Queens ex-stripper busted in cold case murder of southern businessman

A stripper-centric cold case is heating up again.

Cops on Monday arrested a pole dancer-turned-nurse from Queens and charged her with the decades-ago murder of a wealthy Louisiana businessman, saying forensic evidence sheds new light on the unsolved mystery.

Baton Rouge-based officers on Monday charged Leila Mulla, 47, of Long Island City with second degree murder and criminal conspiracy tied to the 1984 disappearance of fast food executive Gary Kergan.

The then-teenage stripper was the last person seen with Kergan before his death and was later charged with crimes connected to his murder. But a Louisiana district attorney back then opted not prosecute the case due to lack of evidence.

Now, new lab tests -- including DNA taken from the trunk of Kergan’s blood-splattered pink Cadillac -- allegedly link Mulla and her then-boyfriend, Ronald Dalton Dunnagan, to the crime, police say.

Kergan co-owned a chain of Sonic fast food restaurants in Louisiana and visited Night Spot Lounge in Baton Rouge, where the young stripper worked, according to cops.

Mulla could not be reached immediately for comment on Tuesday.

She now has a website in which she calls herself “an advocate of positivity.”

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The business behind the artist: Miami’s art gallery scene still evolving

This week, thousands of art collectors, museum trustees, artists, journalists and hipsters from around the globe will arrive for the phenomenon known as Art Basel Miami Beach. The centerpiece of the week: works shown at the convention center by more than 260 of the world’s top galleries.

Only two of those are from Miami.

While Art Basel has helped transform the city’s reputation from beach-and-party scene to arts destination in the years since its 2002 Miami Beach debut, the region’s gallery identity is still coming into its own.

“Certainly Miami as an art town registers mightily because of the foundations, the collectors who have done an extraordinary job,” said Linda Blumberg, executive director of the Art Dealers Association of America. “I think there’s a definite international awareness there. But the gallery scene probably has a bit of a ways to go. That doesn’t mean it’s not really fascinating and interesting.”

The gallery business, especially where newer artists are concerned, is a game of risk, faith and passion. Once a gallery takes on an artist who shows promise, they become an evangelist on their behalf, showing their work in-house and at fairs, presenting it to museums and curators and potential collectors and bearing the cost of that promotion.

For contemporary artists, most galleries take work on consignment, meaning they get a cut of as much as 50 percent when works sell. While local art galleries have been growing in number and popularity in the last several years — just try to find parking during the monthly art walk in Miami’s hot Wynwood neighborhood — even some of the area’s top art dealers say that while business overall is good, they struggle in the local marketplace.

“Our problem is that we have to do lots of art fairs in order to connect with the market that we need to connect with to sell the work that we have,” said Fredric Snitzer, a Miami-Dade gallery owner for 35 years. “The better the work is, the harder it is to sell in Miami. And that ain’t good.”

A handful of serious collectors call Miami home and store their own collections in Miami, including the Braman, Rubell, Margulies and de la Cruz families. But outside a relatively small local group, many gallerists say, their clients come from other parts of the country and world.

And some gallerists point out the troubling reality that even the powerhouse Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin could not stay open in Miami for more than a few years.

“The fact that big galleries have not been able to sustain their business models in South Florida tells you we’re obviously not at this high established point,” said gallery owner David Castillo. “It’s not like we’ve arrived, let’s sit back and watch Hauser & Wirth open down the street.”

Still, Miami’s gallery business has come a long way since the early 1970s, when a few dealers on Bay Harbor Island’s Kane Concourse were selling high-end pieces but the local scene was hardly embraced.

Virginia Miller, who owns ArtSpace/Virginia Miller Galleries in Coral Gables, first opened in 1974 to showcase Florida artists, though her focus soon added an international scope. She and other longtime observers credit several factors for Miami’s transformation, including the community’s diversity, the establishment of important museums, the Art Miami fair that started 23 years ago, the presence of major collections and, of course, Art Basel Miami Beach.

