1 00:00:02,840 --> 00:00:05,840 Speaker 1: Rabbi Fred Newlander was on trial for the murder of 2 00:00:05,960 --> 00:00:10,520 Speaker 1: his wife, Carol Newlander. He's accused of hiring len Jenoff 3 00:00:10,520 --> 00:00:13,920 Speaker 1: as his hitman. As the trial came to its climax, 4 00:00:14,280 --> 00:00:17,320 Speaker 1: Rabbi Fred Newlander decided to take the stand in his 5 00:00:17,400 --> 00:00:18,160 Speaker 1: own defense. 6 00:00:18,960 --> 00:00:23,680 Speaker 2: Fred had virtually hung himself when he took the stand. 7 00:00:24,520 --> 00:00:27,760 Speaker 2: He was his own worst witness. 8 00:00:27,760 --> 00:00:32,840 Speaker 1: But the prosecution struggled with their own star witness, len Jenoff, to. 9 00:00:32,760 --> 00:00:37,240 Speaker 3: Convict this man. You have to believe what len Jenoff 10 00:00:37,280 --> 00:00:38,360 Speaker 3: told you was the truth. 11 00:00:38,640 --> 00:00:42,680 Speaker 2: Having him take the stand was very risky by the prosecution, 12 00:00:43,280 --> 00:00:46,680 Speaker 2: and the defense did a great job of attempting to 13 00:00:46,760 --> 00:00:49,160 Speaker 2: shred Jenoff to pieces. 14 00:00:49,840 --> 00:00:53,080 Speaker 1: The whole case boiled down to who was more credible, 15 00:00:53,400 --> 00:00:56,880 Speaker 1: the adulter as holy man or the line hit man. 16 00:00:58,240 --> 00:01:01,120 Speaker 1: We are in South Jersey today for the conclusion of 17 00:01:01,240 --> 00:01:06,840 Speaker 1: who killed Carol. I'm Sloane Glass and this is American Homicide. 18 00:01:06,920 --> 00:01:09,640 Speaker 1: Just a note that this episode contained some graphic content. 19 00:01:10,080 --> 00:01:13,600 Speaker 1: Please take care while listening. After three and a half 20 00:01:13,640 --> 00:01:17,280 Speaker 1: weeks of heated testimony, the case of Rabbi Fred Newlander 21 00:01:17,319 --> 00:01:20,280 Speaker 1: went to the jury. At the same time, a curious 22 00:01:20,280 --> 00:01:24,080 Speaker 1: book debut in bookstores titled Keep your Mouth Shut and 23 00:01:24,120 --> 00:01:27,360 Speaker 1: Your Arms Open. The book explored how to be a 24 00:01:27,400 --> 00:01:32,120 Speaker 1: good Rabbi and was written by Fred Newlander, by the 25 00:01:32,120 --> 00:01:36,440 Speaker 1: way I looked, and that book is still available online. 26 00:01:37,080 --> 00:01:40,279 Speaker 4: Council, we've received a note from the jury. 27 00:01:40,760 --> 00:01:44,319 Speaker 1: On the seventh day of deliberations, Judge Baxter received a 28 00:01:44,360 --> 00:01:46,360 Speaker 1: handwritten note from the jury's foreman. 29 00:01:46,920 --> 00:01:49,919 Speaker 4: It reads as, follows your honor. 30 00:01:50,040 --> 00:01:54,520 Speaker 5: After revisiting evidence and testimony, we the jury have concluded 31 00:01:54,640 --> 00:01:58,520 Speaker 5: that a unanimous decision on all three counts is not possible. 32 00:01:59,240 --> 00:02:01,880 Speaker 4: On that note, I am going to declare a mistrial. 33 00:02:02,480 --> 00:02:06,240 Speaker 2: I was stunned. Everybody was stunned. How could this possibly be? 34 00:02:07,040 --> 00:02:10,519 Speaker 1: Arthur mcgita, who wrote extensively about this case, was sitting 35 00:02:10,520 --> 00:02:13,760 Speaker 1: with Carrol's family when Judge Baxter called a mistrial. 36 00:02:14,080 --> 00:02:16,480 Speaker 2: I did not want to turn around. I did not 37 00:02:16,600 --> 00:02:19,400 Speaker 2: want to look in their faces. How dare they let 38 00:02:19,480 --> 00:02:22,760 Speaker 2: him go out on the street and they did. I 39 00:02:22,840 --> 00:02:24,680 Speaker 2: know what I felt and I know what I thought, 40 00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:28,200 Speaker 2: and it had to have been just a fraction of 41 00:02:28,240 --> 00:02:29,120 Speaker 2: their emotions. 42 00:02:29,639 --> 00:02:33,480 Speaker 1: Judge Baxter ordered a retrial for Rabbi Newlander. This time, 43 00:02:33,520 --> 00:02:36,040 Speaker 1: the trial would head about an hour north of cherry 44 00:02:36,080 --> 00:02:40,320 Speaker 1: Hill to Freehold, New Jersey. Freehold is where Bruce Springsteen 45 00:02:40,400 --> 00:02:42,920 Speaker 1: grew up and even sang about it in his nineteen 46 00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:46,920 Speaker 1: eighty five song My Hometown. The reason Judge Baxter moved 47 00:02:46,960 --> 00:02:49,320 Speaker 1: the trial was to find an impartial jury. 48 00:02:49,600 --> 00:02:52,880 Speaker 2: It was difficult finding a jury because this case had 49 00:02:52,919 --> 00:02:54,320 Speaker 2: been so well publicized. 50 00:02:54,639 --> 00:02:57,640 Speaker 1: Mcgita was among the dozens of journalists who packed the 51 00:02:57,680 --> 00:02:59,880 Speaker 1: tiny courtroom their reporter. 52 00:03:00,200 --> 00:03:03,480 Speaker 2: There were cameras. It was a madhouse. It was a frenzy. 