Murder of Leiby Kletzky

On July 11, 2011, Leiby Kletzky , a Hasidic Jewish boy, was kidnapped as he walked home from his school day camp in the mainly Hasidic neighborhood of Borough Park , Brooklyn in New York City , New York . Kletzky's disappearance sparked an all-out search by New York City police and a block-by-block search by up to 5,000 Orthodox Jewish volunteers from New York and other states coordinated by the Brooklyn South Shomrim volunteer civilian patrol. His dismembered body was found in the Kensington apartment of Levi Aron, aged 35, and in a dumpster in another Brooklyn neighborhood, Greenwood Heights , on Wednesday morning July 13. Videos from surveillance cameras along the boy's route showed him meeting a man outside a dentist's office and then apparently getting into his car. The dentist's reception records led police to Aron at his apartment, where he showed them parts of the boy - and told them where he had dumped the rest of the body. The kidnapping and murder of the eight-year-old boy shocked the insular Brooklyn Hasidic community, whose streets are considered relatively safe. Aron gave a 450-word handwritten confession to police after his arrest, but pleaded not guilty at his first court hearing. Before the case went to trial, on August 9, 2012, Aron pleaded guilty to one charge of second-degree murder and one charge of second-degree kidnapping as part of a plea bargain agreement worked out between prosecutors and defense attorneys. On August 29, Judge Neil Firetog sentenced Aron to 40 years to life in prison. Aron would be eligible for parole in 2051, which includes credit for time served. The case drew comparisons to the 1979 kidnapping of six-year-old Etan Patz from nearby SoHo , who was snatched while walking to his school bus for the first time.

Murder of young Jewish boy On July 11, 2011, Leiby Kletzky , a Hasidic Jewish boy, was kidnapped as he walked home from his school day camp in the mainly Hasidic neighborhood of Borough Park , Brooklyn in New York City , New York . Kletzky's disappearance sparked an all-out search by New York City police and a block-by-block search by up to 5,000 Orthodox Jewish volunteers from New York and other states coordinated by the Brooklyn South Shomrim volunteer civilian patrol. His dismembered body was found in the Kensington apartment of Levi Aron, aged 35, and in a dumpster in another Brooklyn neighborhood, Greenwood Heights , on Wednesday morning July 13. Videos from surveillance cameras along the boy's route showed him meeting a man outside a dentist's office and then apparently getting into his car. The dentist's reception records led police to Aron at his apartment, where he showed them parts of the boy – and told them where he had dumped the rest of the body. The kidnapping and murder of the eight-year-old boy shocked the tight-knit Brooklyn Hasidic community, whose streets are considered safe. Aron gave a 450-word handwritten confession to police after his arrest, but pleaded not guilty at his first court hearing. Before the case went to trial, on August 9, 2012, Aron pleaded guilty to one charge of second-degree murder and one charge of second-degree kidnapping as part of a plea bargain agreement worked out between prosecutors and defense attorneys. On August 29, Judge Neil Firetog sentenced Aron to 40 years to life in prison. Aron would be eligible for parole in 2051, which includes credit for time served. The case drew comparisons to the 1979 kidnapping of six-year-old Etan Patz from nearby SoHo , who was abducted while walking to his school bus for the first time.