The collector of an enormous trove of valuable items, including Batman memorabilia, was found dead in a New York Hotel room, in July. He had been tied up with duct tape and beaten to death.

Three months later, mystery and finger-pointing surrounds Ben Novack  Jr's murder - and dispute over who should inherit his collection and estate.

Novack's amazing collection was stored in four warehouses; including figurines, comic books, costumes and even a replica of the Batmobile used in the 1960s version of the show.

Novack Jr's late father, Ben Novack Sr, founded the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami, Florida.

The hotel was visited by John F Kennedy, Harry Truman, Jerry Lewis and Frank Sinatra among others, and also appears in the James Bond film Goldfinger.

Novack Jr used the inheritance left by his father to assemble his mammoth collection.

Now, Novack Jr's daughter, May Abad and maternal aunt, Maxine Fiel, have filed court papers alleging that his wife Narcy Novack is guilty of unlawfully killing her husband.

If a judge accepts this, he can block inheritance under Florida law - even if the accused is not actually convicted of the killing.

Narcy and her husband had an explosive relationship. In 2002 he raised a lawsuit against her after she broke into his house and staged a burglary, tying him to a chair for a whole day.

Narcy Novack claimed this was an example of the couple's violent sex games, and the case was later dropped. For her part, she claimed Novack once broke her nose.

However, Police have described the results of a polygraph test she took as "deceptive" about her knowledge of the murder.

She claims that her husband tended to anger people he met.

She cited a recent time when he delayed payment on a $43,000 Batman comic book, and the collector from whom he obtained it was finally paid off with a bag of cash.

In another mystery, Bernice Novack, the wife of Novack Sr, died in April this year from a fall. The police investigated it as a crime, but there was insufficient evidence.

Narcy Novack has claimed that her husband was killed during a one hour and 10 minutes time frame while she was downstairs having breakfast.

No key cards to the room were used during this time and expensive items, including the victim's Rolex, were not removed from the room.

Some comic memorabilia can be very valuable, as the sale of a $1m comic book demonstrated earlier this year.

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