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Son of slain Miami Gardens car wash owner: ‘He put his own life before someone else’

When Dameion Peart got the phone call from his uncle, he didn’t believe it. He drove to his father’s Miami Gardens car wash to see for himself. He hoped the news wouldn’t be too bad, or maybe the shooting happened someplace else.

He pulled up, saw flashing lights and police tape, and knew it was true.

His father, Errold Peart, had been trying to protect a customer Sunday afternoon from armed robbers at the car wash he ran at Northwest 191st Street and First Place.

The robbers turned their gun on Peart, killing him.

“He put his own life before someone else,” his son said.

Now, Peart’s family began the unexpected task of planning a memorial. He was five days away from his 60th birthday.

He won’t get to see his daughter, Mishka Peart, 23, graduate from the University of Miami’s medical school.

“It’s just sad,” Dameion Peart said. “It was unnecessary.”

When the community heard of the shooting, they started dropping by the scene. They were the ones who lived nearby, longtime customers and friends, each with their own tale of how his father had helped them through the years.

They talked about the times Peart, 59, didn’t charge for carwashes to people short on money. They told Dameion Peart, 32, how his father would give money to people who needed help paying for water and electricity, never asking for the money back.

They shared stories about people who couldn’t get jobs because they had convictions — until Peart gave them work.

One of the younger employees told him it was Errold Peart who convinced her to go back to school.

“He was a very good, kindhearted person and a good father at the same time,” Dameion Peart said. “The community where his business is located, he really helped them out here.”

Errold Peart hailed from Jamaica, where he played cricket and worked at one point at a school for problem children, his son said. He eventually came to the United States, where he continued to play cricket for the USA national team.

Peart represented the USA in five matches at the 1990 International Cricket Council Trophy in the Netherlands, where the batsman was the team’s leading scorer, ESPN reported. The USA made it through the first round that year before losing in the second, according to ESPN.

At first, Peart worked with an airline, his son said, but later decided to open his own business.

He started the car wash more than a decade ago, his son said. He chose the location because it was near a busy stretch of U.S. 441 and near Florida’s Turnpike, the Palmetto Expressway and Interstate 95.

“It was like a landmark,” Dameion Peart said. “Everyone knew him.”

But Peart worried about safety.

“He didn’t like guns. But every year, around this time, for the past three years he got held up at gunpoint and people tried to rob him,” Dameion Peart said. “The last time they even followed him home.”

So Errold Peart got a concealed weapons permit.

On Sunday afternoon, he noticed a pair of young men trying to rob a customer. Errold Peart went out to try and stop it, his son said, only to be shot himself.

The men ran away, leaving behind the customer and a bleeding Peart.

Miami Gardens Police still were looking for the suspects on Monday.

Anyone with information is asked to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477.

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Kristen Chenoweth Dating a Former Bachelor Star Jake Pavelka

Kristin Chenoweth has a surprising new beau!

Video: Jake Pavelka Dishes on his Chippendales Gig

The singer/actress, 44, confirmed to People Magazine that she is indeed dating a somewhat infamous alum of the Bachelor franchise, Jake Pavelka.

"We have been spending a little time together," confessed Chenoweth of her budding courtship with Pavelka, 34.

Related: Kristin Chenoweth Talks On-Set Injury

People reports the couple has been dating since meeting at an event in October.

Chenoweth adds she has a new-found gusto for life, following her devastating head injury on the set of The Good Wife in July.

"I've realized life is short," she said. "I want to do things that make me happy."

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Bloomberg: Hillary Clinton would make a great mayor

Mayor Bloomberg wants Hillary Clinton to succeed him at City Hall.

In a recent telephone chat with the secretary of state he told her she’d make a terrific mayor, two sources told The Post.

Hizzoner - apparently unfazed that she lives in Westchester – told her it was a great job and one the one-time presidential contender should seriously consider.

The suggestion seems to suggest that Bloomberg - a one-time Democrat-turned-Republican-turned-independent - isn’t entirely thrilled with the current crop of mayoral candidates, who include his long-time ally City Council Speaker Christine Quinn.

