Man, 81, Gets Life in Prison for Murder at West Boca Synagogue

BOCA RATON, FL — There will be no closure for the family of Jonathan Samuels, not with a guilty verdict, not with a life sentence for Marc Benayer, the man convicted of murdering Samuels. Yet Thursday’s sentencing provided an opportunity for them to let the 81-year-old killer know exactly how they feel.

“As for you, Mr. Benayer, you profess to be a religious man. However, you are a disgrace to the Jewish people,” said Caron Samuels, the widow of Jonathan Samuels, testifying during the sentencing hearing. “You claim to be well-educated but look down on others. How disgusting.”

With no discretion allowed by law on a first-degree murder conviction, Circuit Judge Richard Wennet sentenced Benayer to spend the rest of his life in prison for shooting Samuels during the 2005 Rosh Hashana services at a synagogue west of Boca Raton.

A jury convicted Benayer last week of first-degree murder, rejecting his claim of insanity and his testimony that his finger got stuck in the trigger. Benayer targeted Samuels and his business partner, Mark Levy, because he thought they had interfered after his breakup with their employee, Marta Pinto, prosecutors said.

Benayer represented himself during the often bizarre trial, which his standby counsel, Chris Haddad, attempted to have postponed because of concerns about Benayer’s mental competency. Two of three experts found Benayer competent to stand trial.

Several of Samuels’ relatives and friends let out audible gasps and shook their heads as they listened to Benayer repeatedly argue that Samuels died of a blood clot, not from Benayer’s bullets. He also said it was a heart attack.

“I never kill anyone in my life,” Benayer said, dressed in a navy jail uniform. “I’m not killer. I’m not killer.”

Samuels, 44, one of three children of Helene Samuels, was remembered as an achiever and a provider. Assistant State Attorney Sierra Kornbluth read a letter from Helene Samuels, who was in South Africa and could not attend the hearing.

“You will never know the devastation you caused me,” she wrote. “The loss of my child, my only son, is beyond any pain anyone can bear, leaving me with a lifetime of anguish and despair. Why did you do this?”

Benayer is a “monster” whose real judgment day is yet to come, Helene Samuels wrote.

Outside the courtroom, Jennifer Levin’s eyes welled up with tears as she remembered her younger brother’s place as the rock of the family.

“This has left us with deep sadness,” Levin said. “Our lives will never be the same.”

Benayer still faces criminal charges stemming from an alleged attempt to hire a hit man to have his former attorney and Levy killed. Because of safety concerns, prosecutor Tom Lawson asked Wennet to recommend solitary confinement. However, Wennet denied the request because he has no control over the state Department of Corrections.

Benayer appeared upset over Lawson’s recommendation of solitary confinement, asking what else prosecutors want from him when he already has been sentenced to life.

After the sentencing, Levy said he hopes officials will find a way to ensure that Benayer can do no one harm from prison.

“If he gets to general prison population, I’m done,” Levy said. “Obviously, it’s a major, major concern.”