Passover is about more than matzo ball soup. Like many Jewish holidays, it’s about religious freedom, eating, and… drinking.So I was thrilled when a friend brought a fantastic new culinary tradition to our seder table last week: potato vodka, flavored with horseradish.Stop gagging. It’s delicious.Horseradish is one of the staple…
On March 5, 2008, the day Melissa Britt Lewis was killed, her best friend, Debra Villegas, had scheduled a deposition in her divorce from her allegedly abusive husband, Tony Villegas.Debra had kicked Tony out of the house more than a year earlier, but their divorce proceedings had been progressing slowly…
On the night her best friend was murdered in March 2008, Debra Villegas was partying with friends at the Round Up Country Western Club in Davie.This wasn’t unusual for Debra, the former chief operating officer at the Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler law firm. The native Texan enjoyed line dancing, and told…
Melissa Britt Lewis was a cautious woman. The 39-year-old, newly divorced attorney at Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler carried Mace in her purse, had two dogs and an alarm system at her Plantation home, and always kept her garage door locked to prevent burglaries.As the eldest child in her family, she grew…
[This is a corrected version of an earlier entry.]A year ago, Fort Lauderdale bail bondsman William “Cobra” Staubs nearly ended his 30-year career by searching for missing 5-year-old Haleigh Cummings. Cobra was slapped with a felony charge of false imprisonment when he tried to arrest accused child molester Daniel Snodgrass…
Passover is winding down this weekend, but for those who still have a seder to attend, here’s a delectably simple recipe for charoset — the jam-like concoction that is the sweet-tooth of the meal.Traditionally, charoset is spread on matzah. But as my Gentile friends have discovered, it’s delicious any time…
It’s well-known that Debra Villegas and Melissa Britt Lewis were best friends. They ate lunch together, texted every night, vacationed together in the Keys. They nicknamed themselves Lucy and Ethel, and according to Debra, some people in their office at the Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler firm joked that the two women…
Some blog commenters have questioned whether Tony Villegas, the man charged with killing attorney Melissa Britt Lewis in 2008, was really as angry and abusive as his estranged wife, Debra, claimed. But police documents and New Times interviews suggest that close friends and relatives of Melissa were aware of Tony’s…
After her best friend, Melissa Britt Lewis, was murdered in March 2008, Debra Villegas gave several lengthy, sworn interviews to Plantation police. Mainly, the cops were questioning her about whether her husband, Tony Villegas — who would later be arrested for the murder — was jealous of her friendship with…
During their investigation of the murder of Melissa Britt Lewis in March 2008, Plantation police officers seized a day planner that Tony Villegas used as a makeshift diary in late 2007 and early 2008. At the time, Tony was separated from his wife, Debra Villegas, who was Lewis’ best friend…
Now that former U.S. Congressman Mark Foley has begun his unembarrassed return to Republican politics, it’s tempting to recall the many other disgraced Floridians who perhaps should have stayed hidden longer. Blithely ignoring the infamy of their scandals, these public figures insist on resurrecting their careers. Shouldn’t there be a…
The murder of Melissa Britt Lewis in March 2008 was devastating to many people. A bright, talented, 39-year-old attorney, she was the social coordinator for her friends and a generous aunt who had planned to take her niece to a Jonas Brothers concert just before she died.To Debra Villegas’ family,…
In April 1993, Debra Taylor, the tall, boisterous woman who would become Scott Rothstein’s treasured secretary, gave birth to a son. Already caring for two daughters from a previous relationship, Debra, then 25, wasn’t in a position to handle this baby alone.When the baby was a few months old, Debra…
Among the hundreds of pages of Broward County court documents recently made public regarding the 2008 murder of Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler attorney Melissa Lewis, one of the most illuminating is a police interview with Aimee Villegas. Aimee is the daughter of Debra Villegas, Lewis’ best friend and Scott Rothstein’s right-hand woman…
Happy Saint Patrick’s Day, Palm Beach Post staffers: Some of you are getting raises.That’s the word from Post Publisher Tim Burke in an email that would have sounded ludicrous just a few months ago.After two brutal years of layoffs and buyouts for hundreds of employees — the newsroom staff was…
While Debra Villegas told police officers she was nearly certain that her husband, Tony Villegas, didn’t kill her best friend, Melissa Lewis, others who were close to the women were not so sure.Ilene Vinikoor was a family therapist who had been counseling Debra and Melissa separately while both women were…
Somewhere, someone must be wagging a finger and announcing, “You’re fired.” The saga surrounding the Trump International Hotel & Tower on A1A in Fort Lauderdale just keeps getting worse. Last spring, dozens of buyers filed suits alleging they were duped into believing the marketing hoopla that the Donald was the…
When building a case against Tony Villegas for the murder of Melissa Britt Lewis, Plantation Police investigators alleged that he was an abusive husband who blamed Lewis for his divorce from Debra Villegas, Lewis’ best friend.Yet Debra herself wasn’t convinced that made him a killer — at least not in…
When a New York Times reporter tours your town for a fluffy travel piece, you know she’s going to miss something. Yesterday’s “36 Hours in Palm Beach, Fla.” was no exception. The Times reporter drooled over the oceanfront mansions and the cocktails at the Breakers Hotel but glossed over some…
As speculation swirls about a possible plea deal for Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein’s assistant, Debra Villegas, the Juice has obtained court documents that reveal more about Villegas’ friendship with Melissa Britt Lewis.Lewis, an attorney with Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler, was found strangled and murdered two years ago. Debra’s estranged husband, Tony…
A small circle of eager 4-year-olds gathers on the floor of the Baby Boomers International Preschool classroom in Pompano Beach, watching their teacher explain how to write the date “Thursday, March 4, 2010” on a paper easel.The children sit in a room filled with toys and puzzles and their artwork…
This week’s New Times feature story tells the strange tale of Heath Miller, a popular Palm Beach Gardens band teacher who killed a man, then was accused of raping his own middle school students.For those who want more details about Miller, here’s a roundup of the best Juice blogs on…