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The business behind the artist: Miami’s art gallery scene still evolving

This week, thousands of art collectors, museum trustees, artists, journalists and hipsters from around the globe will arrive for the phenomenon known as Art Basel Miami Beach. The centerpiece of the week: works shown at the convention center by more than 260 of the world’s top galleries.

Only two of those are from Miami.

While Art Basel has helped transform the city’s reputation from beach-and-party scene to arts destination in the years since its 2002 Miami Beach debut, the region’s gallery identity is still coming into its own.

“Certainly Miami as an art town registers mightily because of the foundations, the collectors who have done an extraordinary job,” said Linda Blumberg, executive director of the Art Dealers Association of America. “I think there’s a definite international awareness there. But the gallery scene probably has a bit of a ways to go. That doesn’t mean it’s not really fascinating and interesting.”

The gallery business, especially where newer artists are concerned, is a game of risk, faith and passion. Once a gallery takes on an artist who shows promise, they become an evangelist on their behalf, showing their work in-house and at fairs, presenting it to museums and curators and potential collectors and bearing the cost of that promotion.

For contemporary artists, most galleries take work on consignment, meaning they get a cut of as much as 50 percent when works sell. While local art galleries have been growing in number and popularity in the last several years — just try to find parking during the monthly art walk in Miami’s hot Wynwood neighborhood — even some of the area’s top art dealers say that while business overall is good, they struggle in the local marketplace.

“Our problem is that we have to do lots of art fairs in order to connect with the market that we need to connect with to sell the work that we have,” said Fredric Snitzer, a Miami-Dade gallery owner for 35 years. “The better the work is, the harder it is to sell in Miami. And that ain’t good.”

A handful of serious collectors call Miami home and store their own collections in Miami, including the Braman, Rubell, Margulies and de la Cruz families. But outside a relatively small local group, many gallerists say, their clients come from other parts of the country and world.

And some gallerists point out the troubling reality that even the powerhouse Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin could not stay open in Miami for more than a few years.

“The fact that big galleries have not been able to sustain their business models in South Florida tells you we’re obviously not at this high established point,” said gallery owner David Castillo. “It’s not like we’ve arrived, let’s sit back and watch Hauser & Wirth open down the street.”

Still, Miami’s gallery business has come a long way since the early 1970s, when a few dealers on Bay Harbor Island’s Kane Concourse were selling high-end pieces but the local scene was hardly embraced.

Virginia Miller, who owns ArtSpace/Virginia Miller Galleries in Coral Gables, first opened in 1974 to showcase Florida artists, though her focus soon added an international scope. She and other longtime observers credit several factors for Miami’s transformation, including the community’s diversity, the establishment of important museums, the Art Miami fair that started 23 years ago, the presence of major collections and, of course, Art Basel Miami Beach.

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Florida Gov. Rick Scott is Colombia-bound

TALLAHASSEE --
Scott to tout Florida products in Colombia

Gov. Rick Scott headed to Colombia on Sunday to drum up business with Florida’s second-largest trading partner, his seventh overseas trip since taking office.

Scott is leading a delegation of nearly 200, a bigger entourage than any of his previous trade missions.

The three-day visit to Bogota is yet another opportunity for Scott, the onetime CEO of the nation’s largest for-profit hospital chain, to act as his state’s chief salesman and promoter.

“The purpose is to build relationships with Florida businesses so either we sell something to them or they invest in our state,” Scott said. “One of the biggest things that we get out of Colombia is flowers.”

Millions of cut flowers pass through PortMiami every year, a sweet-smelling part of the $9 billion annually in two-way trade between Florida and Colombia. Other major products Colombia exports to Florida are gold, oil, coal, and men’s clothing. In less than two years, Scott also has visited Panama, Canada, Brazil, Israel, Spain, and Great Britain, trips aimed largely at pitching foreign investment in Florida. All told, those trips cost taxpayers more than $332,000, with some travel and lodging donated by hotels and airlines.

Scott’s office said hundreds of jobs are being created as a result of the trade missions, including three Spanish companies setting up shop in Miami-Dade.