53 00:03:04,040 --> 00:03:07,200 Speaker 1: Just like the first trial, The Rabbi's retrial was aired 54 00:03:07,200 --> 00:03:10,880 Speaker 1: from start to finish on Court TV. This allowed people 55 00:03:10,919 --> 00:03:14,240 Speaker 1: from all over the country to play armchair duror and 56 00:03:14,320 --> 00:03:18,240 Speaker 1: debate the guilt or innocence of Rabbi Fred Newlander. But 57 00:03:18,360 --> 00:03:21,640 Speaker 1: back in Cherry Hill, most had already made up their minds. 58 00:03:21,960 --> 00:03:26,280 Speaker 2: A majority of the residents of Cherry Hill, of South Jersey, Jory, 59 00:03:26,360 --> 00:03:30,000 Speaker 2: the Congregants from Macorse alone believed that Fred Newlander had 60 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:32,440 Speaker 2: a hand somehow in killing Carol. 61 00:03:33,040 --> 00:03:36,800 Speaker 1: In the first trial, jurors heard from Rabbi Newlander's mistress 62 00:03:36,840 --> 00:03:41,080 Speaker 1: and four witnesses who said the Rabbi wanted his wife dead. 63 00:03:42,200 --> 00:03:45,000 Speaker 1: Three of the twelve jurors didn't believe the state proved 64 00:03:45,040 --> 00:03:49,520 Speaker 1: its case beyond a reasonable doubt, which resulted in a hungery. 65 00:03:50,360 --> 00:03:53,000 Speaker 2: I could not believe that so much evidence against the 66 00:03:53,120 --> 00:03:59,520 Speaker 2: Rabbi was eliminated, discard disgraced by the jury. 67 00:04:00,400 --> 00:04:02,640 Speaker 1: In late two thousand and two, most of the players 68 00:04:02,680 --> 00:04:06,960 Speaker 1: from the first trial returned for the retrial, including the prosecutor, 69 00:04:07,240 --> 00:04:07,960 Speaker 1: James Lynch. 70 00:04:08,600 --> 00:04:13,280 Speaker 6: You're going to hear that Fred Newlander, the Rabbi was 71 00:04:13,320 --> 00:04:18,400 Speaker 6: a man of God who acted in a thoroughly ungodly fashion. 72 00:04:18,920 --> 00:04:22,320 Speaker 1: A year had passed between trials, and Rabbi Fred Newlander 73 00:04:22,360 --> 00:04:26,880 Speaker 1: appeared much thinner and his gray hair shorter. He also 74 00:04:26,960 --> 00:04:29,160 Speaker 1: had a new lawyer named Michael Riley. 75 00:04:29,279 --> 00:04:31,320 Speaker 7: Let me tell you something, ladies and gentlemen. There is 76 00:04:31,520 --> 00:04:35,719 Speaker 7: no evidence of mister Newlander's involvement in this case unless 77 00:04:35,760 --> 00:04:37,760 Speaker 7: you listen to the words from the mouth of Len General. 78 00:04:38,360 --> 00:04:41,640 Speaker 7: There is nothing. There's nothing physical, there's no business wreckers, 79 00:04:41,760 --> 00:04:44,839 Speaker 7: there's no bank records, there is nothing except the mouth 80 00:04:44,880 --> 00:04:45,560 Speaker 7: of Len Gennal. 81 00:04:46,160 --> 00:04:48,800 Speaker 1: Just like in the first trial, the defense said Len 82 00:04:48,839 --> 00:04:52,640 Speaker 1: Jenoff could not be trusted, and frankly, from everything we've 83 00:04:52,720 --> 00:04:56,120 Speaker 1: learned so far, Len was not credible or trustworthy. 84 00:04:56,640 --> 00:05:01,800 Speaker 7: Glen Jenoff's life is nothing but he even, in an 85 00:05:01,839 --> 00:05:05,600 Speaker 7: effort to support this belief that he is a CIA agent, 86 00:05:06,279 --> 00:05:10,960 Speaker 7: had a picture of Ronald Reagan ostensibly autographed dar Lenny 87 00:05:11,440 --> 00:05:12,240 Speaker 7: from Ronnie. 88 00:05:12,440 --> 00:05:15,720 Speaker 1: Many said the handwriting on that photo looked more like 89 00:05:15,800 --> 00:05:18,040 Speaker 1: len Jenoff's than Ronald Reagan's. 90 00:05:18,520 --> 00:05:20,080 Speaker 7: There's nothing real about this man. 91 00:05:20,160 --> 00:05:20,760 Speaker 4: He's a liar. 92 00:05:21,720 --> 00:05:24,480 Speaker 1: The defense argued it was len Jenoff who came up 93 00:05:24,520 --> 00:05:27,320 Speaker 1: with the plan to rob and murder Carol Newlander. 94 00:05:27,640 --> 00:05:30,919 Speaker 7: Len Jenoff became aware that she would take large sums 95 00:05:30,960 --> 00:05:34,600 Speaker 7: of money home from her cake company. Glen Jenoff went 96 00:05:34,640 --> 00:05:37,360 Speaker 7: to the new Lander house that night to kill her 97 00:05:37,600 --> 00:05:38,680 Speaker 7: and steal her money. 98 00:05:38,880 --> 00:05:43,520 Speaker 1: The defense also suggested the rabbi's ex mistress, Elaine Sencini, 99 00:05:43,720 --> 00:05:44,799 Speaker 1: had franked him. 100 00:05:45,040 --> 00:05:46,960 Speaker 7: Does she have a reason to be angry at this 101 00:05:47,040 --> 00:05:49,640 Speaker 7: person who betrayed her too? 102 00:05:51,000 --> 00:05:51,919 Speaker 6: He was seeing other women. 103 00:05:51,960 --> 00:05:53,120 Speaker 4: He was nine cheating on his wife. 104 00:05:53,160 --> 00:05:54,880 Speaker 7: He was cheating on his girlfriend. 105 00:05:55,040 --> 00:05:58,840 Speaker 1: Just like the first trial. Jurors her testimony from Elaine Cencini, 106 00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:03,800 Speaker 1: Peppy Levin, len Jenof, and Paul Michael Daniels. Their testimony 107 00:06:03,920 --> 00:06:07,920 Speaker 1: was nearly identical to the first trial, except for one witness, 108 00:06:08,680 --> 00:06:12,880 Speaker 1: the rabbi's son, Matthew. By then, Matthew was a doctor, 109 00:06:13,240 --> 00:06:17,000 Speaker 1: and the prosecutor referred to him by his title doctor Newlander. 