The Rabbi and the Hit Man

The Rabbi and the Hit Man
Author: Arthur J. Magida
Publisher: Harper Collins
Total Pages: 409
Release: 2009-10-13
Genre: True Crime
ISBN: 0061750689

A fascinating true-crime narrative about the first rabbi ever accused of murder and what the case says about the role of clergy in America. On the evening of November 1, 1994, Rabbi Fred Neulander returned home to find his wife, Carol, facedown on the living room floor, blood everywhere. He called for help, but it was too late. Two trials and eight years later, the founder of the largest reform synagogue in southern New Jersey became the first rabbi ever convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. In a gripping examination of the misuses of the pulpit and the self-delusions of power, Arthur J. Magida paints a devastating portrait of a manipulative man who used his position of trust in the temple to attract several mistresses -- and to befriend a lonely recovering alcoholic, whom he convinced to kill his wife "for the good of Israel." The Rabbi and the Hit Man straddles the juncture of faith and trust, and confronts issues of sex, narcissism, arrogance, and adultery. It is the definitive account of a charismatic clergyman who paid the ultimate price for ignoring his own words of wisdom: "We live at any moment with our total past ... What we do will stay with us forever."

Broken Vows

Broken Vows
Author: Eric Francis
Publisher: Macmillan
Total Pages: 272
Release: 2002-12-15
Genre: True Crime
ISBN: 9781429996945

Rabbi Fred J. Neulander was the respected head of one of the largest synagogues in New Jersey. Yet underneath his hallowed image seethed an unfaithful husband who spoke of desire to see his wife killed. So when Carol Neulander was found bludgeoned to death in the living room of the couple's Cherry Hill home, authorities immediately suspected that the beloved spiritual leader was involved. But without any evidence the case began to stagnate. The complex web of secrets, lies, and murder was only just beginning... Six years after the killing, private eye Leonard Jenoff came forward with the shocking confession that blew the case wide open: Rabbi Neulander hired Jenoff and Paul Daniels to kill his wife. Incredibly, Jenoff thought he had been hired to kill an anti-Jewish terrorist. Daniels blamed schizophrenia for his involvement. Neulander insisted he was innocent, setting the stage for a sensational trial that would leave a wealthy community shattered and expose a much darker side to this charming man of God.

Mafia Hit Man

Mafia Hit Man
Author: Frank Dimatteo
Publisher: Citadel Press
Total Pages: 273
Release: 2021-09-28
Genre: True Crime
ISBN: 0806541091

WHO REALLY KILLED “CRAZY JOE” GALLO? AT LAST, THE TRUTH CAN BE TOLD. AND IT WASN’T FRANK “THE IRISHMAN” SHEERAN AS HE CLAIMED. This is the shocking and brutal story of Carmine DiBiase—aka Sonny Pinto—the elusive Mafia killer who went from small-time street punk to FBI’s Most Wanted list to Death Row—only to be released on the streets to kill and kill again . . . among those who died by his gun was Joey Gallo. “Sober, he was nothing, but drunk he would blow your head off.” That’s how Pete the Greek described Carmine “Sonny” DiBiase, the Colombo crime family hitman who’d been terrorizing Manhattan’s Little Italy since he was a kid. After beating and robbing a local tailor and doing time in reformatory, Sonny set up operations at The Mayfair Boys Civic and Social Club, an illegal poolroom where he shot and killed his best friend on Christmas day . . . A prime suspect of this and other crimes, Sonny went on the lam and off the grid for seven years. He then surrendered himself to police, was tried for murder and sentenced to death. But after a second trial, he walked away a free man—free to kill again. Joey “Crazy Joe” Gallo and his President Street mob waged a deadly Mafia civil war with the Colombo crime family, and in particular, Carmine “the Snake” Persico. A contract was put out for Gallo and his gang. And on that fateful night of April 7, 1972, in a Little Italy restaurant, Gallo was assassinated . . . by Carmine “Sonny” DiBiasi.. This is the true story of who really whacked Crazy Joey Gallo on that fateful night of April 7, 1972.

