Zugibe says Nadell planned to kill her way out of trouble; new conspiracy charges are filed

Diana Nadell charged in new scheme to kill prosecution witnesses

Murder suspect Diana Nadell found herself in more trouble after a new arrest for allegedly attempting to organize hits on two witnesses in her upcoming murder trial.

Nadell, 50, has been charged by a grand jury with attempting to hire an inmate at Orange County Correctional facility to assist in the murder of two key witnesses in her trial for the January 25 stabbing death of her mother-in-law and community activist Peggy Nadell.

According to the Rockland County District Attorney’s Office, Nadell believed the woman she approached would be deported to Jamaica upon release and approached her with the request. Rockland and Orange County police immediately investigated and put an end to the alleged plot.

“These are disturbing allegations in an already shocking case,” District Attorney Thomas Zugibe stated in a Wednesday press release. “This office will do everything in its power to vigorously prosecute those who seek to intimidate and harm witnesses. This new indictment underscores the lengths our law enforcement partners will go to ensure public safety-on both sides of the jail bars.”

Several of Nadell’s alleged co-conspirators have taken plea deals and are believed to be cooperating with police. In June, Tanisha Joyner, 26 of Washington D.C., and Eltia Grant, 24 of East Long Beach, California, both pled guilty to charges of felony hindering of prosecution. Joyner and Grant are believed to have assisted Nadell with securing an alibi.

A few days later, Andrea Benson, 25 of Washington D.C., pled guilty to second-degree murder for the murder itself. Benson claimed she was paid $10,000 by Diana Nadell for the murder, which was allegedly orchestrated to obtain Peggy Nadell’s $4 million estate. B

enson explained in court that she helped Diana force her way inside Peggy’s Valley Cottage home strangling the 80-year old woman with a pocketbook strap while Diana bludgeoned and stabbed her to death.

For the new plot, Nadell has been slapped with two counts of conspiracy in the second degree, two counts of attempted intimidation of a witness in the first degree, two counts of attempted tampering with a witness in the first degree and two counts of criminal solicitation in the second degree, all felonies.

If convicted of the top count of the new indictment, she faces 5 to 15 additional years in prison on top of the maximum sentence of life without parole she faces for the Nadell murder.