Chaim Weiss (Unsolved Murder)

Early in the morning of November 1st 1986 the body of 15 year old Chaim Weiss was found in his dorm room at Long Beach Yeshiva. He had been bludgeoned to death with a heavy, bladed weapon in a frenzied attack. The bright and gifted teenager had been at the Torah High School for two and a half years and on the surface it seemed he didn't have an enemy in the world. Police said they were keeping an open mind but attention was soon focused on the staff of the school and Chaim's fellow students. Four decades on there remain many questions concerning the unexplained incidents and events that surround this brutal killing.

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Transcript

Chaim Weiss

This episode deals with a crime committed against a child. Please exercise self-care when choosing to listen.

In my research I have noticed that some people have been critical of the way Orthodox Jewish culture has been portrayed in write ups and reporting on this case. I hope to avoid these pitfalls but recognise that through ignorance I will undoubtedly make some mistakes. Please forgive me when I make errors in this way. 

The first thing to say is there is great diversity in the communities and practices within the umbrella of Orthodox Judaism. From what I have read the Weiss family and the community at Long Beach Yeshiva were from the Litvish or Yeshivism tradition. This movement started in Eastern Europe in response to Reform Judaism and there are now significant communities in Bnei Brak in Israel, Lakewood, New Jersey and Brooklyn, New York. The Litvish or Yeshivish way of life lies somewhere between the Hasidic and modern Orthodox traditions. It places Torah learning at the heart of life and while it is somewhat insular, communities are not as insular as Hasidic Jews. 

Chaim’s name is pronounced something like Chaim in Hebrew.  The anglicised pronunciation is Hai uhm, which is what I’ve used. Listening to my edit it occasionally sounds like I say Hi-am but that's just my accent. Chaim’s surname is pronounced as Weiss in most reports I've seen and heard. 

It was the afternoon of Friday October 31st 1986: Halloween. The students at Mesivta of Long Beach, a Yeshiva situated on West Beech Street in Long Beach, New York, were hard at work. A Mesvita is an Orthodox Jewish secondary school for boys in grades 9-12. The word Yeshiva is a wider term used to describe a traditional Jewish educational institution. Many of the 140 boys who attended the school also boarded there. Forty five of them were housed in what used to be a large mansion house, three blocks away from the main school building at 63 East Beech Street. After lessons finished for the afternoon the boys were expected to read alone for an hour before they would attend an evening service at the temple. The students would then return to their dorms to while away the hours before bed.

After finishing his required reading fifteen year old Chaim Weiss set out on foot with some of his fellow classmates for the temple. As it was the start of the sabbath.He left his long black coat and hat at school. The weather was cold but Chaim did not want to risk the items being covered in raw egg. It wasn't uncommon for local teenagers to harrasess the boys at the Mesivta and as it was Halloween that night, the harassment may be worse. Indeed, later that evening some boys from the school were chased by local youths and had eggs thrown at them as they left the temple. A local man named Michael later told Newsday that his two sons aged 17 and 18 had been targeted in this way. Long Beach auxiliary (that's volunteer) police officers were called to escort some of the boys to their rooms. Thankfully Chaim's journey to the temple and then back to his dorm was uneventful and he experienced no such incidents. 

All four of Chaim’s grandparents were still alive, having escaped as refugees from the Nazis during the 1930s and 40s. Chaim's father Anton had been born in a camp for displaced people in Europe at the end of the second world war. The Weiss family emigrated to America and Anton grew up to be a successful diamond merchant. Chaim’s doting mother was named Pessy. Chaim was born on September 29th 1971 and was the eldest of three children. He grew up on Staten Island, New York. It is variously reported that the family lived in the neighbourhoods of both Annadale and Willow Brook. 

The youngster started at the Mesivta of Long Beach in 9th Grade. By the fall of 1986 Chaim was in 11th grade and excelling at his studies. Both Anton and Pessy did not originally want their eldest to go to the school. Until 8th grade Chaim had attended Brooklyn Yeshiva and they would have preferred him to stay closer to home. However, Chaim, who was exceedingly bright, had his heart set on going to the Long Beach Yeshiva. The institution had an excellent reputation and Chaim wanted to push himself to reach his full potential. Anton and Pressy eventually relented; they too liked the school as it was not fanatical or too extreme. Just as importantly, after visiting the school Chaim informed his parents he liked the other children who went there. Many of the family's friends were attending schools out of state in Cleveland, Philadelphia and Baltimore, so at least Chaim would still be in New York city. The loving parents were confident their eldest son would excel at Long Beach, though they were teary eyed when he left for the school in the summer of 1984. Chaim did come back to visit the family home regularly in order to spend time with his younger brother aged 11 and sister, 7.

