Ramones boss was murdered

THE personal assistant of a punk-rock pioneer and celebrity real estate broker has been convicted of bludgeoning her boss to death with a piece of exercise equipment.

Jurors spent less than a day reaching a second-degree murder verdict in the Manhattan trial against Natavia Lowery, the personal assistant to Linda Stein, who managed the Ramones before becoming a real estate agent with celebrity clients including Madonna and Sting. Lowery showed no reaction when the verdict was read.

Prosecutors said Lowery stole more than $30,000 from Stein, then clubbed her to death to try and hide the theft.

Lowery initially denied any knowledge of the killing, then blamed it on a masked stranger who told her not to report it, and finally gave her videotaped account of beating Stein to death with a piece of exercise equipment after the broker badgered her about the pace of her work and blew marijuana smoke in her face.

She will be sentenced at a later date.