In His Own Hand, a Suspect’s Account of a Grisly Crime. [Update: Killer’s Handwritten Confession Added]
“My name is Levi Aron,” the writer began. Then, in small, distinct print, and in short prosaic sentences on one full page of lined paper he submitted to the police, Mr. Aron told the story of how he had kidnapped, killed and systematically dismembered an 8-year-old boy who had gotten lost one afternoon in Brooklyn on the way back from camp and had sought his help.
Mr. Aron had taken to calling the boy by his first name, Leiby. But less than 36 hours later, Leiby Kletzky was dead, and at 8 a.m. on July 13, Mr. Aron, a 35-year-old hardware supply store clerk, was penning his confession in chilling, clinical detail.
The confession was part of a file of papers provided by the Brooklyn district attorney’s office to the defense as Mr. Aron was formally arraigned on Thursday on murder and kidnapping charges in State Supreme Court in Brooklyn.
The hearing lasted a few minutes; Mr. Aron, through his lawyers, pleaded not guilty.
A psychological exam arranged by the court concluded that Mr. Aron was competent to stand trial. His lawyers said they were considering an insanity defense.
In court, Mr. Aron displayed the dispassion evident in his writing. Shackled and dressed in a bright orange jail jumpsuit, he did not say a word. Nor did his eyes register a reaction to the plea as he faced Justice Neil J. Firetog.
The court filing added a dimension to what has been disclosed about Mr. Aron’s seemingly composed state after his arrest. It includes quips he made to detectives that day, including one observation: “I’m famous.”
Mr. Aron, who said he lived in an attic apartment in the same building in Kensington, Brooklyn, as his father, stepmother, two brothers and uncle, told a detective that he was “trying to get back into the Jewish religion.” But, according to the records, he acknowledged that he was not keeping kosher and that if the detectives were to get him food, he would eat McDonald’s. He ate Chinese food, instead.
When a female detective gave him a cigarette, Mr. Aron said: “This is a first. A woman holding my cigarette.”
Authorities said Leiby Kletzky had gotten lost July 11 walking for the first time back from his summer day camp in the insular Hasidic neighborhood of Borough Park, and Mr. Aron said he had asked for directions to a Judaica store. Mr. Aron agreed to give him a ride, but the boy changed his mind about going to the store, and accepted Mr. Aron’s invitation to join him that evening at the wedding of a cousin in Monsey, N.Y. Mr. Aron told the police that the boy went inside with him and ate dinner there, although previous reports indicated that Leiby had stayed in the car the whole time.
“Nobody asked me about the boy,” Mr. Aron told the police, referring to the wedding guests, according to the documents disclosed by prosecutors. Investigators are still trying to determine the accuracy of some of Mr. Aron’s statements.
Mr. Aron said he drove Leiby to his apartment. At work the next day, Mr. Aron said, he panicked when he saw fliers about the missing boy, which offered a reward. When Mr. Aron returned to his apartment, Leiby was there waiting for him.
As if writing a medical report, Mr. Aron described how he dismembered the boy’s body, placing parts in his freezer. He said he showered, cleaned up a little, and showered again. He then put some of the body parts in a suitcase, drove around about 20 minutes with it and left it in a trash bin. “Then went home to clean and organize,” he wrote.
In a statement Thursday after Mr. Aron was found fit to stand trial, Charles J. Hynes, the Brooklyn district attorney, said, “I want to reaffirm that this case will go to trial and that there are absolutely no circumstances which would lead me to accept a plea bargain.”
Mr. Aron’s defense team, Pierre Bazile and Jennifer L. McCann, asked that Mr. Aron be held at Bellevue Hospital Center for further evaluation and for his own safety. Justice Firetog said that was up to the corrections department.
Mr. Bazile said that “we believe him to have some psychiatric disorders” and said that the court-ordered psychological exam found that Mr. Aron had been hearing voices. The police documents report that Mr. Aron said those voices were “telling him to take his own life for what he did.”
His next court appearance is scheduled for Oct. 14.
Outside the courtroom, Assemblyman Dov Hikind, who had attended the hearing, grew emotional when asked about the possibility that Mr. Aron’s lawyers would use an insanity defense.
“That would be an absolute tragedy, because that would indicate that that man that I saw this morning a few moments ago is not responsible for what he did,” Mr. Hikind said. “I don’t believe that for a second, and I don’t think anybody else believes that.”
Chana Malka
Weather or not the lawyers would use an insanity defense and he spends his life in an insane house or he goes to prison… the cons will not let him live, they will brutilize him like he did to little Leiby.