Security alone for the trip to Brazil totaled $77,000. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement declined to say how many agents are guarding Scott and first lady Ann Scott in Colombia. Also accompanying the governor’s party are his traveling press secretary, a travel aide, and Mrs. Scott’s chief of staff.

The governor noted that in his career as a hospital executive and mergers-and-acquisitions lawyer, he had traveled to 43 countries but not Colombia.

Scott, who turned 60 Saturday, already has traveled more extensively than former Govs. Charlie Crist and Jeb Bush did in office. Crist made three trips in four years, the last a controversial, 12-day journey to England and Russia with then-fiancée Carole as a “guest delegate.” The trip cost taxpayers more than $430,000, including $2,200-a-night London hotel rooms. Bush paid a four-day visit to Bogota in February 2005.

Scott’s Bogota trip will focus on boosting exports of Florida products and services, which include electronic telephone equipment, aircraft and auto engine parts, and printer’s ink.

Scott’s top economic development adviser, Enterprise Florida CEO Gray Swoope, said the trips build relationships that help diversify Florida’s economy.

“We’re an international state,” Swoope said. “We need to do more of it, and we need to tell our story.”

In Colombia, Scott will lead a delegation of 191 people, the largest of any of his missions, all organized by Enterprise Florida. The governor will meet with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and U.S. Ambassador Michael McKinley and will tour a flower farm in Bogota.

The trip concludes Tuesday evening with a reception hosted by Holland & Knight, the Tampa-based law firm with a presence in downtown Bogota.

Holland & Knight also lobbies the Florida Legislature and Scott’s executive branch on behalf of various clients, including the city of Tampa, the Florida Hospital Association, and the Florida Press Association.

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Seth MacFarlane on The Problem with the Oscars

The 2013 Oscars are just around the corner and first-time host Seth MacFarlane tells ET his game plan is to learn from the mistakes of ceremonies past.

Related: Seth MacFarlane Chosen to Host Oscars

"We're just going to use the SAT method and just get a lot of sleep beforehand... Not do any prep work and just kind of wing it on the night and see how it goes," said MacFarlane at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Governors Awards on Saturday night.

The Family Guy creator reveals that his daring approach to the Academy Awards gig sprung from frustration with over-perfected shows.

Pics: The Fiercest Fashions of The 2012 Oscars

"The problem with the Oscars up to this point [is that] they've practiced and prepared [to excess]."

Watch the video for more from MacFarlane on the 2013 ceremony, plus stars like Bradley Cooper, John Krasinski, Richard Gere, Judd Apatow and more dish on honoring producer Jeffrey Katzenberg for his charitable work at the Governors Awards.

The decorated Hollywood veteran joined American Film Institute founder George Stevens Jr., former stuntman Hal Needham, and documentarian D.A. Pennebaker in taking home honorary Oscars for their career achievements.

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Chiefs linebacker Belcher struggled with head injuries, alcohol and painkillers before he snapped and killed girlfriend: report

Kansas City Chiefs linebacker and former Long Island high-school star Jovan Belcher was allegedly battling football-related head injuries and booze, painkiller and domestic problems when he snapped and murdered his girlfriend before killing himself in front of two coaches Saturday.

A pal of Belcher’s told the Web site Deadspin.com that Kasandra Perkins, the mother of Belcher’s 3-month-old daughter, had threatened to leave him for good amid fighting between the pair.

The couple had only recently reconciled after Perkins left their rented house in Kansas City with the baby at one point to stay with friends. Perkins had returned, but friends said the relationship was still volatile.

Kansas City Chiefs running back Jovan Belcher (right) battled head injuries, drugs and alcohol before he snapped and killed his girlfriend Michele Perkins (left), friends said.

It didn’t help that he was drinking every day and taking painkillers while dealing with the effects of debilitating head injuries, the friend said.

Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt said today that Belcher was "a player who had not had a long concussion history.’’

Belcher, 25, and Perkins, 22, had argued for the last time when she returned home late from a concert Saturday morning. But the Belcher friend said the concert was only a “tipping point.”

“This was the result of a long-term conflict,” the pal said. “She made it clear that she was leaving and would contact a lawyer’’ to fight for custody and child support.

