Foreign exchange student Ada Podpiszyl ’12 came to Westport instilled with high expectations. She saw an affluent, supportive community—utopian, even. Little did she know, on Dec. 8 her opinion would change.
“When I came to Westport, it seemed like a perfect town. Everything was so clean and nice looking,” Podpiszyl said. “When I heard about the murder, well, it was quite a shock.”
On Dec. 8 an unidentified murderer killed local jeweler Yekutiel Zeevi and stole $300,000 worth of jewelry from his store in Westport. The alleged murderer was arrested in Spain on Monday, and found to be Andrew Robert Levene.
“It’s about time,” Claire Smith ’15 said.
However, other students didn’t feel the process took long at all. In fact, Chris Wilk ’14 thinks the contrary.
“I was surprised how quickly it happened,” Wilk said. “I mean, he went halfway across the globe. I expected it to fade away after a while, but it came back so soon.”
Others still feel differently about the situation—focusing more on the efforts to track Levene down.
“I was surprised that they followed him that far and his escape plan was that intense,” Melissa Beretta ’14 said. “After all, they found him in Spain. I’m glad at how in depth they could go on the search. It speaks well for them.”
Noah Prince ’15 agrees.
“It’s amazing he was able to travel all the way to Spain, and that we were able to travel all the way to Spain to find him,” Prince said. “I’m pretty proud of this community.”
Nonetheless, for Choral Director Justin Miller and the rest of the music department, it was a relief. Yekutiel Zeevi was the husband of Nava Zeevi, who has been an involved pianist at Staples for many years. Having worked with her for the past year and a half, Miller was feeling for her.
“As soon as I read the article, the entire music department was crowded into the room,” Miller said. “Now Nava can move on, or at least attempt to.”
A student who has worked closely with Nava while in choir in his years at Staples, Danny Pravder ’12, is also feeling for the pianist.
“I’m amazed and so thankful they were able to track [Levene],” Pravder said. “My heart goes out to Nava and her family. She’s a real part of the choral class, and we were all very upset.”
However, this is not where the story ended. On Thursday, Levene hanged himself in his Spanish prison cell with his own clothing, leaving behind his wife and two children, and opening a new story that made it around the world.
“It’s kind of crazy that this seemingly little thing made international news,” Matt Kresch ’13 said. “It doesn’t really make any sense to me.”
While Kresch looks at it unfazed, others are startled by the sudden hanging.
“First, a crime happened in Westport. Second, the police let him to Spain. Third, he commits suicide in the jail cell. What exactly is going on here?” questioned Mike Mortiz ’14. “The situation has reached disproportional heights. It’s not exactly something I can really safely rap my head around.”
Other students, like Moritz, are also finding the news hard to digest.
“It’s not shocking he would kill himself, it’s just shocking that he did,” Michele Beaudoin ’14 said. “This kind of thing hasn’t happened in a long time.”
Although this type of situation is foreign to the Westport community, Brad Payne ’13 sees this kind of thing all the time.
“I hate to be skeptical from watching too much crime scene TV, but I can’t help thinking maybe there was something more there than just a murder,” Payne said.
Nonetheless, for Anthony Amaru ’13, there’s no reason why Levene shouldn’t still be alive today.
“There should have been better security on him. They should have had higher surveillance,” Amaru said. “Once he grabbed a sheet to hang himself with, they should have run in. Where were the guards?”
Nonetheless, the infamous Westport murder suspect is dead, and he won’t be coming back any time soon.
“I was satisfied, I think Nava was satisfied—we were all very satisfied,” Miller said. “This person is no longer out there, there’s no threat of him hurting anyone else. It’s nice to finally have some closure.”
