Podiatrist, girlfriend conspire against wife, vow to reunite after prison

most everyone in Rockland County New York knows IRA Bernstein he was a big shot in town amassed a small fortune as a real estate tycoon and the local podiatrist he had a significant amount of cash flow a millions and millions of dollars the good doctor even treated the entire fleet of feet at the Ramapo Police Department he was not unknown to this Police Department detective Michelle and myself were running stations he treated you yep and you were happy with his services yes dr. Bernstein was as well known for his War of the Roses with his wife as he was for his Healing Hands Susan Bernstein would threaten to have IRA arrested while they were married there's an audio tape to support that there were phone recordings on both sides but there are some of dr. Bernstein threatening her life yes repeatedly you want to yell at me I'll just hang up on you're crazy in the battle over the family fortune the Bernstein's stay married but began living separate lives police say it didn't take long for the foot doctor to develop a fetish for a sexy ex mortician named Kelly Grove Olek she was a funeral director she was the 35 year old beauty had just come out of her own nasty divorce and even uglier custody dispute a little TLC from IRA was a prescription for romance how did Kelly and I run meet Kelly and I remain key was a patient of IRAs they were romantic they were Kelly was known as a model citizen in Rockland County but cops did know her name she had been involved in a tragic death Kelly had been in a fatal car accident before where she was driving she was driving she struck a pedestrian and was not charged with a crime as far as you could tell that was an accident yes cops tell me Kelly fell hard for the wealthy podiatrist and eventually took a job at one of his men call centers in fact she's even seen driving around town in his Maserati she loved IRA Bernstein when the wife gets wind of her husband's sexy young girlfriend she files for divorce I'm with my mom in Florida but they decide to stay married for the love of money as Susan Bernstein would put it IRA didn't want to divide up his Empire I think he felt it was unfair and he expressed that to his girlfriend Kelly as well I row is now becoming more and more frustrated and Kelly didn't like seeing the love of her life so upset I think she wanted to please IRA and had this vision of her and I were living together with a lot of money so cops say Kelly hatched an evil plan to get rid of the one thing standing in the way of their happily ever after IRA's wife do you think she really wanted to have Susan Bernstein killed absolutely no question no doubt she comes from little means she stood to gain fancy cars big houses you know the stature to be with the doctor all Kelly needed was a hitman to arrange the murder so she went shopping she was shopping this hint she was shopping to him she was who does that Kelly Brooke police say Kelly was determined to get the job done claiming she propositioned three different people they all say no and then Kelly runs into an old buddy while Kelly was shopping for a car at BMW in Rockland County she started a conversation with mark NZ Lee Santana car salesman car salesman absolutely a car salesman by day according to Kelly he was a hit man by night mark Kensi loose aunt had once old Kelly a car what was Mark Kensi asked to do Mackenzie was asked if he knew anybody that can help take out the clients boyfriends wife mark Kinzie and Kelly began covert meetings at this parking lot believe it or not it's right across from one of - Bernstein's offices and the police station patching a plan to take ours wife out what Kelly doesn't know is mark n T's car has a special feature it's secretly wired with cameras it would appear from these audio and video tapes that Kelly was a very serious about finding someone to kill IRAs wife I think she was very determined they even devised a despicable and eerily familiar plan of how to off Susan what was the plot supposed to be the original plot was to try to be in a car accident where she gets run off the road or struck Susan the wife being dead right and had the other driver that struck her stay on the scene and have the police take an accident report and no one's the wiser go away right Kelly had been in an accident when she was younger where someone was killed that is correct was this just an irony or did this play into the Angela school very well is ironic after nearly a dozen meetings the car salesman makes Kelly an offer she can't refuse they negotiate it yes they didn't a hundred grand it actually started off at two hundred thousand came quickly down to one hundred thousand dollars for price on Susan Bernstein said but where would a single mom come up with that kind of money turns out it was what the doctor ordered [Laughter] to prove Mackenzie is the real deal and not a police informant Kelly and the doc first asked the salesman to rough up two insurance adjusters who had been investigating Bernstein's podiatry practice for fraud a few days later mark NZ delivers these chilling photos when Kelly first looked at those pictures the first thing she said was these these look like cop pictures why did she go through the motions were out weighing everything else that they were going through here's where the podiatrist and his girlfriend take the bait he was satisfied with the meeting that these two insurance investigators received yes he was and they looked realistic they do the artists work had worked on that movie effects that's right these pictures are fake we took numerous pictures hundreds of pictures and just so we can get one of each person being beat up they looked more realistic did you pay the money yeah we have the money if the money was paid so who rented out the foot doctor and his girlfriend's murder for hire plot was Mark NZ a legitimate hit man he's not a hit man he's he's a good man a good man who blew the whistle you were the man for the job I pretended to be mark Kenzi tells me Kelly came into the luxury car dealership and asked if he knew anyone who could kill her boyfriend's wife she was very clear about it what need you go to police when I look at her facial expression and not know she was serious he was the fourth person that they had