Wealthy NYC charity founder found dead with stab wounds in fatal fire

The bighearted founder of a charity that gives toys to impoverished children was found dead with stab wounds in his burning Brooklyn brownstone early Monday, cops said.

L. Antonio Litman personally bought every kid on his Fort Greene block a hoverboard for Christmas, neighbors shocked by his suspicious death said.

A fire broke out in the basement of Litman’s four-story brownstone on Adelphi St. near Dekalb Ave. about 3:20 a.m. After firefighters put out the blaze they discovered Litman dead face down in the lobby — with puncture wounds to his neck and around his body, sources said.

Neighbors said Litman, who is on the board of the State University of New York’s Maritime Museum, made his fortune in shipping.

Litman is the founder of Virginia’s House of Hope, which boasts it has distributed school supplies, food, clothing and educational toys to over 10,000 New York families in need.

Litman has worked for International Registries, which deals with ocean vessel and corporate registration, for the past 27 years, a company spokeswoman said. He was the assistant to a managing partner who runs the company’s New York office.

The fire was one of three fatal blazes to break out around the city in just a 30-minute span. Police believe the victim of one of the other fires, in Queens Village, Queens, was also the victim of a homicide.

https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/ny-brooklyn-fatal-fire-charity-founder-antonio-litman-20200120-j5jx374hn5bqpcdpzy7g5jiy4i-story.html?