Rabbi`s Daughter on the Stand

CAMDEN, N.J. October 17th, 2001 — The daughter of the Cherry Hill rabbi charged with arranging his wife's murder told jurors Wednesday that she was on the telephone with her mother just before she was killed. Rebecca Neulander-Rockoff, who lived in Center City Philadelphia at the time, testified that her mother Carol was her best friend. They talked at least once a day and met at least once a week, Neulander-Rockoff said. The testimony came in the trial's third day. The prosecution contends that Rabbi Fred Neulander, 60, arranged to have his wife killed so that he could continue an affair with former Philadelphia radio personality Elaine Soncini.

The 45-minute telephone conversation between mother and daughter, which started about 8 p.m., was cut short by visitors to the Neulanders' Cherry Hill home, Neulander-Rockoff testified. She said she heard snippets of the conversation between her mother and the visitors.

Neulander-Rockoff testified that her mother identified one of the visitors as "the bathroom guy," a man who had been to the house two weeks earlier to deliver a package and asked to use the bathroom.

"It's cold outside. Don't let him stay outside. Have him come in," Neulander-Rockoff said she heard her mother say while still on the telephone.

Also testifying Wednesday was Camden County Medical Examiner Robert Segal, who said Carol Neulander was struck at least 12 times by a blunt object on the night of Nov. 1, 1994 _ with seven of the blows striking the back of her head.

Her husband was at his synagogue when Carol Neulander was beaten to death with a metal pipe. A few months later, he resigned as senior rabbi, citing unspecified moral indiscretions.

Prosecutors later identified Neulander as a suspect, saying his wife was likely killed by a hit man, but he was not charged until 1998. He has pleaded innocent.

Last year, private investigator Leonard Jenoff said the rabbi had offered him $30,000 to kill his wife.

Jenoff, who said he came forward because he feared the rabbi might be acquitted, said he and a former roommate, Paul Daniels, beat Carol Neulander to death. Both men pleaded guilty to manslaughter and agreed to testify against Neulander.

The defense has claimed Jenoff is a compulsive liar.

(Copyright 2001 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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Author: 6 ABC - Action News