Joseph Brooks (born Joseph Kaplan;[1] March 11, 1938 – May 22, 2011),[2] was an American songwriter, composer and filmmaker. He was a successful author of commercial jingles during the 1960’s, before pivoting to a filmmaking career. His 1977 romantic drama You Light Up My Life, which he wrote, directed, produced, and scored; spawned the hit song of the same name, earning Brooks an Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, and a Grammy Award.
In June 2009, Brooks was arrested on charges of raping or sexually assaulting 11 women lured to his East Side apartment from 2005 to 2008. His assistant, Shawni Lucier, was charged with helping him.
"She picked the victims, set up travel arrangements, and reassured them", said Lisa Friel, chief of the district attorney's sex crimes unit. At times, she said, Lucier also reassured mothers worried about sending their daughters alone to New York on flights Brooks paid for. And, she said, Lucier was sometimes present in the apartment when the women arrived, but left before the assaults.[24] At least four of the women accused Brooks of sexual assault. He allegedly lured the women to his apartment to audition for movie roles.[25] According to Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau, the women responded to a notice Brooks had posted on Craigslist seeking attractive women to star in movie roles, and flew to New York from Pacific Coast states or Florida, usually at Brooks's expense.
Brooks was indicted on June 23, 2009. He was to be tried in the state Supreme Court for Manhattan (a trial-level court) on 91 counts of rape, sexual abuse, criminal sexual act, assault, and other charges. In December 2009, prosecutors said they would ask the grand jury to consider adding even more charges, in part because "additional victims" had come forward.[26] Brooks died by suicide on May 22, 2011, before he could be tried.[2]
Three days after Brooks's death, Lucier pleaded guilty to 10 counts of criminal facilitation.[27]
On May 22, 2011, Brooks was found dead in his apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, with a plastic bag over his head near a hose attached to a helium tank. A suicide note was nearby.[36] According to a law enforcement source, Brooks wrote in the note that he would be exonerated of the charges against him, but complained about his failing health and a woman he claimed had abused him and taken his money.[32]
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