Murder of Andrew Kissel

Andrew Michael Kissel (August 23, 1959 – April 3, 2006) was an American real estate developer who was found murdered at his rented estate in Greenwich, Connecticut. Members of a moving company crew, who had arrived to complete the Kissels' move out of the property, discovered his body in the basement of the home. He had been stabbed to death, with his hands and feet bound. At the time of the killing, Kissel and his wife, Hayley Wolff, were in the process of vacating the Greenwich house; their landlord had sued them over unpaid rent, and the couple had agreed to leave the premises by March 31, 2006.

Before his death, Kissel had been under scrutiny for financial fraud. From 1995 to 2002 he served as treasurer of the co-op board at 200 East 74th Street in Manhattan, where he had sole signing authority over the board's bank account. He arranged a refinancing plan ostensibly to create a reserve fund and pay for building renovations, but instead diverted money into his own account and forged financial statements, ultimately embezzling $3.9 million. When confronted by the board, he admitted the scheme and agreed to repay $4.7 million in exchange for the matter not being made public, entering a civil settlement in October 2003. Despite this, a Manhattan grand jury later charged him with grand larceny and related offenses in connection with the funds. At the time of his death he reportedly owed an estimated $30 million to various creditors, including the Internal Revenue Service, prompting the sale of parts of his extensive collections of vehicles and other valuables.

The motive for his murder was initially described as unclear, given the number of parties who had disputes with him, including federal authorities, corporations, and his own wife. In March 2008, police arrested Kissel's chauffeur, Carlos Trujillo, along with Trujillo's cousins Leonard Trujillo and Jair Trujillo, charging them in connection with the death. The arrests followed investigators tracing a credit card found during a search of Carlos Trujillo's residence, which led to a follow-up interview in which they were told about a plot to kill Kissel.

Prosecutors alleged the motive was the Trujillos' fear that their role in laundering money for Kissel would be exposed. Carlos Trujillo was charged with murder and attempted murder; a jury acquitted him of the murder charge, finding parts of the prosecution's account unproven, and deadlocked on the attempted murder charge, resulting in a mistrial on that count. He subsequently pleaded guilty to attempted murder and was sentenced to six years in prison, to be followed by deportation to Colombia. Leonard Trujillo pleaded guilty to manslaughter and conspiracy to commit murder, testified against his cousin Carlos, and received a 20-year sentence.

The case drew additional public attention because Andrew Kissel's brother, Robert Kissel, had been murdered in Hong Kong in November 2003, killed by his wife, Nancy Kissel.