Kills self before marshal evicts

A 71-YEAR-OLD real estate broker killed himself with a shotgun after a city marshal knocked on his door to evict him from his Murray Hill apartment Tuesday, police sources said.

Broker Richard Livert, 71, told city Marshal George Essock through the door of his 305 E. 40th St. apartment to give him a few minutes to get dressed after the marshal knocked at 11:30 a.m., a spokesman for the marshals said.

“(The marshal) said a few minutes later there was a loud noise. He didn’t know what it was,” said the spokesman, Michael Woloz.

When Essock drilled through the door, he found Livert dead in the bedroom with a gunshot wound to his head, the spokesman said. Essock called police, but Livert, who worked at Douglas Elliman, could not be saved.

Neighbors said Livert, who lived alone, had hit financial straits and was behind on mortgage and maintenance payments at the luxury co-op.

“Richard was happy go lucky on the outside, but that masked what was sad on the inside,” one neighbor said.