110 00:06:17,560 --> 00:06:20,159 Speaker 1: Back on the night of his mother's murder, Matthew was 111 00:06:20,200 --> 00:06:23,359 Speaker 1: working as an emt. In fact, he was one of 112 00:06:23,400 --> 00:06:26,320 Speaker 1: the first responders to his mother's murder at their home. 113 00:06:26,960 --> 00:06:29,760 Speaker 1: I bring that up because of how Matthew's testimony began. 114 00:06:30,640 --> 00:06:34,480 Speaker 1: Listened closely to his testimony as he describes arriving at 115 00:06:34,520 --> 00:06:35,120 Speaker 1: his house. 116 00:06:35,760 --> 00:06:38,919 Speaker 8: Here are two large guys, and they physically grabbed me 117 00:06:39,600 --> 00:06:42,720 Speaker 8: and brought me back down the driveway to where I 118 00:06:42,800 --> 00:06:43,640 Speaker 8: finally saw for for it. 119 00:06:44,240 --> 00:06:46,919 Speaker 1: Did you catch that? It was so subtle that you 120 00:06:47,040 --> 00:06:50,880 Speaker 1: may have missed it. But doctor Matthew Newlander referred to 121 00:06:50,920 --> 00:06:55,800 Speaker 1: his father as Fred. That testimony caused Fred Newlander to 122 00:06:55,880 --> 00:07:00,160 Speaker 1: immediately whisper into his lawyer's ear and ask, why is 123 00:07:00,200 --> 00:07:04,279 Speaker 1: he calling me Fred? But calling his father Fred was 124 00:07:04,440 --> 00:07:05,120 Speaker 1: just the beginning. 125 00:07:06,200 --> 00:07:10,160 Speaker 8: When I first saw him, he looked kind of the 126 00:07:10,160 --> 00:07:14,280 Speaker 8: way he looks right now, sort of blank and unemotional. 127 00:07:15,760 --> 00:07:21,560 Speaker 8: He said nothing to me. He wasn't breathing heavily, wasn't 128 00:07:21,600 --> 00:07:24,920 Speaker 8: crying or showing any outward sign of grief or remorse 129 00:07:24,960 --> 00:07:28,400 Speaker 8: at all. He didn't have a drop of blood on 130 00:07:28,440 --> 00:07:28,920 Speaker 8: his clothing. 131 00:07:29,360 --> 00:07:32,240 Speaker 1: Matthew didn't hold back about his father's lack of emotion 132 00:07:32,720 --> 00:07:35,960 Speaker 1: or perceived lack of emotion over his mother's murder. 133 00:07:36,200 --> 00:07:40,640 Speaker 8: Never, at any time did he show any signs outwardly 134 00:07:41,000 --> 00:07:43,280 Speaker 8: of grief remorse. 135 00:07:43,760 --> 00:07:45,880 Speaker 4: And never, in all the times. 136 00:07:45,600 --> 00:07:47,280 Speaker 8: That I've seen him in the year since, as he 137 00:07:47,320 --> 00:07:50,840 Speaker 8: ever cried, never had a pleasant memory of her, or 138 00:07:50,880 --> 00:07:53,440 Speaker 8: seemed to grieve or worn for her in any way. 139 00:07:54,160 --> 00:07:57,920 Speaker 1: What you're hearing is the one huge difference between the 140 00:07:57,960 --> 00:08:02,400 Speaker 1: first and second trial. Matthew Newlander was no longer protecting 141 00:08:02,440 --> 00:08:02,960 Speaker 1: his father. 142 00:08:03,640 --> 00:08:08,880 Speaker 8: I asked him, where's mom? What happened? Is she okay? 143 00:08:09,200 --> 00:08:14,760 Speaker 8: Is someone taking care of her? His answers were really 144 00:08:14,840 --> 00:08:19,600 Speaker 8: just one repeated over and over again. Everything's going to 145 00:08:19,600 --> 00:08:22,520 Speaker 8: be okay, Everything's going to be okay. 146 00:08:22,920 --> 00:08:25,880 Speaker 1: Matthew said he and his dad had had many conversations 147 00:08:25,880 --> 00:08:28,160 Speaker 1: about the night of his mother's murder, so. 148 00:08:28,200 --> 00:08:33,680 Speaker 8: He was repulsed by what he saw. Two repulsed to 149 00:08:33,760 --> 00:08:37,559 Speaker 8: go in to see if she was okay. I found 150 00:08:37,559 --> 00:08:40,559 Speaker 8: my wife for a child on the floor right. I 151 00:08:40,559 --> 00:08:42,840 Speaker 8: would want to go try to help and you know, 152 00:08:44,840 --> 00:08:49,600 Speaker 8: if he couldn't help, fine, but at least you're there. 153 00:08:50,400 --> 00:08:53,520 Speaker 1: A couple of the jurors wiped away tears as Matthew 154 00:08:53,559 --> 00:08:58,040 Speaker 1: struggled to choke back his own. Ironically, it was while 155 00:08:58,120 --> 00:09:00,720 Speaker 1: talking about his dad's lack of emotion. 156 00:09:01,480 --> 00:09:05,000 Speaker 8: I would have given my right arm for five minutes 157 00:09:05,840 --> 00:09:07,680 Speaker 8: just to sit there with her and hold her hand 158 00:09:07,720 --> 00:09:08,880 Speaker 8: and tell her that I was there. 159 00:09:09,559 --> 00:09:14,440 Speaker 1: Matthew's heartbreaking testimony stunned the defense, but would it be 160 00:09:14,600 --> 00:09:23,199 Speaker 1: enough to overshadow the juror's doubts about len Jenoff. If 161 00:09:23,200 --> 00:09:26,080 Speaker 1: there was one major difference between the first trial and 162 00:09:26,120 --> 00:09:30,040 Speaker 1: the retrial of Rabbi Fred Newlander, it was the testimony 163 00:09:30,120 --> 00:09:33,800 Speaker 1: of his son, Matthew. While on the witness stand, Matthew 164 00:09:33,840 --> 00:09:37,480 Speaker 1: Newlander only referred to his father by his first name, Fred. 165 00:09:38,160 --> 00:09:41,360 Speaker 1: It was something even the rabbi's defense lawyer did not ignore, 166 00:09:41,920 --> 00:09:42,760 Speaker 1: so he calls. 