carnival ride. And holy crap. Of course, you're gonna like freak out. But I don't have an explanation for that. I really don't. I have no idea," he tells Roberts.
A shaky alibi, a failed lie detector test and a possible motive -- together it was shaping up to be a powerful case against Michael Jamrock. But he says he didn't do it.
Linda Fishman, a wealthy Connecticut widow, decided to uproot her life and move to sunny Florida to pursue a fresh start. But Linda, described by her family and friends as generous and giving, was also looking for love.
In early 2003, Linda was found murdered in her home, the house set on fire in an attempt to destroy crime scene evidence.
Did Linda's generosity and her quest for love contribute to her murder?
Correspondent Troy Roberts reports on the investigation.
For years, Linda had a successful career as the chief court administrator in Hartford, Conn., and it was there she met and married Superior Court Judge Milton Fishman, a man 16 years her senior.
Linda's older sister Bernice Ferency remembers that the marriage was very good. "He was funny, he always made her laugh," she recalls.
But their happiness would be short-lived: Milton died of heart failure just eight years into the marriage. Linda was 39, widowed and alone. Years later, determined to make a fresh start, she moved to Florida where she became a fixture on the charity circuit, even attending events at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago mansion in Palm Beach.
Barbara Wolff and Linda Marchese were part of Linda's inner circle of well-to-do women who were often part of the Palm Beach social scene. "If you were a person close to her, there wasn't anything she wouldn't do for you," Wolff recalls.
And one of those closest to Linda was her nephew, Michael Jamrock, who had also moved to Florida and made a name for himself as a radio disc jockey
Off the air, Jamrock had a reputation as a bit of a wild man, which sometimes got in the way of steady employment. "I like to go out and party, I drink a lot, you know, go out with a lot of girls. I'm just, sort of like, a party animal. …I'm like, sort of looked down upon as the lowlife radio guy," he admits.
That may be putting it mildly; Jamrock also had run-ins with the law, including two arrests for drunk driving, a jail term and a restraining order stemming from an old girlfriend who accused him of domestic violence.
But that didn't stop him from borrowing $40,000 from his aunt Linda to open the now defunct Jamrock Café. And when he was embroiled in a nasty custody battle, once again it was Linda who helped Jamrock out.
"This is a woman who, since I was a baby, has never said no to me about anything, for anything, ever. So if I needed money and asked her, 'There you go,'" he explains.
But did that generosity cost Linda her life?
"His alibi, he's about a mile away at a bar drinking heavily according to the people there," says Eric Keith of the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, the lead detective on the Fishman case. "So Michael is at the bar. His house is at the far end of Linda's home. And her house is right in the middle. So, he's passing by there, give or take, within 15 minutes of the murder."
And apparently Det. Keith wasn't the only one questioning Jamrock's possible involvement. "Some of the family members had some concerns based on the way he became isolated following the homicide. He wasn't socializing with the rest of the family. So, there were some definite concerns in the periphery of his family that he may have had some involvement," he says.
"It doesn't sound like he had too many defenders," Roberts remarks.
"No. No," Keith replies.
But Jamrock says, "I mean these are my family members. I mean, people don't understand that. It's my family that have known me since I've been born! You know, that's what the problem is."
To some degree, Keith says they, the family, all felt that Jamrock was using Linda for money, and Jamrock admits he was "always" in a tight position financially.
The detective believed Jamrock was capable of murder. "If she were to tell Michael 'Enough is enough, you know, the purse is closed. I've got my own problems.' You've got him inebriated. He's got the opportunity because he's passing by there at about the right time. It wasn't looking good. He's an obvious suspect at that point," he says.
Jamrock says that in the very beginning of the investigation he didn't have a clue he was a suspect. He agreed to take a lie detector test, but Keith says the result showed deception.
Jamrock says he can't explain those results. "It's a very bizarre process. They say 'Okay is your name Troy?' 'Yes.' 'Is this what you do for an occupation?' 'Yes.' 'Did you kill your aunt!?' Well of course you jump. It's sort of like you're on a carnival ride. And holy crap. Of course, you're gonna like freak out. But I don't have an explanation for that. I really don't. I have no idea," he tells Roberts.
A shaky alibi, a failed lie detector test and a possible motive -- together it was shaping up to be a powerful case against Michael Jamrock. But he says he didn't do it.
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