Gangster Nation

Gangster Nation
Author: Tod Goldberg
Publisher: Catapult
Total Pages: 428
Release: 2017-09-01
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1619029685

"Sal Cupertine is back—and better than ever. I love this guy." —Lee Child "Gangster Nation is a razor. It will slice you open and reveal your insides. And like the best of Tod Goldberg's work, it'll show you everything you are at your core." —Brad Meltzer, New York Times bestselling author of The President's Shadow It's been two years since the events of Gangsterland, when legendary Chicago hitman Sal Cupertine disappeared into the guise of Vegas Rabbi David Cohen. It’s September of 2001 and for David, everything is coming up gold: Temple membership is on the rise, the new private school is raking it in, and the mortuary and cemetery—where Cohen has been laundering bodies for the mob—is minting cash. But Sal wants out. He’s got money stashed in safe–deposit boxes all over the city. He’s looking at places to escape to, Mexico or maybe Argentina. He only needs to make it through the High Holidays, and he’ll have enough money to slip away, grab his wife and kid, and start fresh. Across the country, former FBI agent Matthew Drew is now running security for an Indian Casino outside of Milwaukee, spending his off–time stalking members of The Family, looking for vengeance for the murder of his former partner. So when Sal’s cousin stumbles into the casino one night, Matthew takes the law into his own hands—again—touching off a series of events that will have Rabbi Cohen running for his life, trapped in Las Vegas, with the law, society, and the post–9/11 world closing in around him. Gangster Nation is a thrilling follow–up to Gangsterland, an unexpected, page–turning examination of the seedy foundations of American life. With the wit and gritty glamor that defines his writing, Goldberg traces how the things we most value in our lives—home, health, even our spiritual lives—have been built on the enterprises of criminals.

Rabbis and Gangsters

Rabbis and Gangsters
Author: Phil Graubart
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2012
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 9781550962987

Yael Gold is in love with her boss, Rabbi Judah Loeb, but when the rabbi's wife is found murdered, Yael goes from love-addled naïf to panicky murder suspect overnight. Set in a desert suburb in the Southwest, this brilliant, tense murder mystery keeps readers constantly guessing "whodunit." Was it Yael's husband, an insecure Klezmer musician with a savant's gift for musical trivia or one of Judah Loeb's many mistresses? Or is the culprit the ethically-challenged senior rabbi whose "open marriage" scandal rocks his desert community--or is it the mysterious former mafia hitman known only as "The Scumbag?" With humor and suspense it follows Yael through the shocking murder as her troubled past--a philandering rabbi father, her Cuban gangster relatives, and scarring childhood abuse--provides scope to her difficult but triumphant journey to becoming a spiritual leader.

Gangsterland

Gangsterland
Author: Tod Goldberg
Publisher: Titan Books
Total Pages: 380
Release: 2015-04-10
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1783298421

Sal Cupertine is a legendary hit man for the Chicago Mafia, able to get in and out of a crime without a trace. Until now, that is. His first-ever mistake forces Sal to botch an assassination, killing three undercover FBI agents in the process. This puts too much heat on Sal, and he knows this botched job will be his death sentence to the Mafia. So he agrees to their radical idea to save his own skin: hide out as a Rabbi in Las Vegas.

Trials of Walter Ogrod

Trials of Walter Ogrod
Author: Thomas Lowenstein
Publisher: Chicago Review Press
Total Pages: 335
Release: 2017-04-01
Genre: True Crime
ISBN: 1613738048

This engrossing investigation into the tragic 1988 murder of four-year-old Barbara Jean Horn and its aftermath leads readers through the facts of the case in compelling, compassionate, and riveting fashion. Award-winning journalist Thomas Lowenstein makes an evenhanded case for the wrongful conviction of Walter Ogrod, a man with autism spectrum disorder who has been on death row since 1996. Informed by police records, court transcripts, interviews, letters and journals, and more, Lowenstein relates how Ogrod was convicted based solely on a confession he signed after 36 hours without sleep and how his fate was sealed by an infamous jailhouse snitch. Presenting explosive new evidence, Lowenstein exposes a larger pattern of prosecutorial misconduct in Philadelphia.

Sex, Lies, and Rabbis: Breaking a Sacred Trust

Sex, Lies, and Rabbis: Breaking a Sacred Trust
Author: Charlotte Rolnick Schwab
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Total Pages: 317
Release: 2003-07-08
Genre: Family & Relationships
ISBN: 1403338043