167 00:09:42,640 --> 00:09:46,160 Speaker 7: Father bade to call him father, no, to call him Fred. 168 00:09:46,600 --> 00:09:48,600 Speaker 7: Right from the beginning, Fred does fread. 169 00:09:48,280 --> 00:09:50,880 Speaker 4: That the anger of that young man in the sadness 170 00:09:50,960 --> 00:09:51,360 Speaker 4: was all. 171 00:09:51,240 --> 00:09:51,720 Speaker 6: Of a whelming. 172 00:09:52,360 --> 00:09:55,360 Speaker 1: Interestingly enough, the defense did not put the rabbi back 173 00:09:55,440 --> 00:09:59,239 Speaker 1: on the witness stand. Instead, they focused on len Jenoff's 174 00:09:59,280 --> 00:10:02,720 Speaker 1: long history of lying, and urged the jurors not to 175 00:10:02,800 --> 00:10:05,080 Speaker 1: let emotion cloud their judgment. 176 00:10:05,800 --> 00:10:07,960 Speaker 4: Ladies and gentlemen, emotion, it's not evidence. 177 00:10:08,880 --> 00:10:10,560 Speaker 6: Passion is not true. 178 00:10:10,600 --> 00:10:14,000 Speaker 1: Prosecutor James Lynch had the final word. 179 00:10:13,679 --> 00:10:16,480 Speaker 4: Mister Leonard Jennoff. 180 00:10:17,559 --> 00:10:22,680 Speaker 6: Is not being held up to you as a model citizen. 181 00:10:23,679 --> 00:10:28,959 Speaker 6: He is a man who took money to kill someone. 182 00:10:29,360 --> 00:10:32,040 Speaker 1: The case went to the seven men and five women 183 00:10:32,080 --> 00:10:36,240 Speaker 1: of the jury on Friday, November fifteenth, two thousand and two. 184 00:10:37,040 --> 00:10:40,199 Speaker 1: The following Wednesday, Judge Baxter received a note from the 185 00:10:40,280 --> 00:10:41,240 Speaker 1: jury's fore women. 186 00:10:41,480 --> 00:10:45,120 Speaker 4: I understand from your note that you have reached a verdict. Yes, 187 00:10:45,160 --> 00:10:45,440 Speaker 4: we have. 188 00:10:46,040 --> 00:10:50,280 Speaker 1: After twenty seven hours of deliberations, the jury's for women 189 00:10:50,440 --> 00:10:54,960 Speaker 1: stood before Judge Baxter. When she spoke, her voice quivered, 190 00:10:55,679 --> 00:10:58,840 Speaker 1: and there was something else. She tears in her eyes. 191 00:11:00,000 --> 00:11:03,199 Speaker 1: Before anyone could guess the meaning of those tears, the 192 00:11:03,320 --> 00:11:05,640 Speaker 1: verdict echoed through the courtroom. 193 00:11:05,960 --> 00:11:10,040 Speaker 4: Guilty. 194 00:11:10,080 --> 00:11:14,360 Speaker 1: Nearly eight years after the murder of Carol Newlander, her husband, 195 00:11:14,760 --> 00:11:19,920 Speaker 1: Rabbi Fred Neulander, was found guilty of capital murder. In 196 00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:23,160 Speaker 1: the back of the courtroom, Carol's siblings all locked hands, 197 00:11:23,679 --> 00:11:28,040 Speaker 1: put their heads down and started to cry. Meanwhile, the 198 00:11:28,160 --> 00:11:31,600 Speaker 1: Rabbi stood there in a daze. As Judge Baxter addressed 199 00:11:31,640 --> 00:11:32,400 Speaker 1: the jury. 200 00:11:32,800 --> 00:11:37,079 Speaker 5: Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, having found the defendant, 201 00:11:37,120 --> 00:11:41,440 Speaker 5: Fred Newlander, guilty of murder, you now have, as you know, 202 00:11:41,840 --> 00:11:46,720 Speaker 5: the added responsibility of determining what penalty for that crime 203 00:11:47,400 --> 00:11:49,240 Speaker 5: is to be imposed upon him. 204 00:11:49,520 --> 00:11:52,480 Speaker 1: A guilty verdict in a capital murder trial triggers what's 205 00:11:52,520 --> 00:11:56,640 Speaker 1: known as the penalty phase. This meant these twelve jurors, 206 00:11:57,080 --> 00:11:59,680 Speaker 1: one who already had tears in her eyes, had the 207 00:11:59,720 --> 00:12:04,240 Speaker 1: a I did responsibility of deciding the Rabbi's fate, and 208 00:12:04,320 --> 00:12:07,400 Speaker 1: at the time, New Jersey still had the death penalty. 209 00:12:08,000 --> 00:12:12,280 Speaker 5: Under the law enacted by our legislature, the penalty may 210 00:12:12,360 --> 00:12:16,560 Speaker 5: be either death or a term of years between thirty 211 00:12:16,640 --> 00:12:20,800 Speaker 5: years and life imprisonment, of which thirty years must be 212 00:12:20,960 --> 00:12:24,079 Speaker 5: served before the defendant is eligible for parole. 213 00:12:25,800 --> 00:12:29,920 Speaker 1: Much like the trial itself, the prosecutors and the defense 214 00:12:30,040 --> 00:12:34,240 Speaker 1: both presented their arguments for what they considered just punishment, 215 00:12:35,120 --> 00:12:37,440 Speaker 1: and that included testimony from the Rabbi. 