No koppul, no titzus? How is he then an orthadox Jew? I’m confused… maybe I need to claim insanity so I don’t have to earn a living and have the government support me too…
What is happening in the world? When an 8 year old isn’t even safe to walk a few blocks home? These are the times .. He’s coming… are you ready?…
to crownheights.info
please take off the picture of this person (if you can call it that), i dont want to have it in my mind at all
Just askin
did they release a copy of his confession?
RESIDENT OF FLATBUSH, CRH, BOROPARK
MONSTER STILL CRAZY!!! YES, WE HAVE TO FIGHT BACK WITH HIS LAWYERS, OHHHH YEAHHHH HE NEEDS A CIGARETTE THAT MANIAC! HE NEEDS TO BE CHOP TOO, SAME WAY TO FEEL PAIN, POOR KLETSKY’S FAMILY! MAY BE HE’S A GOY/CONVERT DOES NOT EAT KOSHER ???
Dovid
Aha, so he’s not an orthodox jew because he has no kappel and Tzitzis!
Daniel
What is a detective doing giving Levi Aron a smoke. That’s the last thing a cop should be doing… Levi could have swiftly thrown the lit cigarette down his throat causing him to choke or whatever he could dream up to commit suicide with a cigarette. Dumb – absolutely dumb – you only see handing a cigarette to a prisoner in old movies, not in today’s reality world. STUPID…
Anyhow, charge him fully, he’s fully aware of the people around him and shmoozes with them at ease.
OCTOBER 14TH!
Does ANYONE realize that Oct 14 is the 2ND DAY SUKKOS!
They need to change the date so that EVERYONE can attend the trial and make sure he gets what’s coming to him!
star
PLEASE DO NOT POST HIS PICTURES ANYMORE, PEOPLE COULD NOT EAT FOR DAYS, AND CAN NOT NOW FOR DAYS. I ALSO CAN’T LOOK AT HIM ANYMORE. HE MAKES US SICK. HE DESTROYED THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY, IT IS SPLIT NOW ON THOSE WHO SEEMS EVERYTHING IS SUSPICIOUS NOW AND ETC. AND ON THOSE HOW IS NORMAL OR NOT NORMAL. HE PUT EVERYTHING UPSIDE DOWN NOW. PLEASE DO NOT BE PART OF THIS , AND DO NOT PLACE ANYMORE PICS OF THIS NON-HUMAN. I PERSONALLY SAID RIGHT AWAY HE IS NOT JEWISH,HE CAN’T BE ONE, JEWISH PEOPLE CAN’T KILL IN SUCH CRUELTY, READ TALMUD SAYS ABOUT IT. SO SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH HIS IDENTITY, I AM SURE. MAY BE CONVERTER OR SOMETHING. WHO KNOWS NOW, BUT PLEASE DO NOT POST ANYMORE, HE MADE ALL NEW YORKERS SICK AND DESTROYED OUR COMMUNITY, THERE WERE NOT AUTHORITIES LAST YEARS AMONG US, AND THERE WONT BE ANYMORE AFTER THAT. RABBIS ARE NOT RABBIS TODAY, WEAKER THAN NON RELIGIOUS PEOPLE AT SOME POINTS WHEN I SEE AND COMPARE. IT IS A SHAME ON ALL OF US, THE VALUE ARE CHANGED, PEOPLE ARE SO BUSY WITH TODAYS ROUTINE AND LIFE , SO VALUE ARE CHANGED. NO ONE HELPS EACH OTHER AS IT SHOULD BE, EVERYONE LIKE COCKROACHES IN NEW YORK, NO GOOD SHABBOS SAYING, NOTHING , ONLY IN NEW YORK IS LIKE THAT. COMMUNITY GOES TO THE WRONG WAY IT IS FOR SURE, CHECK ALL OTHER JEWS IN OTHER COUNTRIES, THEY ARE DIFFERENT. THEY NOT CRAZY LIKE US WITH OUR THINGS HERE. WE ARE SO POOR AND WEAK TODAY. JUST EVERYONE DAVENS AUTOMATICALLY, WE ALL NEED A TESHUVA. LOOK AT THE OLD GENERATION , THEY NEVER SHACKED DURING DAVENING, AS SHAKING IS NERVOUSNESS ONLY, WE ALL SHAKING TODAY LIKE FAKE DAVENING. THIS IS SO SCARY TO ME , PLEASE DON’T GET ME WRONG, I AM ALSO LIKE THAT AND WE ALL NEED TO CHANGE. SO SAD, PLEASE DON’;T POST HIS PICS ANYMORE, KIDS SHOULD NOT KNOW THIS ANYWAY. SICK SOCIETY AND SICK PEOPLE TODAY BECAUSE OF INTERNET AND TV AND ETC., IT IS ALL COMES FROM FAMILY AND FRIENDS AND SOCIETY,
NO PICS OF RESHOYIM PLEASE!
