A Seattle sound engineer was shot and killed during an unusual incident last Friday night at a motel in rural Twisp, Washington.

Tom Pfaeffle, 49, was apparently using his card key to enter what he thought was his hotel room at the Blue Spruce Motel, but it turned out to be occupied by a sleeping man who thought Pfaeffle was an intruder.

Kino Michael Gomez, 57, a Seattle city engineer, reportedly shot Pfaeffle twice through the door, striking him in the arm and torso. Another bullet narrowly missed another person sleeping in an adjacent unit.

Pfaeffle, who has worked with several famous bands such as Nirvana and Aerosmith, had been staying at the hotel after attending a nearby birthday party with his wife. He died two hours later from his wounds after being transported to a Seattle-area hospital.

Gomez claimed that he had been in a deep sleep and was startled by the sound of someone trying to enter his room. He said he instinctively grabbed one of his two 40-caliber Glock handguns that were lying nearby, and shot in the direction of the door.

Twisp police chief Rick Balam didn’t buy Gomez’s story and arrested him on suspicion of second degree murder and reckless endangerment. He is being held on $100,000 bail. Balam said Gomez could hardly claim that he was defending himself, and that the shooting showed a total disregard for human safety.

And at a Hilton hotel in a suburb of New York City, a prominent hotel heir was found dead by his wife, with whom he reportedly had a tumultuous relationship.

Ben Novack Jr. was found bludgeoned to death in the Rye Brook, New York Hilton hotel, where he had recently finished organizing an Amway convention.

His wife, Narcisa, said she found her 53-year-old husband dead Sunday morning when she returned to the room after having breakfast.

Police investigating the crime say that Narcisa Novack is the only person whose card key was used to access the room that morning, but they are not calling her a suspect in the crime at this point.

The pair were known to have had a turbulent relationship that involved allegations of domestic violence, false imprisonment and allegations of financial shenanigans on both sides. Married since 1991, the two had filed for divorce and reconciled several times.

Novack Jr’s life began and ended in hotels. The son of Ben Novack Sr., owner of Miami’s famed Fontainebleau Hotel, he lived a privileged life in the hotel’s penthouse as a child. He was taken to school in a limousine and hob-nobbed with his father’s celebrity guests such as Frank Sinatra and Bob Hope.

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Despite his silver-spoon upbringing, Novack was apparently neglected by his father and developed a reputation for being difficult which carried into adulthood. His mother also died a violent death three months ago in her home in Ft. Lauderdale, though an autopsy revealed it an accident.

The waterfront Fontainebleau hotel was a 1950s and ’60s- era hotspot. It featured in such films as Goldfinger and Scarface, and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Police so far are not commenting on the investigation, but reporters have uncovered evidence that police are examining past incidents between Novack and his wife, including a 2002 home invasion that Novack claimed was arranged by his wife.

Narcisa claimed that the so-called “invasion,” during which Novack was tied up, was part of a sex game that Novack willingly participated in.

By Karen Elowitt for PeterGreenberg.com.

Related links: USA Today, Associated Press, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Seattle Times, Associated Press, Lower Hudson Journal News

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