216 00:12:38,160 --> 00:12:40,440 Speaker 9: I am here to a for aplea for my life. 217 00:12:40,600 --> 00:12:43,080 Speaker 1: Fred Newlander was sixty one years old at the time 218 00:12:43,160 --> 00:12:46,880 Speaker 1: and delivered what was arguably the most important sermon of 219 00:12:46,920 --> 00:12:47,439 Speaker 1: his life. 220 00:12:48,320 --> 00:12:51,200 Speaker 9: If I look at the days of the years of 221 00:12:51,240 --> 00:12:56,200 Speaker 9: my life before the first of November of nineteen ninety four, 222 00:12:57,080 --> 00:13:05,280 Speaker 9: they were filled with great blessings. First and foremost, I 223 00:13:05,360 --> 00:13:14,520 Speaker 9: had my wife, Carol. She was a remarkable woman, and 224 00:13:16,600 --> 00:13:20,320 Speaker 9: I miss her, and I loved her, and I love her. 225 00:13:21,040 --> 00:13:24,440 Speaker 9: Now there are those who I'm sure behind their hands 226 00:13:24,480 --> 00:13:34,480 Speaker 9: with snicker, I have acknowledged for the longest time my 227 00:13:34,679 --> 00:13:42,640 Speaker 9: behavior that was reprehensible, and my behavior that was disgraceful. 228 00:13:43,640 --> 00:13:44,240 Speaker 9: And yet. 229 00:13:45,840 --> 00:13:46,800 Speaker 4: You must believe I. 230 00:13:46,760 --> 00:13:54,040 Speaker 9: Loved her and love her. Starting today, there is another 231 00:13:54,160 --> 00:13:58,160 Speaker 9: sense of the days of the years of my life 232 00:13:58,160 --> 00:14:04,400 Speaker 9: that will unfold. I do not know where I will be, 233 00:14:05,800 --> 00:14:11,160 Speaker 9: quite obviously don't know now, But wherever I will be, 234 00:14:12,320 --> 00:14:16,320 Speaker 9: there will be men who cannot read. 235 00:14:17,320 --> 00:14:20,800 Speaker 1: The Rabbi explained that in Hebrew, the word rabbi means teacher. 236 00:14:21,600 --> 00:14:23,720 Speaker 9: I'm a good teacher, I was a good teacher. I 237 00:14:23,760 --> 00:14:26,080 Speaker 9: can be a good teacher. And I want to help 238 00:14:26,360 --> 00:14:30,200 Speaker 9: that young man that will enhance the days of the 239 00:14:30,280 --> 00:14:34,760 Speaker 9: years of my life. By helping the days of the 240 00:14:34,880 --> 00:14:37,600 Speaker 9: years of that young man's life. That's all I want 241 00:14:38,640 --> 00:14:44,560 Speaker 9: is that opportunity to teach. I beseech you, I importune you, 242 00:14:46,080 --> 00:14:50,920 Speaker 9: I beg of you for that privilege, and I promise, 243 00:14:52,440 --> 00:14:57,560 Speaker 9: I promise that I will do whatever a teacher should 244 00:14:57,600 --> 00:15:02,800 Speaker 9: do to enrich the lives of people that come in 245 00:15:02,880 --> 00:15:05,400 Speaker 9: contact with that teacher. 246 00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:09,320 Speaker 1: The rabbi smiled and nodded to the jury before slowly 247 00:15:09,360 --> 00:15:13,480 Speaker 1: walking back to the defense table. He sat down, removed 248 00:15:13,480 --> 00:15:19,120 Speaker 1: his glasses, and looked exhausted. Two full days past before 249 00:15:19,200 --> 00:15:22,880 Speaker 1: the jury returned. That's when the four women handed a 250 00:15:22,920 --> 00:15:24,080 Speaker 1: note to Judge Baxter. 251 00:15:24,920 --> 00:15:30,040 Speaker 5: After due deliberation, the jury cannot unanimously agree upon punishment. 252 00:15:30,480 --> 00:15:34,240 Speaker 1: This shifted the responsibility back to Judge Baxter, who now 253 00:15:34,280 --> 00:15:37,640 Speaker 1: had to impose a sentence. At another hearing in early 254 00:15:37,680 --> 00:15:41,040 Speaker 1: two thousand and three, witnesses from both sides stated their 255 00:15:41,080 --> 00:15:44,880 Speaker 1: case for punishment, including the rabbi's sister in law. 256 00:15:45,640 --> 00:15:50,640 Speaker 10: He is truly a monster beyond human comprehension, and he 257 00:15:50,680 --> 00:15:52,920 Speaker 10: should never ever be free again. 258 00:15:53,400 --> 00:15:55,680 Speaker 1: Carol's brother also didn't mince words. 259 00:15:56,120 --> 00:16:01,040 Speaker 11: You are the lowest form of humanity. You dishonored Carol, yourself, 260 00:16:01,800 --> 00:16:04,960 Speaker 11: your children, this court, your congregation. 261 00:16:05,760 --> 00:16:06,880 Speaker 4: The rabbitt and. 262 00:16:06,880 --> 00:16:10,760 Speaker 1: Judaism absent from the hearing were the rabbi's son Matthew 263 00:16:11,000 --> 00:16:14,880 Speaker 1: and daughter Rebecca. Instead, they sent letters to the court. 264 00:16:15,440 --> 00:16:19,000 Speaker 1: Rebecca wrote, I'm not sure that he will ever fully 265 00:16:19,000 --> 00:16:23,360 Speaker 1: comprehend what his ego, maniacal and selfish acts did to 266 00:16:23,440 --> 00:16:27,480 Speaker 1: my family and me. Matthew went a step further and 267 00:16:27,560 --> 00:16:33,800 Speaker 1: called his father a sociopath and a worthless, soulless, pathetic 268 00:16:34,080 --> 00:16:38,800 Speaker 1: shell of a man. Throughout both of these trials, the 269 00:16:38,840 --> 00:16:43,720 Speaker 1: third Newlander child, Benjamin, steered clear of the courtroom. Until now, 270 00:16:44,360 --> 00:16:48,680 Speaker 1: Benjamin had refrained from commenting and testifying about his mother's murder, 271 00:16:49,200 --> 00:16:51,800 Speaker 1: but that day all eyes were on him as he 272 00:16:51,880 --> 00:16:55,200 Speaker 1: walked into the courtroom and broke his silence about his father. 