PLEASE WE DONT WANT TO SEE PICTURES OF RESHOYIM.
WE ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO SEE PICS OF RESHOYIM.
PREVIOUS POSTER IS RIGHT
DONT WANT TO HAVE IT DOWNLOADED IN OUR BRAINS.
IK
ben dover
what did this boy do in another life that he needed to be chopped up?
SUKKOS
OCT 14 IS YOMTOV….
NO FRUM PEOPLE CAN BE PRESENT IN COURT THAT DATE.I WONDER….
CH RESIDENT
I HEARD THAT HE WAS ADOPTED FROM A NON JEWISH FAMILY INTO A JEWISH FAMILY AND THAT HE MIGHT NOT EVEN BE JEWISH AT ALL
I cant even look at him!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
He is the most…I dont want to even say!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
....
i agree … get his face off!!!!!! someone should try to change the date of the trial……..
a jewish mother
please take off comment #10.it’s disgusting and heartless.
Enough...
I really think you should delete his statement – there is no need for anyone, especially children, teens, etc., to read the gory details – which for the most part are probably fabricated and misleading lies – but still very upsetting ideas. Please reconsider your stance and remove his letter – and his picture. Enough is enough!
chilul hashem
does the entire jewish population realize what kind of chilul hashem is taking place?
the way everybody is talking about levi aron and his lawyers?
no one, even his lawyers, will deny that he did the unthinkable, the most horrible acts a man can do, but what does anyone stand to gain by the way everyone is cursing him out? why is everyone praising the lawyer that dropped out making him such a hero? why is everyone cursing out his new lawyer? we live in a free country which has a justice system, everyone even the worst criminal has rights, constitutional rights. as bad as levi aron’s acts are, he has rights that need to be defended! he is an american citizen and deserves to be tried fairly for his crimes! the picture the outside world is getting of the the jewish community is, that they want this guy immediately removed from society, no wasting time trying to defend him, just throw him straight into prison! that’s not what yidden are about and that’s not what america is about.
this guy will get a fair trial and the court will decide what to do with him, chances are he won’t get away with it, but the way all these website comments are carrying on about him, finding everyway to poke fun at him (no yarmulke and tzitzis how is he orthodox, something about his lawyer giving him a cigarette etc) is absolutely ridiculous. yidden are b’teva rachmonim, compassionate and caring people just because this guy commited horrible acts doesn’t mean he is not our fellow jew (and before -for a lack of anything better to shtech him with- start questioning his yiddishkeit, he is a jew until you can prove otherwise!) and the mitzvah of v’ohavto lereiacho komoicho still applies to him even though he is a sinner, we have to look at him as a yid who got caught up with his yetzer hora, and did not pass his test to overcome it. as Dovid hamelech writes in tehillim, yitamu chatoim min ho’oretz (sins shall cease) and he does not write yitamu chotim (sinners shall cease)
now lets stop the baby shtechs where ever we can find an oppurtunity and lets start acting like yidden the way hashem wants us to, this tragedy started off with tremendous achdus from all kinds and circles of yidden and let’s not ruin it just because some guy ruined leiby’s HY”D life
in the merit of achdus and ahavas yisroel (hagam shechoto yisroel hu) may we be zoiche to the hisgalus of melech hamoshiach tekef umiyad mamesh!
ITS A LIE!
NOT TRUE LEIBY WOULD NOT ASK TO WATCH TV AND GO TO THE WEDDING WITH THIS WACK!! THIS MAN IS PROBABLY LYING!
who cares how frum he is
Frum or not he is a Jew. He is not on trial to determine religiosity. He is on trial for being an animal. In my personal opinion he should be stoned!
Chana Malka
I dont think that #10 meant anything by his statement
I think he was asking a question to the killer..
like why him? why this little boy ?.. what could he have done to deserve this? we know he did NOTHING and I believe the writer knows this also
not that he DID anything to deserve this
disturbed
Mr. Bazile said that “we believe him to have some psychiatric disorders”
This is sick. How can his Nazi behaviour be excused like this? Only some psychiatric disorders? It goes without saying that this freak has major, serious psychiatric disorders.
Notice the way his handwriting becomes more rushed, more tense, toward the end of his confession.
And don’t believe a word of what he wrote.
And I find it hard to believe he is a Jew. A Jew has a part of G-d in him.
Hashem, please have mercy on your children in Galus.
#17 ATTENTION
What you’re saying is applicable to someone who has bashed a 14 yr. old, or molested a kid. This inhumane Aron – although jewish etc. – must be punished in the way he punished.