Chaim was doing exceedingly well at Long Beach. In autumn 1986 he completed two maths Regents exams (the statewide examinations in core subjects), and had got 99 on Geometry and 100 in algebra. A passing grade is 65 with mastery of the subject deemed to be anything over 85. Chaim was disappointed he missed out by one point on getting full marks in Geometry. I am not sure what Chaim wanted to be or do when he grew up. Newspaper reports suggested he hoped to become a Rabbi but his parents said he had not told them this. 

Chaim was described by a friend also named Chaim as a well liked and popular boy. He was part of a group from the Yeshiva that would regularly carry groceries for an elderly Italian woman who lived opposite the school. Chaim was exceedingly bright and his intellectual prowess was recognised by his peers. Shortly after arriving at Mesivta, Chaim acquired the nickname “Bal Kishron” which means a person capable of understanding. Chaim was also known as an excellent chess player, one of the best at the school. Juxtaposed with his enormous intellect was a youthful naivete. Anton Weiss describes his son as having led a sheltered life with little knowledge or experience of  violence. It makes what happened to him on Halloween night 1986 all the more shocking. 

After attending the sabbath service at the temple and returning to the dormitory on East Beech Street,  Chaim spent the rest of the evening chatting with friends. They discussed school classes, vacations and sports. Chaim was a keen basketball player and also enjoyed baseball. He had watched the World Series on TV, which the New York Mets had won just a few days previously on October 27th.

In total there were 45 boys sleeping in the former mansion that night. The vast majority shared a room with at least one, sometimes two, other boys. Chaim was one of only two boys who had a private room. His was situated on the third floor. 

There are slightly conflicting stories about what Chaim was doing and what time it was when he was last seen that night. A report from Newsday on November 2nd 1986 says fellow students saw Chaim shortly before 1am studying the Talmud in his room. The Talmud is the key text of Rabbinic Judaism, and a source of Jewish law, philosophy and theology.  Another report says he was not alone but studying with another boy.  

Still others say he was seen reading in the hallway  just outside his room; some say he was alone, some that he was with a friend. Chaim was sitting in the hallway because in Orthodox Jewish culture a person is not permitted to turn lights on or off after sunset on the sabbath. By contrast, unlike the bedroom lights, the hall lights were left on all the time. 

A Newsday article from October 26th 1987 gives more information on the book Chaim was said to be reading.  It was not a religious tome but a 1974 novel titled “Two minute warning” by George LaFountaine. The plot centres around an unhinged terrorist who sets up a sniper position in a packed stadium of football fans. Though we do not know the exact time, (some reports state Chaim was seen reading as late as 1.20 or even 1.25am)  eventually Chaim put down the book and went to his room to sleep.

Early the following morning all the boys were expected to attend davening or daily prayers. It was noticed by members of staff that Chaim had failed to show up.A dorm counsellor (in reports they are sometimes referred to as an adult dorm supervisor) went to Chaim’s single room to see where he was. Perhaps he had overslept or maybe he was feeling unwell. 

None of the dorm bedrooms had locks, so after knocking and receiving no reply the counsellor opened the door. The room was cool as the window was wide open. The window shade had been raised and draped over itself so the early morning light illuminated the room. (Sunrise was at 6.26 that morning). 

Chaim’s pyjama-clad body lay sprawled on the floor, though his legs were still raised on the bed. There were numerous bloody wounds to his face, head and shoulders. It was clear the young boy was dead and not by natural ends. The counsellor turned and ran to find a telephone. He shouted to the boys who were walking through the hallways to stay out of Chaim’s bedroom. The exact time this gruesome scene was discovered varies according to reports. It is variously pinpointed as being 7.00, 7.15, 7.20, 7.30 and 7.50am.

Police were quickly at the scene. Detective Don Daly was one of the first to arrive. According to Unsolved Mysteries (the case was featured on the TV show in 1992) this was at 8.00am. School officials made the identification of the body. They did not contact Chaim’s parents Anton and Pressy straight away due to sabbath laws. Chaim’s father Anton was informed by police that something had happened to his son. He was initially told his son had been injured. When Anton learnt the truth that his eldest child had been murdered a piece of him also died. 

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As it was the Sabbath, Orthodox Jews were not permitted to use cars, so a mobile police unit was brought to the Yeshiva. This meant interviews could be conducted on site. However, school officials including Rabbis and school teachers refused to discuss the horrific event in detail until the end of Sabbath. 

Initial newspaper reports suggested that Chaim had been bludgeoned to death. These details were clarified when the Nassau County medical examiner completed a pathology report on November 2nd. As a general practice autopsies are not permitted in Jewish law but Rabbi Edgar Gluck who was a liaison between the Orthodox community and the police stated that the procedure went ahead in accordance with state law.