273 00:16:55,720 --> 00:17:01,360 Speaker 11: Things like soccer games, swim meets, school events at as 274 00:17:01,400 --> 00:17:05,160 Speaker 11: many as he could. I remember seeing him there, and 275 00:17:05,840 --> 00:17:08,960 Speaker 11: you know, those were the good times. I knew that 276 00:17:09,000 --> 00:17:13,440 Speaker 11: when I needed somebody to be there for me for 277 00:17:14,760 --> 00:17:18,480 Speaker 11: any particular difficulty that I was having, he and I 278 00:17:18,480 --> 00:17:21,440 Speaker 11: could relate on a very special level. And I knew 279 00:17:21,440 --> 00:17:23,960 Speaker 11: that as busy as he was, he would always be 280 00:17:24,000 --> 00:17:27,360 Speaker 11: able to find time to just guide me through whatever 281 00:17:27,800 --> 00:17:31,040 Speaker 11: issues that I was having. That's what he did for 282 00:17:31,880 --> 00:17:34,080 Speaker 11: many people was to guide them, and I knew that 283 00:17:34,119 --> 00:17:35,880 Speaker 11: I could always count on him to be around for that. 284 00:17:36,640 --> 00:17:39,720 Speaker 1: Benjamin Newlander was now returning the favor for his dad. 285 00:17:41,119 --> 00:17:44,439 Speaker 11: I'm a teacher, and one of the biggest reasons that 286 00:17:44,520 --> 00:17:50,639 Speaker 11: I'm a teacher is because of my father. So I 287 00:17:50,680 --> 00:17:53,119 Speaker 11: think that speaks for just his influence on me. I 288 00:17:53,119 --> 00:17:56,080 Speaker 11: think he led me down an amazing path, and I 289 00:17:56,119 --> 00:18:01,760 Speaker 11: think that there are other people that he can do 290 00:18:01,840 --> 00:18:04,960 Speaker 11: that for. And just give him the chance to show 291 00:18:05,000 --> 00:18:07,840 Speaker 11: that he can still do that, because I know that 292 00:18:07,960 --> 00:18:08,320 Speaker 11: you can. 293 00:18:09,200 --> 00:18:13,520 Speaker 1: Ultimately, Fred Newlander's fate was in Judge Baxter's hands, and 294 00:18:13,560 --> 00:18:18,760 Speaker 1: after careful consideration, she spared him the death penalty, instead 295 00:18:19,000 --> 00:18:23,040 Speaker 1: issuing the maximum sentence short of death, thirty years to life. 296 00:18:24,280 --> 00:18:26,240 Speaker 1: Here's his former lawyer, death sucker. 297 00:18:26,720 --> 00:18:29,720 Speaker 3: He's in a prison where almost everybody in the prison 298 00:18:29,800 --> 00:18:33,560 Speaker 3: is serving tremendously long sentences, their life sentences. The last 299 00:18:33,560 --> 00:18:37,400 Speaker 3: time I saw him, he still professes his innocence, says 300 00:18:37,440 --> 00:18:38,640 Speaker 3: he had nothing to do with it. 301 00:18:39,119 --> 00:18:42,919 Speaker 1: Rabbi Fred Newlander was incarcerated in a maximum security prison 302 00:18:43,000 --> 00:18:46,520 Speaker 1: in New Jersey. It's one of the country's oldest facilities. 303 00:18:48,600 --> 00:18:51,320 Speaker 3: I feel horribly for the family. I mean, I don't 304 00:18:51,320 --> 00:18:56,280 Speaker 3: think he's had any contact with his children. I spent 305 00:18:56,400 --> 00:18:59,880 Speaker 3: a lot of time with each of his children preparing 306 00:19:00,080 --> 00:19:06,360 Speaker 3: for this trial, and they were all nice kids, they 307 00:19:06,400 --> 00:19:10,600 Speaker 3: really were. It's a horrible tragedy for them. I think 308 00:19:10,680 --> 00:19:17,960 Speaker 3: Matthew was legitimately horrified by his father. First, your mother's murdered, 309 00:19:17,960 --> 00:19:20,840 Speaker 3: and then your father's convicted of the murdered. Can't get 310 00:19:20,920 --> 00:19:21,480 Speaker 3: much worse. 311 00:19:26,119 --> 00:19:30,280 Speaker 1: More than eight years and two trials later, Rabbi Fred 312 00:19:30,359 --> 00:19:33,560 Speaker 1: Newlander was convicted of hiring a hitman to kill his 313 00:19:33,640 --> 00:19:38,600 Speaker 1: wife Carol. In two thousand and three, Rabbi Newlander agreed 314 00:19:38,640 --> 00:19:43,439 Speaker 1: to an interview with Barbara Walters, and once again the 315 00:19:43,560 --> 00:19:45,320 Speaker 1: Rabbi declared his innocence. 316 00:19:45,960 --> 00:19:49,320 Speaker 10: If you were innocent, why would God do this to you? 317 00:19:50,119 --> 00:19:53,720 Speaker 9: I don't think God is a great puppeteer. I think 318 00:19:53,760 --> 00:19:57,280 Speaker 9: what happened to me was driven by human beings. 319 00:19:58,119 --> 00:20:01,560 Speaker 1: Rabbi Newlander said law enforcement was under an enormous amount 320 00:20:01,600 --> 00:20:05,160 Speaker 1: of pressure to solve the murder and used his infidelity 321 00:20:05,320 --> 00:20:06,760 Speaker 1: to label him a murderer. 322 00:20:07,680 --> 00:20:12,560 Speaker 10: Am By, as God is your witness, did you have 323 00:20:12,640 --> 00:20:15,119 Speaker 10: anything to do with your wife's murder? 