The Kiryas Joel conspiracy murder is the planned kidnapping and murder of Joseph Masri, a resident of Hasidic village Kiryas Joel, New York in a troubled marriage that has refused to give his wife a get. The plot hatches during the summer of 2016 by Shime Liebowitz, divorce mediator from Kiryas Joel, Aharon Goldberg, an Israeli rabbi from Bnei Brak, and Binyamin Gottlieb . A fourth conspirator, operating under the pseudonym of Joe Levin, turned out to be an informant for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, whose agent arrested the suspects in the offensive operation before the crime was committed. The trio was convicted and sentenced in 2017 to prison.
Video Kiryas Joel murder conspiracy
​​â € <â €
Under Jewish marriage law, a married woman who wants to remarry can not do it until her husband first gives her a divorce document known as a get, or otherwise after her death. A woman who does not have the ability to remarry is known as agunah.
Joseph Masri, a cab driver from Kiryas Joel, New York has lived there with his wife and children when his marriage begins to be problematic. At one point he separated from his family, moving to Williamsburg, Brooklyn to live with his father. His wife began to reach the prominent rabbis of the community who asked for permission to remarry.
Maps Kiryas Joel murder conspiracy
Plot Kidnapping and killing
Shimen Liebowitz, a Satmar Hasid who grew up in Melbourne, Australia who came to Kiryas Joel at the age of 16 to attend a rabbin lecture there, is an internet entrepreneur trying to mediate divorce as a side business. He was approached by the wife's family to see if there was anything he could do to convince Masri to give him a divorce, which at this point had waited 10 years for the document. Liebowitz turns to Aharon Goldberg, an Israeli rabbi affiliated with Satmar in the Kiryas Joel community who declares that when he is "very strong" to get got in Israel he has no "army" for this purpose in America Union.
In July 2016, a man from Airmont, New York and a father of 5 named Binyamin Gottlieb, who allegedly had a history of forcing got , introduced the couple to Joe Levin, an informant whose real name is Avraham Lehrer. Levin, who advertises himself as a private detective and divorce consultant to the Orthodox community, is later described by defense lawyers as a "petty swindler" who dislikes Satmar sect members. The three met in Rockland County, New York where a $ 25,000 payment was discussed, and the possibility of Masri's kidnapping in Pennsylvania or Ukraine, the country Masri intended to travel to Rosh Hashanah, to torture her there to give her. Gottlieb delivered the payment, and discussed the possibility of luring victims to Puerto Rico. On August 9, 2016, the second meeting of three near Zenta Road in Kiryas Joel recorded by Levin for the FBI, narrowed the plot to Ukraine. During the third meeting held 3 days later, the place was changed back to the United States, and the two men gave Levin an extra $ 20,000 for planning.
Goldberg later met Levin in Israel, where he expressed his desire not only to kidnap Masri but also kill him.
On August 25, 2016, Liebowitz met with Levin at Woodbury Common Premium Outlet in Central Valley, New York to pay him the additional $ 12,000 he requested. Levin telephoned Goldberg, who was in Israel at the time, and spoke to him in modern Hebrew through a speakerphone on "marriage in America," which the FBI understood as a reference to a kidnapping that would take place in the United States:
using the Hebrew term that refers to caring for the dead. After a pause, Goldberg replied,
On September 2, 2016, Levin met Liebowitz at Woodbury Commons, and from that conversation, he appeared to know exactly what Goldberg planned, although Liebowitz did not understand Modern Hebrew. Liebowitz argues that Masri, a taxi driver who occasionally travels to Montreal can "skip a night, or even two or three" before his family becomes concerned. Liebowitz added:
Liebowitz then laughed and said he would continue as if he did not know anything, letting the mistakes fall to Goldberg and his wife's family.
Although Leibowitz then questioned the need to kill the victim instead of just torturing him, Levin suggested they change the operation of the kidnapping into murder.
Capture and confidence
On September 6, 2016 Goldberg and Liebowitz met with Levin at a hotel in Central Valley. Levin told the two men that "Masri was half dead," and they agreed to "do the bullets." Goldberg said he would need proof of death to attend for the dinhuah to declare marriage over. Liebowitz asked Goldberg:
When Levin promised to give Goldberg a video of the victim with a bullet in his head, the FBI stormed in and captured Goldberg and Liebowitz.
At a press conference the following day, US Attorney General Preet Bharara referred to the plot as "horrible."
On September 11, 2016, Binyamin Gottlieb was arrested as he boarded a plane to Ukraine at John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, New York.
On July 27, 2017, Liebowitz pleaded guilty to conspiracy to extortion.
On September 15, 2017, Gottlieb pleaded guilty to hiding the crime.
On September 28, 2017, Goldberg pleaded guilty to conspiracy for kidnapping and murder-for-hire.
On November 30, 2017, US District Judge Sidney H. Stein sentenced Goldberg to 3 years in prison, Liebowitz to 2 years, and Gottlieb for a one-year probation.
See also
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
0 Comments