Also: think about what you’re doing. You are taking time to defend someone who murdered a boy. Why must you be so self-righteous and why did you think about defending him so much
Remember, he’s a murderer.
not necessary
Is it really necessary for this letter to be posted in detail…we dont need to see it, we dont need to read it. It is enough what happened………
The date of the trial needs to be changed.
a mother
Please take the confession off the web. Its horrific to think young adults and kids, not to mention mentally disturbed people will read it. Please use some discretion and REMOVE it.
Thanks
star
I agree, please delete his letter, otherwise we can consider that you do it for the advertising purpose only. Who needs these details? Leibie’s mother doesn’t know all details, and she doesnt need to, because it will make her very sad for a long time and she will start asking questions, we don’t need that. the silence is gold. Also to #17, who said that this is Hilul Hashem? Why so? In this logic everything today is that way. Don’t forget that just about 100 years ago people do not lie at all to each other, only rare people, even bad people. They lived differently than us. we are so weak today that can’t even compare our strength to the weakest people there. Se barely can fast on the fasting days, they haven’t eaten for weeks in camps and stayed humans after that. I mean it is just one thing, cmon. I don’t think that people talking about him doing Hilul Hashem. But I do think that he ( I stopped mnetion his name as he is an evil 100%) destroyed our weak community,. and again, I am questioning if he is a jew, don’t honestly think so. Can CH.info investigate that? thanks
The Real Chilul Hashem
There is only one chilul Hashem here. That is what Levi Aron did.
And #22, you are just as wrong. Someone who molests a child is only about a half a step above Levi Aron. Speak to a victim of molestation who cannot lead a normal life, and you will understand better. There have been suicides in the frum world because of molestation, and molesters need to be rooted out and removed from society.
The lawyer who left the case is a hero. The remaining lawyers are enjoying their 15 minutes of fame. They are far from being top drawer lawyers, and they are enjoying their fame on the back of a murdered Jewish boy. They should just shut up and do their work, which they do have to do only because in the US even a monster is entitled to a fair trial. Hopefully, they won’t do their jobs too well.
rachmonis on him
me personally, i feel bad for him and i know he did a totally wrong and disastrous thing, but do you really want him killed or to get the worst punishment? he is still a jew and you could tell from all the facts about the murder that it was clearly HaShem’s plan.
ONLY A GOY!
HOLD ON NUMBER 27. WHO THE HECK SAYS HE’S A JEW? AS SOME OF THE COMMENTS SAY, A JEW CAN’T BRING HIMSELF TO DO SUCH THINGS TO ANY HUMAN BEING. THIS MONSTER’S FATHER IS A BAAL TESHUVA SO IT IS VERY VERY POSSIBLE THAT HE WAS ORIGINALLY MARRIED TO A SHIKSA AND THIS IS THE PRODUCT OF THAT. I WOULD NOT BE AT ALL SURPRISED IF THAT WERE THE CASE.
star
yea, I have seen many Jewish last names people who indeed had only father a jew, and non-jewish mother. But besides that, I have heard that his mother was a baaley teshuva( now , ask yourself please WHO made a teshuva say 30-60 years ago? Does anyone knows such phenomena existed in those years? I know only opposite, it was tough time to be a religious, so who would make a teshuva those days? I am asking all the time, I don’t see a logic), someone should rally investigate as I bet he is not a jew. I have seen many bad guys that could do a bad things, but to do such they would never go that down, the normal soul do not let to do it , it should be a cruelty in order to raise a hand ( regardless of sexual orientation).
P.S. In this sick country I found a huge gap, the gap in a sexual behavior and right education exist, it is all comes from family and parents though.
DEXTER
Dexter (Morgan)… TV shows that give bad ideas to crazy people…
chann
we fight amongst ourselves. In our batei kneset we have “infighting”. We have to control our Yid against Yid issues. it is tragic. This is connected, I believe. Enough. Fighting for what one thinks is right is not Torah at all, when it leads to (hashem yishmor) physical fighting and sinas chinam. Let go, Let HaShem. In the name of this precious child, lets learn to have ahavas chinam….
it can be done
Question....
Why is everyone so intent upon protecting their image? Why can’t he be Jewish and have committed such an atrocious and beyond words dispicable act? You know people who do bad things exist among all races and religions. Being yourself Jewish doesn’t mean you share anything in common with him at all.
May we all see Moshiach now and merit to have all of our questions answered!
The Real Chilul Hashem
Yenna machla from cigarettes would be a very appropriate sentence for this piece of yenna machla.
His father went to Torah voDaas and was not a baal tshuva. While he may be descended from erev rav going way back, his recent yichus that is provable is indeed kosher Jewish.
The whole family is, however, completely dysfunctional and other siblings are OTD. I believe there was a suicide in the family as well L”A but I am not sure.