Homicide New York: Who was Jennifer Stahl?

Homicide New York is Netflix's latest true crime show from Law & Order's Dick Wolf which explores some shocking homicides that have taken place in New York City.

Carnegie Deli Massacre, the first episode of Netflix's latest true crime series, Homicide New York focused on the murders of Jennifer Stahl, Charles 'Trey' Helliwell and Stephen King. The three victims were killed by Sean Salley and Andre Smith who were brought to justice and are still currently in prison for the atrocities they committed, after being sentenced to 120 years each. 

Although we know exactly where the killers are now, many viewers are interested to know who exactly Jennifer Stahl was and more about this woman who died back in 2001.

Who was Jennifer Stahl?

It was mentioned in the series that Jennifer, who owned the apartment where the gruesome crimes took place, was a dancer, actress and singer. The performer had roles in Firehouse and Identity Crisis but is likely most known for her role as dancer in 1987's Dirty Dancing. 

Jennifer was credited as a 'Dirty Dancer' in this role and The Direct identified some key scenes that show Jennifer in the background of the film starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey. 

The series uncovered that Jennifer was selling marijuana that was 'high end' but that night was surrounded by 'theatre friends' who were drinking wine and having an evening in. 

Anthony, a hairdresser who survived the ordeal revealed that he was only going over to Jennifer's house to give her a trim in exchange for some weed. He revealed in the documentary that Jennifer told the killers that they could take whatever they wanted so long as they didn't hurt her friends, she was then shot in the head. 

Jennifer's friends who spoke in the documentary explained that she sold weed to support her acting and her drug dealing business was rather more sociable as she dealt to her friends rather than something that took place on the backstreets. It was revealed that she was 'ultra careful' and dealt weed to stars and friends of friends, including cast members of Saturday Night Live. 

Stephen, who was also killed, was working as her doorman that day, making sure that only vetted people made it up to her floor. 

What happened to Jennifer Stahl?

Jennifer Stahl was killed when she was 39 years old in New York City. The dancer, actress, and singer lived above the famous Carnegie Deli shop that was located on 7th Avenue but closed in 2016. It was in this apartment where two murderers came up to her flat and robbed Jennifer who was spending time with her friends Stephen, Trey and Trey's girlfriend Rosamund and Jennifer's hairdresser Anthony. 

While Anthony and Rosamund were also shot in the back of the head, they survived the attack, the other three were tragically killed as the armed killers tried to rob Jennifer of her money and marijuana.

Killers Sean Salley and Andre Smith were imprisoned and their motives seemed to be entirely motivated by money.