RYE BROOK, N.Y. -- This needle-shaped suburb on the outskirts of New York City has had just a handful of homicides since becoming a village in 1982.

But now they have a doozy -- a steamy saga of wealth, privilege, kinky sex games, marital disharmony, family dysfunction and vodou, shipped straight from the Sunshine State. Not to mention the latest plot twist: The murdered man was having an extramarital affair, multiple law enforcement sources confirm, although no one can say if it had any bearing on his fate.

The victim is Ben Novack Jr., son of the founder of the Fontainebleau and a successful Fort Lauderdale businessman in his own right.

He was found duct-taped and bludgeoned on the morning of July 12 in Suite 452 of the Hilton Rye Brook, where he was overseeing an Amway convention. His wife discovered the body.

As police try to unravel who did what and why, Novack's widow and her daughter have feuded over control of the estate, thought to be worth as much as $10 million, and allegedly engaged in a crowbar-swinging brawl that brought out the Fort Lauderdale police.

It's enough to make a victim spin in his grave, except Novack has yet to be interred. With his money tied up in litigation, Novack's corpse lies unclaimed at the morgue more than a month after his murder.

``This is a complicated case,'' said Rye Brook Police Chief Gregory Austin, leader of 28 sworn officers.

Austin, who refuses to discuss details of the investigation, has launched a website, www.bennovackjr.com, hoping it will attract tips.

FORTUNATE SON

Novack, 53, was the son of Miami Beach royalty -- hotelier Ben Novack Sr., who throughout the '50s and '60s controlled politicians, hobnobbed with underworld figures and built the legendary Fontainebleau, then one of the most lavish hotels in the world. Ben Jr. grew up surrounded by luxury, rubbing elbows with presidents and movie stars, eating lobster under $15,000 chandeliers and trick-or-treating from a limo.

His late father would eventually lose control of the hotel, but Ben Jr. carved out a successful career as a convention planner. He was in Rye Brook the weekend of July 12 to attend a convention he had organized at the Hilton. Accompanying him: His 53-year-old wife, Narcy, originally from Uruguay, and his 33-year-old stepdaughter, May Abad, who helped out with the business.

Narcy and May had a tempestuous mother-daughter relationship, feuding for years. But Abad and others say she and her stepfather, whom she called ``Dad,'' were close.

``He was everything to me,'' Abad said in an interview. ``I never went to my mother for anything. He was the one who always helped me out.''

Narcy -- who did not wish to comment except through her lawyer -- and her husband also had their ups and downs. In 2002, Novack told police he was robbed at their Fort Lauderdale home by home invaders, who left him gagged and bound in a leather chair.

The group cleaned out his safe, stole business documents, cash and other belongings that Novack claimed were worth $1 million.

Novack told police the band of home invaders included his wife.

According to a police report, two days after the incident, Narcy admitted to planning the caper and to tying up her husband. But she insisted he participate willingly -- as part of a sex game in which they each tied each other up.

In the end no one was prosecuted and they remained a couple.