324 00:20:15,640 --> 00:20:15,800 Speaker 9: No? 325 00:20:17,000 --> 00:20:19,760 Speaker 1: He said that of all the victims, he cried the 326 00:20:19,760 --> 00:20:23,840 Speaker 1: most for his children. He added that he was devastated 327 00:20:23,960 --> 00:20:25,440 Speaker 1: that two of them wrote him off. 328 00:20:25,960 --> 00:20:29,359 Speaker 10: Aren't you tormented? If you're sitting here an innocent man, 329 00:20:29,640 --> 00:20:29,960 Speaker 10: you have. 330 00:20:30,000 --> 00:20:32,000 Speaker 9: No idea how much rage I. 331 00:20:32,040 --> 00:20:32,639 Speaker 10: Have shot it. 332 00:20:32,880 --> 00:20:34,560 Speaker 9: You know, one of the things that I have been 333 00:20:35,200 --> 00:20:37,679 Speaker 9: trained to do is hold on to my emotions. 334 00:20:38,440 --> 00:20:41,680 Speaker 1: The rabbi explained that there's no book that says this 335 00:20:41,800 --> 00:20:44,320 Speaker 1: is how a guilty person acts, and this is how 336 00:20:44,359 --> 00:20:45,720 Speaker 1: an innocent person acts. 337 00:20:46,359 --> 00:20:49,240 Speaker 9: I can't express remorse for a murder that I did 338 00:20:49,280 --> 00:20:49,960 Speaker 9: not commit. 339 00:20:51,600 --> 00:20:56,840 Speaker 1: Afterwards, Barbara Walters called their interview eerie because the rabbi, 340 00:20:57,280 --> 00:21:02,160 Speaker 1: who claimed to be enraged, laid no emotion throughout their interview. 341 00:21:03,000 --> 00:21:06,400 Speaker 1: As for Len Jenoff and Paul Michael Daniels, the two 342 00:21:06,480 --> 00:21:10,240 Speaker 1: who actually carried out the murder of Carol Newlander, both 343 00:21:10,359 --> 00:21:13,880 Speaker 1: pled guilty and were sentenced to twenty three years in prison. 344 00:21:15,320 --> 00:21:19,159 Speaker 2: I've dealt in one way or another with the new 345 00:21:19,240 --> 00:21:21,560 Speaker 2: Lander case since nineteen ninety nine. 346 00:21:22,000 --> 00:21:25,200 Speaker 1: Arthur mcgida wrote the book The Rabbi and the hit Man, 347 00:21:26,000 --> 00:21:29,359 Speaker 1: and there was one final and bizarre twist in this case. 348 00:21:30,960 --> 00:21:34,480 Speaker 1: In May two thousand and eight, Len Jennof filed emotion 349 00:21:34,760 --> 00:21:39,720 Speaker 1: challenging his sentence. In that motion, he claimed ineffective counsel 350 00:21:40,160 --> 00:21:42,720 Speaker 1: and stated that his lawyer slept through most of his 351 00:21:42,800 --> 00:21:47,240 Speaker 1: court proceedings. He also alleged he had been promised significantly 352 00:21:47,320 --> 00:21:49,560 Speaker 1: less time than twenty three years. 353 00:21:49,960 --> 00:21:55,000 Speaker 2: Len Jenoff was such a dubious and questionable character, and 354 00:21:55,080 --> 00:21:58,479 Speaker 2: in the best of all worlds, nobody should believe anything 355 00:21:58,520 --> 00:21:59,240 Speaker 2: he ever said. 356 00:22:00,440 --> 00:22:03,040 Speaker 1: In two thousand and nine, len Jenov said he had 357 00:22:03,040 --> 00:22:05,600 Speaker 1: given a lot of thought to what happened and wanted 358 00:22:05,640 --> 00:22:10,840 Speaker 1: to set the record straight. In assigned affidavit, len wrote, 359 00:22:11,400 --> 00:22:14,840 Speaker 1: Fred Neulander never asked me to kill his wife, and 360 00:22:15,000 --> 00:22:18,200 Speaker 1: to the best of my knowledge, he never had any 361 00:22:18,280 --> 00:22:22,920 Speaker 1: idea of any attempt on his wife's life. In other words, 362 00:22:23,160 --> 00:22:27,440 Speaker 1: len Jenoff recanted and said the incident at the Newlanders 363 00:22:27,640 --> 00:22:31,439 Speaker 1: was a robbery gone bad and not a murder for hire. 364 00:22:32,240 --> 00:22:34,679 Speaker 1: He said he made up the story that implicated the 365 00:22:34,760 --> 00:22:38,960 Speaker 1: rabbi because he was promised leniency if he cooperated with 366 00:22:39,040 --> 00:22:40,600 Speaker 1: the prosecutor's office. 367 00:22:41,000 --> 00:22:45,280 Speaker 2: How could Jenov be believed? Now he's wild over and 368 00:22:45,320 --> 00:22:48,920 Speaker 2: over again, he admits, but he claims he's telling the truth. 369 00:22:49,040 --> 00:22:49,920 Speaker 2: Just this one time. 370 00:22:52,000 --> 00:22:55,879 Speaker 1: Well, it turns out len Jenov wasn't done lying. Three 371 00:22:56,040 --> 00:23:00,679 Speaker 1: years after retracting his confession, Jenoff flip flopped yet again. 372 00:23:01,240 --> 00:23:04,479 Speaker 1: In twenty twelve, Len told the Philadelphia Inquirer that he 373 00:23:04,600 --> 00:23:09,520 Speaker 1: regretted forcanting his statement. He said, I testified at two 374 00:23:09,560 --> 00:23:12,439 Speaker 1: trials that Fred Newlander did hire me, in fact, to 375 00:23:12,520 --> 00:23:15,200 Speaker 1: kill his wife and make it look like a robbery, 376 00:23:15,720 --> 00:23:20,080 Speaker 1: and that is the truth. Len called his actions immoral 377 00:23:20,720 --> 00:23:25,600 Speaker 1: and again reverted to his initial testimony at the trials. 378 00:23:25,960 --> 00:23:28,960 Speaker 2: Lender Jenoff, who was not a man of his word, 379 00:23:29,280 --> 00:23:31,879 Speaker 2: had never been a man of his word, and absolutely 380 00:23:31,960 --> 00:23:35,080 Speaker 2: nothing coming out of Jenoff's mouth could be believed. 