Sex, Lies, and Rabbis: Breaking a Sacred Trust by Charlotte Rolnick Schwab, Ph.D. is a powerful book, a combination of memoir and nonfiction, about what happens when clergy, specifically, rabbis, are deified. It is about the betrayal and the cover up of the betrayal of teen aged girls and women by male rabbis, and thereby, the betrayal of these rabbis wives, families, congregations, communities, denominations, and all Judaism. Two murders are connected to rabbis sexual abuse. One rabbi is awaiting retrial for allegedly hiring a hit man to murder his wife because of his sexual misconduct. This author writes about her own frightening, shocking experience as the wife of a rabbi-perpetrator of sexual abuse of other women, his violence toward her, and threat to kill her if she told about his nefarious double life. The book delineates in one volume: the crisis in the rabbinate, in congregational Judaism; what needs to be done to bring about healing and change; gives description of cases of rabbis sexual abuse as told to the author (these cases are all composites; the victims/survivors identities are disguised), and as reported in the media, including the two murders related to rabbis sexual abuse; the alarming extent of this problem; outlines policies that synagogues and denominations need to adopt; provides definitions of sexual abuse; discusses the kinds of personalities of rabbis which can lead to rabbis becoming sexual predators; and offers some suggestions for prevention. The book offers a Resources List and extensive Bibliography, including articles from Jewish and secular newspapers around the country, about rabbis sexual abuse. The book provides a healing program geared toward Jewish victims/survivors or rabbis sexual abuse; it can be adapted for victims/survivors of abuse by other clergy and of other kinds of abuse, including abuse by batterers. Women who suffered abuse of any kind will find this book validating and helpful for healing and recovery. "12 Steppers" will be especially interested in this book. The book is helpful to people of all religions who are experiencing the crisis of their religious authorities sexual abuse and covering up of that abuse, including Buddhists, Catholics, and Protestants. It is an urgent read for all Jewish people concerned about the safety of their teen aged children and women, and about the future of their religious organizations and communities. Books have been written about Catholic priests and Protestant ministers and sexual abuse; this is the first about rabbis sexual abuse. Rabbis Arthur Gross-Schaefer and Marcia Zimmerman, and Rev. Nils Friberg praise the book on the book jacket. Maj-Britt Rosenbaum, MD, psychiatrist and former Director of the Long Island Hillside Medical Center Sexuality Center, wrote the Preface. Gary Schoener, Ph.D., clinical psychologist, who treat both clergy-perpetrators and victims, wrote the Foreword.

Notorious New Jersey

Notorious New Jersey
Author: Jon Blackwell
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
Total Pages: 423
Release: 2007-10-29
Genre: True Crime
ISBN: 0813543991

Notorious New Jersey is the definitive guide to murder, mayhem, the mob, and corruption in the Garden State. With tabloid punch, Jon Blackwell tells riveting accounts of Alexander Hamilton falling mortally wounded on the dueling grounds of Weehawken; Dutch Schultz getting pumped full of lead in the men’s room of the Palace Chop House in Newark; and a gang of Islamic terrorists in Jersey City mixing the witch’s brew of explosives that became the first bomb to rock the World Trade Center. Along with these dramatic stories are tales of lesser-known oddities, such as the nineteenth-century murderer whose skin was turned into leather souvenirs, and the state senator from Jersey City who faked his death in a scuba accident in the 1970s in an effort to avoid prison. Blackwell also sheds light on some historical whodunits—was Bruno Hauptmann really guilty of kidnapping the Lindbergh baby? Who was behind the anthrax attacks of 2001? Not forgotten either are notorious characters who may actually be innocent, including Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, and those who have never been convicted of wrongdoing although they left office in scandal, including Robert Torricelli and James McGreevey. Through 100 historic true-crime tales that span over 300 years of history, Blackwell shows readers a side of New Jersey that would make even the Sopranos shudder.

Blood Relation

Blood Relation
Author: Eric Konigsberg
Publisher: Harper Collins
Total Pages: 290
Release: 2009-10-13
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0061739456

A New Yorker writer investigates the life and career of his hit-man great-uncle and the impact on his family. Growing up in a household as generic as Midwestern Jews get, author Eric Konigsberg always wished there was something different about his family, something exotic and mysterious, even shocking. When he was sent off to boarding school, he learned from an ex-cop security guard that there was: His great-uncle Harold, in prison in upstate New York, was a legendary Mafia enforcer, suspected by the FBI of upwards of twenty murders. Konigsberg had uncovered a shameful, long-hidden family secret. His grandfather, a Jewish Horatio Alger story who had become a respected merchant through honesty and hard work, never spoke of his baby brother. When other relatives could be coaxed into talking about him, he wasn't "Kayo" Konigsberg, the "smartest hit man" and "toughest Jew" described by cops and associates; he was Uncle Heshy, the loudmouth nogoodnik and smalltime con, long since written off as dead. Intrigued, Konigsberg ignored his family's protests and arranged a meeting, which inspired the acclaimed New Yorker piece this book is based on. In Blood Relation, Konigsberg portrays Harold as a fascinating, paradoxical character: both brutal and winning, a cold-blooded killer and a larger-than-life charmer who taught himself to read as an adult and served as his own lawyer in two major trials, to riotous effect. Functioning by turns as Kayo's pursuer, jailhouse scribe, pawn, and antagonist, Konigsberg traces his great-uncle's checkered and outlandish life and investigates his impact on his family and others who crossed his path, weaving together strands of family, Jewish identity, justice, and post-war American history.