Former Playboy Playmate takes 7-year-old son and leaps to death off NYC building
A 47-year-old former Playboy Playmate jumped from a building to death along with her 7-year-old son amid a nasty custody battle with her ex, NY Post reported.
Stephanie Adams leaped with young Vincent from the top floor of the Gotham Hotel around 8:15 am on Friday. They had checked into the hotel on Thursday around 6 pm and were staying on the 25th-floor penthouse suite, according to NYPD Chief of Manhattan Detectives William Aubrey.
Aubrey further said at a press conference that the bodies of the mother and the child were found on a second-floor landing in the hotel’s rear courtyard.
“Early this morning investigators located an individual whose attention was drawn to that same second-floor area when he heard two loud noises,” Aubrey said. “His attention was drawn to that and he discovered these two deceased individuals.”Adams was Playboy's Miss November in 1992 and she came out as Playboy magazine’s first lesbian centerfold in 2003. But she was later married to an investment banker for two years before becoming engaged to Charles Nicolai in 2009. The former Wilhelmina and Elite model-turned-author has written New Age self-help books, ran an online organic beauty products company and managed the finances for Nicolai’s chiropractic office.
Her death follows a fierce court battle with her estranged husband, Charles Nicolai, a 47-year-old, owner of Wall Street Chiropractic & Wellness.
It isn't clear yet whether Adams left behind a suicide note but Nicolai’s lawyer had recently demanded that she turn over the kid’s passport, sources said. Their relationship was so toxic that Adams would meet Nicolai — who had visitation rights for Vincent — at the First Precinct in Tribeca for handovers.
“It ensures no violence takes place,” her friend told The Post in March.
Prior to the incident, Adams had successfully sued the NYPD, winning a $1.2 million jury award following a 2006 incident in which she was thrown to the ground by a cop who falsely claimed she pulled a gun on him.
In 2013, Adams and Nicolai were sued by a former massage therapist Dilek Edwards, who claimed she was fired after Nicolai admitted his then-wife would get “jealous” because Edwards was “too cute.”
Edwards’ suit was tossed, but it was later restored by an appeals court that stated she could sue for gender discrimination. That lawsuit is still pending.