Cops today revealed that Belcher shot Perkins nine times before committing suicide with a different gun. His mother witnessed the slaying; she had been in town to help Perkins with the new baby, sources have said.

Belcher’s mother, Cheryl Shepherd, will now take custody of the couple’s infant daughter and plans to return with the child to the family’s West Babylon home, where her troubled son grew up, his relatives said.

The kin said the baby was in another room when Belcher snapped and unloaded on Perkins.

“[Shepherd’s] taking it as anyone else would've taken it,” said Belcher’s cousin, Eric Oakes, 20, who lives in the mom’s renovated house where Belcher grew up. “She just lost a son. We're all coming together.”

Oakes, wearing a game-warn Chief’s jersey with Belcher’s number 59 on it, said his cousin was his role model.

"[He's] always trying to steer me right. That's the only person I wanted to be like. A role model, basically my father. He's the person who made me play football,” said Oakes, who played running back for West Babylon HS.

In Kansas City, relatives trickled in an out of the home that had become a murder scene.

“I think she was home alone a lot,” said Kristen Van Meter, 31, a neighbor who went to community college with the victim. “He was kind of quiet. he would come and go.”

When he was there, she said, there were lots of parties.

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Boat Show may block Miami’s 2016 Super Bowl bid

This winter, the biggest NFL match-up in South Florida might be Super Bowl versus Boat Show.

As South Florida readies a bid for the 2016 Super Bowl, it must contend with a major potential conflict on the tourism calendar. The National Football League may move the Super Bowl to Presidents’ Day weekend, already home to the five-day Miami International Boat Show since the 1940s.

It’s a significant enough conflict that, in the past, local tourism officials have declined to pursue a Super Bowl if it fell on boat show weekend. But this time around they may have no choice. For the first time, the NFL is requiring that potential host cities agree to a Presidents’ Day weekend Super Bowl if they want to pursue the big game at all, said two people who have seen the NFL request for Super Bowl bids.

The NFL “invited South Florida [to bid] knowing there was going to be an issue with Presidents’ Day weekend and the boat show,” said Nicki Grossman, Broward’s tourism director. “In the past, South Florida has not responded to a Super Bowl date that included Presidents’ Day weekend. This package is different.”

South Florida vies with New Orleans as the top Super Bowl host, with government and tourism leaders touting the game as both a boon to the economy and a publicity bonanza. But the notion of accommodating both Super Bowl and boat show — not to mention a major arts festival in Coconut Grove — strikes some top tourism officials as a bad idea.

“There is not sufficient hotel inventory available in Miami that weekend to host a Super Bowl,” said William Talbert, president of the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau. “We have taken a close look at that weekend, and it’s not physically possible in Miami to host Super Bowl during the Presidents’ Day weekend because of the boat show and the Coconut Grove Arts Festival. The hotel inventory is all being used for these two great events.”

His comments are at odds with the region’s top Super Bowl organizer and reflect the burden that the boat show may be to South Florida’s Super Bowl hopes for 2016 and 2017. The NFL invited Miami and San Francisco to bid for the 2016 Super Bowl by April 1, with the loser vying with Houston for the 2017 game. Talbert said the bid package states both decisions will be made in May.

For now, South Florida’s Super Bowl organizers face a largely hypothetical challenge, because the current NFL schedule has the Super Bowl occurring two weeks before Presidents’ Day weekend. The bid requirements for the ’16 and ’17 Super Bowls include three consecutive weekends as possibilities for the game, with the latest falling on the Presidents’ Day holiday.

Still, possible logistical hurdles may combine with political obstacles if the Miami Dolphins resume their push for a tax-funded renovation of Sun Life Stadium, the Super Bowl’s South Florida home.

Last year, the Dolphins proposed that Broward and Miami-Dade counties subsidize a $225 million renovation at Sun Life as a way to keep the region competitive for Super Bowls and other large events. The renovation includes a partial roof that would prevent the kind of drenching Super Bowl spectators suffered in 2007 when a rare February downpour hit Miami Gardens.

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