Death At Soho House

Troy Roberts (0:10)

On a cold December morning at the Soho House, an ultra-exclusive hotel club in New York City, a body was found floating in the bathtub.

Brian Alvarez (0:20)

I see a young woman submerged under the tub, who wasn't moving. I was in the bathroom, and I saw a young woman, and just removed her.

I was saying, please, please, please don't go.

Troy Roberts (0:34)

No sign of life.

Brian Alvarez (0:34)

No sign of life.

Robert Moller (0:37)

We looked around. There was an empty bottle of prescription pills there.

Tommy Jones (0:41)

How did she die? Did she kill herself? What happened in this hotel room?

Robert Moller (0:46)

The medical investigator says, look, the marks on her neck. Do you see them? I said, yeah, absolutely. I said, it doesn't look right.

Troy Roberts (0:53)

Sylvie Cachay was a young, rising swimsuit designer. She had interned for Mark Jacobs. She worked for Tommy Hilfiger and Victoria's Secret. And she launched her own swimsuit design company called SILA. My name is Susan Carton and I represent Sylvie Cachay's family.

From the time I got this case, I knew that this was a murder. That night when she went to the Soho House, there was nobody there with her but Nicholas Brooks.

Tommy Jones (1:26)

I believe that Nicholas Brooks caused the demise of Sylvie Cachay.

Anne-Marie Green (1:33)

Police say 24-year-old Nicholas Brooks choked his girlfriend, 33-year-old fashion designer Sylvie Cachay, then left her to die in a posh hotel bathtub.

Amanda Brooks (1:44)

My brother absolutely did not murder Sylvie Cachay. Nick, do you have any comment? Nick, what do you got to say?

Nick said they had rough sex, and those bruises happened earlier that night.

Troy Roberts (1:57)

None of the injuries that were found on Sylvie's body were the result of rough sex.

Amanda Brooks (2:02)

He loved Sylvie.

I know my brother is innocent. I mean, this obviously was a grave mistake.

Troy Roberts (2:09)

Sylvie went into the Soho House looking beautiful and alive. She came out in a body bag.

Troy Roberts (2:24)

It was summer in Miami, two years before her death, and Sylvie Cachay was on top of the world.

From all over the country, top bathing suit designers were vying for attention. But all eyes were on Sylvie, and her swimwear line, Sela.

Lisa McKayle (2:42)

You see a lot of stuff, but it's rare that you see wow, and that's definitely what we felt.

Troy Roberts (2:47)

Lisa McKayle was Sylvie's publicist, and knew she had a hit on her hands.

Lisa McKayle (2:52)

It was sort of a PR dream. The coverage was across the board from InStyle and Vogue and Lucky and Elle. They were attracted not only to her product, but to her as an individual, as sort of a style setter in her own right.

Troy Roberts (3:06)

Sports Illustrated chose Sylvie Designed Bikinis to feature in their swimsuit video.

Ben Baker (3:13)

She got her clothing in Barneys and all these amazing stores within the first year, which is unheard of. I shot her look books.

SPEAKER_8 (3:21)

That was her photographer.

Troy Roberts (3:23)

Ben Baker was a lot more than her photographer. In 2008, Ben was Sylvie's fiancée.

Ben Baker (3:30)

She's obviously a beautiful woman, and she's the sort of person when that person walks in a room, everyone pays attention.

Troy Roberts (3:37)

So it was no surprise that a woman like Sylvie would occasionally stay at the exclusive Soho House Hotel.

Brian Alvarez (3:44)

Fit the criteria of what the typical member would be in someone in fashion or in a film.

Troy Roberts (3:50)

Brian Alvarez is the former Soho House night manager.

Brian Alvarez (3:54)

It's trendy.

Troy Roberts (3:56)

He says Sylvie actually had a special status at the Soho House, a coveted membership, that meant perks like access to the private club or the pool, a place so hard to get into that the TV show Sex and the City devoted an episode to it.

Murray Weiss (4:11)

There's a pool a block from my apartment and I can't get in.

Anne-Marie Green (4:15)

What pool?

Sherry Fogelman (4:15)

At the Soho House.

Murray Weiss (4:16)

You have to be a member and I'm on some kind of bulls**t wait list.

Anne-Marie Green (4:20)

Don't they know who you are? And more importantly, who we are.

Troy Roberts (4:24)

Sylvie understood her friend say, how important socializing at the club was to her career.

Lisa McKayle (4:29)

This is a girl who's in fashion. She's stylish. She's inspired by new and fresh.

Patrick Cachay (4:34)

She really never thought she couldn't do anything. She really believed.

Troy Roberts (4:38)