LEIBY KLETZKY - 8 yo - Brooklyn NY

The father of Leiby Kletzky,
the 8-year-old boy who in July was kidnapped in Borough Park, Brooklyn,
and then murdered and dismembered, is suing both the accused killer and
his father, court documents in Brooklyn State Supreme Court show.
Nachman Kletzky, Leiby’s father, filed civil lawsuits seeking $100 million in damages against both Levi Aron,
35, a Brooklyn hardware store clerk accused of the crime, and Mr.
Aron’s father, Jack Aron. Levi Aron lived upstairs from his father.
The
lawsuit that names Levi Aron was filed on Aug. 17 and sues him not only
for the wrongful death of Leiby Kletzky but also for the “extreme
physical pain and mental anguish” that the boy suffered before he was
killed.
On Aug. 23, Mr. Kletzky filed suit against Jack Aron for,
among other actions, not knowing of the “dangerous and deadly condition”
inside his son’s attic apartment; not knowing that Levi Aron “would
engage in murderous or other criminal conduct”; and “failing to discover
and protect” Leiby after Mr. Aron was said to have kidnapped the boy
and brought him home.
Jennifer L. McCann, a lawyer who is
representing Mr. Aron in the criminal case, declined to comment, saying
she was not representing him or his father in the civil matter.
The
criminal trial against Mr. Aron is scheduled to begin in October. His
lawyers have said they are considering an insanity defense, although
earlier this month a court-ordered exam determined that Mr. Aron was competent to stand trial.
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/29/slain-boys-father-sues-accused-killer-and-his-father/

NEW YORK -- The confession of a
man charged with kidnapping, smothering and dismembering an 8-year-old
boy was strong-armed by authorities who took advantage of his fragile
mental state, defense attorneys said Monday.
At a brief hearing in
state Supreme Court in Brooklyn, Levi Aron appeared via video from
behind plated glass, barely moving or shifting his gaze. Outside, his
attorneys said they intend to prove Aron, 35, was not guilty by reason
of insanity in the death of Leiby Kletzky.
Greenberg said authorities told Aron what to write in his confession, and he followed their orders.



"My opinion is this guy would admit he shot Kennedy if you spent
enough time with him," said defense attorney Howard Greenberg, who
joined the team pro-bono after the presiding judge questioned the
experience of his attorneys.
Leiby went missing July 11 while
walking home from religious day camp, the first time he was allowed to
walk by himself. He missed his turn and got lost, and police say he
approached Aron for help. About two days later, the boy's severed feet
were found in the freezer at Aron's apartment, along with bloody knives
and a carving board. The rest of the boy's body was found in a red
suitcase in a trash bin several blocks away. His legs had been cut from
his torso.
"Anyone who thirsts for blood can take solace in the
fact that he will spend the rest of his life in an asylum, never to see
the light of day," Greenberg said of his client.
According to
prosecutors, Aron admitted he killed the boy after he panicked when he
saw posters with the child's photo. After the two met on the street,
Aron took the boy to a wedding upstate, then to his apartment. The child
remained there alone, possibly of his own free will, all day while Aron
was at work. When he returned, he took a bath towel and smothered the
boy, he said, according to authorities.
The medical examiner's
office said the boy was given a cocktail of prescription drugs. But
Aron's confession didn't mention that, and he denied ever tying up the
boy, though marks were found on his body.
Aron has been found fit
to stand trial, but his attorneys have not yet changed his plea to not
guilty by reason of mental disease or defect. A court-ordered evaluation
obtained by The Associated Press showed that a psychologist diagnosed
him with an adjustment disorder and a personality disorder with schizoid
features. But Aron would still need to be evaluated by doctors who
would then testify at trial. Defense attorneys Monday refused to say
where they were in the process.
The Kletzky family is Hasidic,
which is an ultra-Orthodox type of Judaism. Their Brooklyn neighborhood,
called Borough Park, is home to one of the world's largest communities
of Orthodox Jews outside of Israel. Aron is Orthodox but not Hasidic.
Dov
Hikind, a state assemblyman from Brooklyn whose district includes
Borough Park, said the Kletzky family is still grieving, especially
during Jewish holidays. He said the idea that Aron should be found not
guilty is wrong, and "stabs a knife into the family."
"Obviously for the rest of the world, things move on," he said. "But the family is living it every single day."

Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2011/10/24/4002960/defense-confession-in-ny-boys.html#ixzz1blPJwn2J

An appeals court has decided that Levi Aron, accused of killing and chopping up a young Hasidic boy, will face trial in Brooklyn,
where the boy went missing and was killed, and not in Suffolk County or
the Bronx, where his lawyers say he might have had a fair shot.


"Current defense counsel’s attempts to correct inaccurate information
and to redirect the public to seek justice through trial instead of
vengeance have been ignored," Jennifer McCann, Aron’s lawyer, argued in
court to no avail. The Appellate Division ruled that the trial should
stay in Brooklyn after the DA there pointed out that, among other
reasons, "there are nearly 500,000 people eligible for jury duty in
Brooklyn, and that there are far fewer Jews in Suffolk and Bronx
Counties."



Aron is accused of kidnapping, killing and carving up 8-year-old Leiby Kletzky earlier this summer. Though he has entered a plea of not guilty in court, he wrote a chilling confession for the police when he was initially arrested. His lawyer has since pointed out that, "he's obviously crazy."
http://gothamist.com/2011/11/08/levi_aron_suspected_child_killer_wi.php