Fellow Inmates Claim Jenoff is Lying

CAMDEN, N.J. - October 30, 2001 — Two state prison inmates said a man who confessed last year to killing a rabbi's wife at the request of the clergyman told them he was not hired to kill anyone.

David Thomas Beardsley and James Keeny testified Monday that confessed killer Len Jenoff told them he killed Rabbi Fred Neulander's wife in a robbery attempt, not as a murder for hire.

Beardsley said Jenoff told him he confessed in exchange for a lifetime of sex with Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Nancy Phillips, who would also promise him immunity from prosecution and a Pulitzer Prize for a book they would write on the case.

Beardsley testified Monday in the ninth day of testimony in the murder trial of Neulander, who is accused of arranging his wife Carol's killing so he could continue an affair with a former Philadelphia radio host.

Neulander, 60, could be sentenced to death if he is convicted.

In their first day of calling witnesses, his defense lawyers called 12 of them.

During testimony from two of them – FBI Special Agent George Stuckenbroeker and Phillips – there were long interruptions because of legal objections to questions. Both witnesses were protected by law from being forced to answer questions outside of reports they had filed. Several witnesses said Jenoff told them he had –or wanted – a romantic relationship with Phillips, who covered the murder soon after it happened on Nov. 1, 1994, through Jenoff's confession last year.

David A. Stefankiewicz, a lawyer who hired Jenoff as a private investigator, said Jenoff told him, "You should see this girl. On a scale of 1 to 10, she's a 15."

Phillips told Court TV after her testimony that other witnesses had told "outrageous lies."

Phillips said her relationship with Jenoff was not improper, that she "cultivated him as a source."

The day's star witness was Beardsley, who said Jenoff claimed he pinned the killing on Neulander because Camden County Prosecutor Lee Solomon asked him to.

"He said Rabbi Neulander had nothing to do with it," said Beardsley, who was then awaiting sentencing after being convicted of sexual assault and child endangerment. He is now serving a 20-year sentence at Southwood State Prison in Bridgeton.

Jenoff confessed to a role in the killing on April 28, 2000, less than two months before Neulander's trial was to begin.

Beardsley, who said he writes Christian books, said he came forward because he felt Jenoff was not remorseful enough.

"I asked him, 'Don't you feel it's wrong for you to finger this rabbi man when he didn't do anything?"' Beardsley said. "He said 'I've got to do what's best for me."'

During cross-examination, Beardsley sparred with Camden County First Assistant Prosecutor James Lynch, who asked if anyone else could have heard his conversations with Jenoff.

Beardsley said they were in the two-person cell block they shared – where no one else would have heard.

Keeny, who is serving a five-year sentence at Bayside State Prison for passing bad checks, said Jenoff told him that Mrs. Neulander was killed when Jenoff's admitted accomplice, Paul Michael Daniels, "went crazy" during a robbery attempt after Jenoff had struck her once with a pipe.

Jenoff and Daniels both pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter. Daniels also pleaded guilty to robbery in the case.

Each man said he struck Mrs. Neulander more than twice in the head with a pipe – though a medical examiner testified she was hit at least a dozen times.

Neulander was expected to be called to testify in his own defense on Tuesday.

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

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Author: 6 ABC - Action News