Sylvie Cachay Murder: Designer Was Strangled, Drowned Says NYC Medical Examiner
NEW YORK (CBS/AP) Sylvie Cachay, the swimsuit designer found dead in an overflowing bathtub at a posh New York hotel earlier this month, was strangled and drowned, the medical examiner's office said Wednesday.
Cachay, 33, was found half-clothed, face-up in a tub at the Soho House hotel Dec. 9 after hotel workers noticed water leaking from the ceiling below her room. The medical examiner's office claimed she had been held underwater and strangled, ruling her death a homicide.
Her boyfriend, Nicholas Brooks, son of Academy-Award songwriter Joesph Brooks, was arrested and arraigned on charges of attempted murder and strangulation. Brooks was indicted Dec. 16, but prosecutors have not disclosed the charges, which are due to be made public Jan. 4. Meanwhile, he is being held without bail.
The Manhattan district attorney's office declined to comment on how the medical examiner's findings might affect the case against the 24-year-old Brooks.
Jeffrey Hoffman, Brooks' attorney, said he had not yet seen the medical examiner's report and would evaluate it when he does.
"Whatever it says is subject to testing by other professionals," he said. "We'll reach whatever conclusions after we can see for ourselves."
According to police, prescription drugs were found in Cachay's room, but Grace Burgess, a spokeswoman for the medical examiner's office, would not say whether any drugs were found in the designer's system.
Cachay and Brooks had been dating for about six months, according to her mother, Sylvia Cachay of McLean, Virginia. But she said her daughter had told her weeks ago that their relationship was over.
Sylvie Cachay created a women's swimsuit collection called Syla using high-end fabrics and bright, bold patterns and colors. The suits retailed for $200 to $400 each, but she lost her backing and had to fold after the economy collapsed, according to her former publicist Kate Godici.
In an unrelated case, the defendant's father, Joseph Brooks, is fighting charges that accuse him of molesting would-be actresses in his Manhattan apartment. He was the composer for the "You Light Up My Life" ballad, which scored an Oscar in 1978.
