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At rabbi's murder trial, a 2nd hit man confesses slaying
By Harriet Ryan
FREEHOLD, New Jersey (Court TV) -- Mumbling through his testimony and never showing a hint of emotion, a mentally ill drug addict told jurors at Rabbi Fred Neulander's capital murder trial that he agreed to kill the rabbi's wife to finance his dope habit. Paul Daniels, a schizophrenic who testified under the influence of halidol, thorazine and several other psychiatric medications, did not hesitate as he recalled how he joined in after accomplice Len Jenoff bludgeoned Carol Neulander with a pipe in her foyer. "Mrs. Neulander was laying there. She was bleeding out of her head, her ear," said Daniels, 28. Gesturing to the side of his head, he said, "I smacked her in the head right here, twice." When prosecutor James Lynch asked if the victim was still alive after the blows, Daniels quickly replied, "No, she was dead." Prosecutors contend Neulander, who was conducting several extramarital affairs, hired Jenoff and Daniels to carry out the November 1, 1994, slaying. Jenoff testified earlier this week that the rabbi promised him $30,000 to carry out the murder. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against the rabbi for the second time. His first trial ended in a hung jury. Both Jenoff, a congregant of the rabbi, and Daniels, Jenoff's roommate, pleaded guilty and are cooperating with prosecutors. Both men are to be sentenced after Neulander's trial, with Daniels facing 50 years and Jenoff 30 years. Daniels said he readily agreed when Jenoff approached him about committing the murder because he needed the money for heroin and cocaine. "He came home one day and dropped like $5,000 on my head," said Daniels. As the money fell around him, Daniels said, be blurted out his enthusiasm for the scheme. "I said, 'That b---- is dead.'" Daniels admitted under cross-examination by defense lawyer Michael Riley that he never spoke directly with the rabbi about the alleged hit and took the word of Jenoff, a pathological liar, that Neulander wanted his wife dead. But Daniels added that the alleged murder plot seemed the only explanation for down-on-his-luck Jenoff having so much money. "I don't know how he could get $5,000. He was on welfare," Daniels said. He also gave a chilling description of the rabbi's behavior at his wife's funeral. Daniels, who never met Neulander, accompanied Jenoff to the service. Neulander "gave me a hug and asked if I was okay. I said I was okay and he said he was OK," said Daniels. Occasionally, Daniels attention seemed to wane and Riley waved to him at one point, saying, "I'm over here." The witness said he hears voices sometimes telling him to hurt himself. His mother and sister were in the court gallery for his testimony and later told Court TV that Daniels was manipulated by Jenoff and others. "Paul is so easy to take advantage of. Up until that time, he'd never been in any kind of trouble," said his sister, Angela Bentzel. Also Friday, Carol Neulander's younger sister, Margaret Miele, took the stand and described "extremely unusual" behavior by the rabbi in the hours and days after his wife's murder. She said that when he informed her of the murder he was "totally calm, matter-of-fact, just you know telling me what was happening." As the rest of the family grieved, she said, Neulander remained detached and stoic. "I never saw him cry. I never heard him say anything nice, nothing about my sister," she said. On Friday afternoon, a transcript of the rabbi's testimony from his first trial was read to the jury. It is unclear whether the rabbi will take the stand in his own defense during this trial.
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