381 00:23:35,440 --> 00:23:39,240 Speaker 1: In twenty fourteen, both Len Jenoff and Paul Michael o'daniels 382 00:23:39,280 --> 00:23:42,720 Speaker 1: walked out of prison free men. They both had served 383 00:23:42,760 --> 00:23:47,719 Speaker 1: more than fourteen years before being released from prison. Throughout 384 00:23:47,760 --> 00:23:51,320 Speaker 1: the years, Rabbi Fred Newlander has appealed his conviction and 385 00:23:51,400 --> 00:23:54,920 Speaker 1: petitioned for a new trial each time he was denied. 386 00:23:55,440 --> 00:23:58,720 Speaker 1: In a twenty twelve interview with NBC ten in Philadelphia, 387 00:23:59,160 --> 00:24:02,560 Speaker 1: the rabbi mid his behavior in his marriage was appalling. 388 00:24:03,200 --> 00:24:06,679 Speaker 1: He called himself an embarrassment and said he should have 389 00:24:06,760 --> 00:24:10,960 Speaker 1: behaved better, but maintained he did not kill his wife. 390 00:24:11,280 --> 00:24:18,240 Speaker 2: I would hope that there was some deep core of 391 00:24:18,320 --> 00:24:23,919 Speaker 2: Fred Newlander that was speaking to him, nagging at him 392 00:24:24,119 --> 00:24:28,280 Speaker 2: and telling him he was a shame and a shambles 393 00:24:28,560 --> 00:24:31,880 Speaker 2: of a human being. We'll never know what happened. 394 00:24:32,520 --> 00:24:36,399 Speaker 1: He's right, we will never know the full story about 395 00:24:36,480 --> 00:24:41,560 Speaker 1: why Carol Newlander was murdered because in April twenty twenty four, 396 00:24:42,280 --> 00:24:44,359 Speaker 1: the rabbi took those answers to his grave. 397 00:24:44,960 --> 00:24:48,440 Speaker 2: Fred Newlander, a former Cherry Hill rabbi who was convicted 398 00:24:48,520 --> 00:24:51,480 Speaker 2: in the murder for hire of his wife, has died 399 00:24:51,520 --> 00:24:53,200 Speaker 2: in prison at the age of eighty two. 400 00:24:53,520 --> 00:24:57,600 Speaker 7: Correctional officers found Fred Newlander unresponsive on Wednesday. 401 00:24:57,800 --> 00:25:00,399 Speaker 1: After performing CPR and using an ad a new Land 402 00:25:00,640 --> 00:25:03,200 Speaker 1: was pronounced oad of the hospital. No cause of death 403 00:25:03,359 --> 00:25:06,800 Speaker 1: was released to the public, and according to one of 404 00:25:06,840 --> 00:25:10,159 Speaker 1: the rabbi's former lawyers, up until the time of his death, 405 00:25:10,560 --> 00:25:17,320 Speaker 1: the rabbi had been counseling other inmates on religion. Next 406 00:25:17,359 --> 00:25:21,959 Speaker 1: time on American homicide. When a popular teenage artist goes missing, 407 00:25:22,240 --> 00:25:26,000 Speaker 1: her community jumps into action, but when police discovered a 408 00:25:26,119 --> 00:25:29,679 Speaker 1: secret box full of cash, questions are raised around if 409 00:25:29,720 --> 00:25:32,680 Speaker 1: police were looking for a crime scene or the trail 410 00:25:32,720 --> 00:25:36,760 Speaker 1: of a young woman who planned her own disappearance. I'm 411 00:25:36,800 --> 00:25:39,879 Speaker 1: Sloan Glass. We head to Neptune City, New Jersey for 412 00:25:39,920 --> 00:25:44,520 Speaker 1: the case of Sarah Stern. That's next time on American Homicide. 413 00:25:47,920 --> 00:25:51,000 Speaker 1: You can contact the American Homicide team by emailing us 414 00:25:51,400 --> 00:25:56,120 Speaker 1: at American Homicide Pod at gmail dot com. That's American 415 00:25:56,160 --> 00:26:00,600 Speaker 1: Homicide Pod at gmail dot com. American Homicide is hosted 416 00:26:00,640 --> 00:26:03,680 Speaker 1: and written by me Sloan Glass and is a production 417 00:26:03,920 --> 00:26:08,040 Speaker 1: of Glass Podcasts, a division of Glass Entertainment Group, in 418 00:26:08,119 --> 00:26:12,760 Speaker 1: partnership with iHeart Podcasts. The show is executive produced by 419 00:26:12,840 --> 00:26:16,640 Speaker 1: Nancy Glass and Todd Gans. The series is also written 420 00:26:16,640 --> 00:26:20,120 Speaker 1: and produced by Todd Gans, with additional writing by Ben 421 00:26:20,160 --> 00:26:25,200 Speaker 1: Fetterman and Andrea Gunny. Our associate producer is Kristin Melcurie. 422 00:26:25,480 --> 00:26:30,439 Speaker 1: Our Ihearty is Ali Perry and Jessica Crimechak. Audio editing 423 00:26:30,560 --> 00:26:34,720 Speaker 1: and mixing by Matt Delvecchio, Dave Seya, and Britt Robashow. 424 00:26:35,080 --> 00:26:39,760 Speaker 1: Additional editing support from Nico Ruka, Tanner Robbins, and Patrick Walsh. 425 00:26:40,680 --> 00:26:44,439 Speaker 1: American Homicide's theme song was composed by Oliver Baines of 426 00:26:44,560 --> 00:26:50,840 Speaker 1: Neiser Music Library provided by my Music. Follow American Homicide 427 00:26:50,840 --> 00:26:55,240 Speaker 1: on Apple Podcasts, and please rate and review American Homicide. 428 00:26:55,400 --> 00:26:58,160 Speaker 1: Your five star review goes a long way towards helping 429 00:26:58,240 --> 00:27:02,280 Speaker 1: others find this show. For more podcasts from iHeart, visit 430 00:27:02,359 --> 00:27:07,680 Speaker 1: the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.