Williamsburg: Stark's killer pleads not guilty
Crowds who filled the courtroom on Friday afternoon, were surprised to hear Felix Kendall deny any connection to murder of Rabbi Menachem Stark hy"d
- Yoel Bittleman, Behadrey Haredim
- ט"ז תמוז התשע"ד
Photo: R' Menachel Stark hy"d
Felix Kendall, suspected of murdering Rabbi Menachem Stark hy"d in January, appeared on Friday at noon before the Supreme Court in Brooklyn and pleaded not guilty.
The courtroom on Jay Street in Brooklyn was crammed full of family and friends of Rabbi Menachem Stark hy"d, who came to the further discussion which took place in the case of the murder suspect. This was due to activists' call on Thursday evening and Friday morning to the public, to come to the court to show the jury and the judge that the matter is of great importance in the community.
To the surprise of all present in the courtroom, Kendall said he had never seen Stark and did not know him. He said he had worked in Stark's buildings, but had never met him, so he claims his innocence (pleads not guilty), after a hearing held him in April where the suspect claimed he is not related to the murder and that he had an alibi for that night he had spent with his girlfriend at home.
From court documents exposed on Friday it emerged that after he had claimed an alibi, an undercover investigator attempted to get him to talk. According to the documents, a man named Erskin had the idea to rob Stark, and it all started when they asked him to write them checks in large amounts and Stark refused.
As recalled, Rabbi Menachem Stark hy"d was kidnapped in early January, when he came down from his office on Rutledge Street at 11:30 at night, by two people who were waiting for him and put him into a light colored mini van Dodge. On the following day his body was found in a garbage bin at a gas station in Long Island when scorched.
Police and a special team of investigators tried for months to find the killer, but only after Pesach, police arrested Felix Kendall as murder suspect who was involved and was driving a mini-van during the abduction.
Assistant District Attorney Christopher Blank, told Stark's family waiting in the hallway of the courtroom on Friday: "We know who the killers are and what they did, and we hope that we will have enough solid evidence to catch them."
If convicted of murder, Kendall is expecting a sentence of 25 years in prison only, less than the punishment received by Rubashkin.
The courtroom on Jay Street in Brooklyn was crammed full of family and friends of Rabbi Menachem Stark hy"d, who came to the further discussion which took place in the case of the murder suspect. This was due to activists' call on Thursday evening and Friday morning to the public, to come to the court to show the jury and the judge that the matter is of great importance in the community.
To the surprise of all present in the courtroom, Kendall said he had never seen Stark and did not know him. He said he had worked in Stark's buildings, but had never met him, so he claims his innocence (pleads not guilty), after a hearing held him in April where the suspect claimed he is not related to the murder and that he had an alibi for that night he had spent with his girlfriend at home.
From court documents exposed on Friday it emerged that after he had claimed an alibi, an undercover investigator attempted to get him to talk. According to the documents, a man named Erskin had the idea to rob Stark, and it all started when they asked him to write them checks in large amounts and Stark refused.
As recalled, Rabbi Menachem Stark hy"d was kidnapped in early January, when he came down from his office on Rutledge Street at 11:30 at night, by two people who were waiting for him and put him into a light colored mini van Dodge. On the following day his body was found in a garbage bin at a gas station in Long Island when scorched.
Police and a special team of investigators tried for months to find the killer, but only after Pesach, police arrested Felix Kendall as murder suspect who was involved and was driving a mini-van during the abduction.
Assistant District Attorney Christopher Blank, told Stark's family waiting in the hallway of the courtroom on Friday: "We know who the killers are and what they did, and we hope that we will have enough solid evidence to catch them."
If convicted of murder, Kendall is expecting a sentence of 25 years in prison only, less than the punishment received by Rubashkin.
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