Jailed scam suspect's nailed in judge-slay plot

By SALVATORE ARENA

August 10, 2000 Web posted at: 10:56 AM EDT (1456 GMT)

NEW YORK (The New York Daily News) -- An accused stock swindler jailed on high bail was charged yesterday with plotting the assassination of the no-nonsense judge presiding over his case.

The target for the contract murder, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Leslie Crocker Snyder, has carried on fearlessly for years despite death threats from some of the city's most violent drug gangs.

But prosecutors said the latest attempt against the jurist was the work of a former Wall Street number-cruncher whose fear of Snyder's reputation for meting out tough justice led him to view her slaying as addition by subtraction.

The defendant, Stuart Winkler, allegedly masterminded the plot from his cell at the Manhattan House of Detention, hiring a fellow inmate who was set for release to carry out the hit.

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"This is a done deal," Winkler told the unidentified inmate, who prosecutors said agreed to wear a wire after tipping authorities off to the plot. "Just don't get ... caught."

Winkler, 47, of Morganville, N.J., pleaded not guilty at his arraignment in Supreme Court yesterday on charges of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and criminal solicitation, crimes that could put him in prison for up to 25 years. He was held without bail.

Defense lawyer Jack Litman disputed the hit-plot allegations, saying the informant was "obviously trying to work his way out of something."

But Assistant District Attorney Daniel McGillycuddy called the charges "rock solid."

Winkler was arrested in July 1999 and charged with participating in a $100 million swindle as the chief financial officer of A.S. Goldmen, a New Jersey securities firm. He was freed after posting $1 million bond.

But Snyder changed Winkler's bail to $1 million cash in February after learning he had taken a Christmas trip to the Cayman Islands, violating the terms of his release. He has been jailed since, unable to make bail.

McGillycuddy said Winkler sought to do away with Snyder to make sure a different judge would be assigned to his case, possibly improving his chances of being freed.

Winkler allegedly gave the intended hit man the telephone number of a company that would arrange payment for the murder. The two agreed on an unidentified intermediary for passing messages and making an undisclosed payment, McGillycuddy said. He said Winkler devised a code for arranging the timing of the murder and provided the hit man with information about security around Snyder's 100 Centre St. courtroom and details of her vacation plans.

A profanity-laced transcript of the tape recordings read by the prosecutor in court indicated timing was everything to Winkler. At one point, he allegedly told the hit man he didn't want Snyder killed before an upcoming hearing, hoping his bail would be reduced. But he allegedly said the hit was on after the hearing, whether or not he was sprung.

"The job still goes on," Winkler told his hired gun, according to prosecutors.

Snyder, 58, has presided over numerous high-profile cases, including the prosecution of drug gangs during the 1990s that led to threats against her life. She has 24-hour security provided by the Office of Court Administration and the NYPD.

The judge, whose name has been floated as a possible candidate for Manhattan district attorney, seemed unworried yesterday as she left the courthouse for lunch accompanied by two plainclothes police detectives and an aide. She told a reporter she was doing well, adding, "I wish it would stop, though."

Though prosecutors foiled the alleged plot, Winkler is likely to get his wish for a new judge.

"In all likelihood, the judge will not keep this part of the Goldmen case," said David Bookstaver, a spokesman for the state Office of Court Administration.

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