contacted to kill Susan Bernstein and he's the only one who went to the police the only one only one they were gonna keep hunting until they found somebody who was gonna do it the Ramapo police asked the car salesman to close the biggest deal of his life getting both Kelly and IRA to map out their murder-for-hire plot on camera this is all they do you all know did you ever think your life was in danger yes especially at this moment at one point the doctor actually sees the hidden camera yes mark Kensi reassures the doctor in Kelly he's simply a Salesman with a tricked-out car very shot he points right out he goes what is that and what does mark NZ say he says well that's what my kids they plug into and for their headsets that a doctor kept looking at it he stared back he says I don't want to end up on television I don't want to end up on television yeah as in an investigative journalism show that camera dr. Bernstein discovered in mark NZ's backseat was actually set by the cops to catch the deal of death on tape and it didn't take Kelly law [Laughter] the recordings gave the Ramapo police all the evidence they needed to arrest Kelly for conspiracy to murder IRAs wife but cops sit tight until they've got enough to nail the doctor to at one point she even says like you know when this is over we're gonna party like no other but the foot doctor had wisely tiptoed around mark NZ he never verbally gives the final go-ahead up until that moment it was Kelly Gribble look who was the mouthpiece for the conspiracy on IRAs behalf we did have prior to that her meeting with him and video and photographs of that but it wasn't enough to actually charge it so when Mark Kinsey shows the doc the pictures of the two busted up insurance adjusters police asked him to set the final trap Mike Enzi says listen I need to know we need to have some sort of conclusion here you know either I'm out or you know but it's your decision has to be your decision cops say that's when the good doctor shoots himself in the foot he makes me say he says if it comes from Kelly it came from me detectives tell me Kelly showed up a few days later simply typed the word yes into her phone how important was that to your case was very important there was a few critical moments and that was wonderful so he wanted you to kill his wife Susan with that the detectives swoop in and nab the doctor and his mistress interrogating both at the same time in separate rings it was a bad thing that you guys are doing really bad you're gonna be charged with a solicitation to solicit someone to go kill Susan this is the moment that a murder-for-hire case almost went sideways a wealthy doctor looks straight into the hidden camera filming him as he sets up the calculated killing of his estranged wife today I talked to the man in the driver's seat during the deal the would-be hit man dr. IRA Bernstein wanted to permanently silence his estranged wife Susan who he claims is a greedy nag I'm with my mom in Florida so he and his younger mistress Kelly grab a lock hire who they think is a hit man mark Kensi Lucent to murder Susan his credentials he's a car salesman Kelly had known for years to prove bar Kenzi is the real deal and not a police informant Kelly and the doc first asked the salesman to rough up two insurance adjusters who had been investigating Bernstein's podiatry practice for fraud a few days later mark Enzi delivers these chilling photos when Kelly first looked at those pictures the first thing she said was these these look like cop pictures why did she go through the emotions we're out waiting everything else that they were going through here's where the podiatrist and his girlfriend take the bait he was satisfied with the meeting that these two insurance investigators received yes he was and they look realistic they've the artists work had worked on that movie FX that's right these pictures are fake we took numerous pictures hundreds of pictures and just so we can get one of each person being beat up that looked more realistic did you pay the money yeah we have the money if the money was paid so who ratted out the foot doctor and his girlfriend's murder for hire plot was mark NZ a legitimate hitman he's not a hitman he's he's a good man a good man who blew the whistle you were the man for the job I pretended to me mark Kenzi tells me Kelly came into the luxury car dealership and asked if he knew anyone who could kill her boyfriends one she was very clear about it what needs you go to police when I look at her facial expression and not know she was serious he was the fourth person that they had contacted to kill Susan Bernstein and he's the only one who went to the police the only one only one they were gonna keep hunting until they found somebody who was gonna do it the Ramapo police asked the car salesman to close the biggest deal of his life getting both Kelly and IRA to map out their murder-for-hire plot on camera this is all they did all night did you ever think your life was in danger yes especially at this moment at one point the doctor actually sees the hidden camera yes mark Kenzi reassures the doctor in Kelly he's simply a salesman with a tricked-out car very shy he points right out he goes what is that and what does Mark nz's he said well that's what my kids they plug into and for their headsets that a doctor kept looking at it he stared back and says I don't want to end up on television I don't want to end up on television yeah as in an investigative journalism show that camera dr. Bernstein discovered in mark NZ's backseat was actually set by the cops to catch the deal of death on tape and it didn't take Kelly long the recordings gave the Ramapo police all the evidence they needed to arrest Kelly for conspiracy to murder IRAs wife but cops sit tight until they've got enough to nail the doctor to at one point she even says I can own witnesses over we're gonna party like no other but the foot doctor had wisely tiptoed around mark NZ he never verbally gives the final go-ahead up until that moment it was Kelly Gribble look who was the mouthpiece for the conspiracy on IRAs behalf we did have prior to that her meeting with him and video and photographs of that but it wasn't enough to actually charge it so when Mark Kinsey shows the doc the pictures of the two busted up insurance adjusters police ask him to set the final trap my candy says listen I need to know we need to have some sort of conclusion here you know either I'm out or you know but it's your decision has to be your decision cops say that's when the good doctor shoots himself in the foot he makes me say he says if it comes from Kelly it came from me detectives tell me Kelly showed up a few days later simply typed the word yes into her phone how important was that to your case this is very important there was a few critical moments and that was one of them so he wanted you to kill his wife Susan with that the detectives swoop in and nab the doctor and his mistress interrogating both at the same time in separate rooms it was a bad thing but you guys are doing really bad you're gonna be charged with a solicitation to solicit someone to go kill Susan when Kelly grabbling typed these three simple letters ye ass into her phone cops say it's spelled murder do you think she really wanted to have Susan Bernstein killed absolutely yes tell family no question Ramapo detectives claimed that was a direct message not from the mistress but from dr. IRA Bernstein himself ordering the hit do you think he would have really paid $100,000 to have a soon to be actually I've killed yeah I think he has them he has the money to do so it was enough for prosecutors to charge the would-be killer lovebirds with conspiracy to commit murder but cops still needed Kelly to cooperate fingering the foot doctor as the real mastermind behind the scheme we had to be sure that dr. Bernstein was involved fully as well so cops put together their own elaborate plan to get Kelly to rat out her lover when Kelly was arrested yes the police put you in this holding cell yes so she could see you yes remember Kelly has no idea that car salesmen she hired as a hitman mark Enzi loose aunt is really a police informant the plan was to go have a walk past and see him say oh my gosh they have the Hitman it's over did she look at you yes and what was the look on her face she basically changed color and I believe she had actually was saying is she had peed herself she wet her pants yes literally later right here Kelly and dr. Bernstein are put in separate interrogation rooms and now comes the game of good cop bad cop Kelly's your girlfriend no I'm secretly huh yeah she a nice girl Chrissy Jim pretty girl too but I think you two just got caught up in this big web but whatever was happening and kind of got out of control you have more charges that he's gonna have it was a bad thing that you guys were doing really bad continually pitting one against the other Kelly just gave us everything she's crumbled he's gonna be coming in here and he's gonna tell us picture is what you were gonna do to Susan Kelly backs up the doctor story she claims they never intended to follow through with a hit but tells detectives the hit man wouldn't take no for an answer why was he pressuring me so much you calling me pressuring me that's not even threatened to feed them to alligators if they didn't pay up fed to the Lu get to the alligators a terrifying threat for sure but there are just two major flaws with that story first where are you gonna find the alligators in Ramapo New York and the bigger issue mark NZ wasn't really a hit man Mackenzie's not even in trouble because there's more to this okay more Kenzie's with us still cops can't get Kelly or IRA to crack my godmy finish real-life facially that's it depend on right now I can't answer any questions and we're here after that the doctor posts bail it turns out to be the break cops are looking for they both went to jail for a few days and dr. Bernstein bailed himself out and Kelly stayed in prison he didn't be I'll kill you no detectives tell his mistress her lover is bailing out on her while she rots behind bars he's free you can always go back to his big house with his wife but you your disposable was she bitter that IRA bailed out of jail and she was left and get off her some air at a time I believe she was but after four months of sitting in a jail cell the stewing mistress suddenly has a change of heart your relationship with him is over it's done he is separating himself right now he's putting his knowledge why did she decide to be a cooperating witness for the prosecution IRA Bernstein in her mind left her in jail while he was out and I don't think she at that time felt the need to protect him anymore what was the game plan shooter grubbé Olek fondly flips confirming it was Bernstein's idea to off his wife she just helped execute the plan what was the word written in there yes that's giving the go-ahead so the case was closed right not so fast the prosecution's key witness is fondly lit out of jail and you'll never believe where she ends up they move in together that's right she ran straight back into the arms of dr. IRA Bernstein I believe that night they actually moved in together so you as a prosecutor have your cooperating witness living with dining with sleeping with the target of your investigation that's true even after she agreed to testify against him yes he never held that against her but sleeping with the enemy left the podiatrist without a legal leg to stand out how did this complicate the prosecution of dr. Bernstein well Kelly and I are living together she became less and less cooperative the closer we got on the other hand it greatly helped the prosecution in this case because it made it impossible for ira Bernstein to point the finger at Kelly Gribble look at trial dr. Bernstein decided to plead guilty and received a 5 to 15 year prison sentence Kelly Gribble got 4 to 12 years in exchange for her testimony and how was Susan Bernstein during this investigation she didn't know anything about it how did you react they both told us that she said pause and then said I'm not surprised what is the surprise through it all Susan and IRA are still legally married are you glad you did what you did I would do it all over again do you think if Kelly had approached a real hit man Susan Bernstein would be dead absolutely no question that no doubt [Music]

Channel: True Crime Daily

Views: 2,541,305

Keywords: Ira Bernstein, Susan Bernstein, Kelly Gribeluk, True Crime Daily, Crime Watch Daily

Id: DHxbz3QyiR8

Length: 23min 44sec (1424 seconds)

Published: Mon Jul 08 2019