The medical examiner made it known that Chaim had been attacked using a heavy, sharp, metal object. The weapon was believed to be something like a small axe or hatchet. Detective Sgt Robert Edwards said in the New York Times on November 3rd that it was a heavy type of knife. Chaim had been stabbed multiple times on the head, neck and face. His brain had been lacerated. One blow was so strong it had severed the brian stem from the spinal cord. The medical examiner described the attack as a frenzy type killing. It was determined Chaim had likely been asleep when the murder took place as there was no evidence of defensive wounds. The examiner noted there was no sign of sexual abuse. 

As is the Jewish custom, Chaim was buried later that day. Before that an emotional service took place at Shomrei Hadas funeral home in Borough Park, Brooklyn. According to reports, between 1000 and 3000 mourners were in attendance. Chaim’s name means “life” in Hebrew and the Rabbi leading the service used the analogy of the book of life. He said the young boy's book should have been long and full of interesting stories. Instead it was cut short barely 15 pages in. After the many eulogies, all delivered in Yiddish, family members surrounded the coffin and ripped their lapels in accordance with Jewish custom. Students from the Mesivta carried the coffin to the hearse. Chaim was laid to rest at Floral Park Cemetery, in South Brunswick, New Jersey.

From early in the investigation police struggled due to a lack of motive and a dearth of physical evidence. In the past, (though not over the previous 12 months), the Yeshiva had been broken into and robbed. On this occasion there was no sign of forced entry and nothing was missing from Chaim’s room or anywhere else in the building. Therefore, robbery was ruled out as a motive. The front door of the dorm building was locked and could only be accessed by entering a number combination. 

The third floor was accessed by one internal staircase. At the bottom of the internal stairs was an old service entrance at the rear of the building. According to a lawsuit which was later filed by Chaim’s father Anton against the school, the lock on this door was faulty. Anton also claimed that no adult supervisors were in the building with the boys the whole night. I have not been able to find out additional information about these claims in order to verify them.

There was an external set of stairs which acted as a fire escape, though this did not pass Chaim’s window. In an article in the Daily News from November 2nd it was speculated that the assailant could have climbed through a different window accessed by the fire escape.

It appeared that no one had noticed anything untoward during the night. Rabbi Shlomo Lesin, the executive vice president of the school, told the press that none of the students had heard any shouts or sounds that would indicate a struggle. 

One solitary student did report hearing something during the night. The boy said he had been awoken by the sound of someone opening his dorm door and entering the room very briefly. He assumed it was his roommate and didn't look up. It was discovered that it had not been the roommate. None of the other boys in the building heard so much as a whisper.

Investigators were desperate to find the murder weapon. The building was gone over time and time again and the surrounding area was searched thoroughly. A special vacuum device was used in the local sewer system and, as it was early November, the piles of fallen leaves that had built up around drain openings were raked through. A knife was found on the school grounds but police were unsure whether it was connected to the murder as no traces of blood were found on the blade. Police never released information about what this knife looked like, whether it was heavy and large or small and light or specifically where it was found.

The dorm building itself was shut pending forensic testing and the students were housed at alternative accommodation. Many of their personal possessions were left as there was no time to take anything but the most essential items. Almost everything was taken out of Chaim’s room for testing. Only the bed, a study desk and a used bar of soap remained. The rest of the building was left littered with books, opened tubes of toothpaste and even a discarded yarmulke (a skull cap worn in prayer times). Police officers were left on guard duty to make sure the scene was secured. The interior walls of the house were soon covered with black and blue powder from searches for fingerprints and holes were made all over the plaster and brickwork in the ongoing search for the murder weapon. 

Very little forensic evidence was uncovered. No blood was found anywhere else in the building. It was not made public at the time but according to modern day media reporting a solitary hair  not belonging to Chaim was found at the crime scene. This information has only come to light over the last decade. More on that later

As robbery and a sexual assault were not deemed to be viable motives, other avenues were explored. There was investigation into any significance of the fact the murder had taken place on Halloween night, but this was soon discounted. It was deemed to be merely a coincidence. 

There was a lot of speculation that the murder may have been a hate crime rooted in anti-semitism. Detectives confirmed to the press that this angle was looked into. As mentioned there was a history of anti-semitic verbal abuse being directed toward the boys at the Yeshiva. It was known some local people did not like the school being there, as the egging incident the evening before had demonstrated. 

School Principal and Chaim’s 11th grade teacher Rabbi Avram Cooper publicly dismissed this theory, saying there was no anti-semitic overtone to the killing. He claimed that the Long Beach Yeshiva had not experienced any serious anti-semitic incidents in many months. Nevertheless some parents and local Jewish groups were very wary of this conclusion. Parents of students at the school began staying with their children in their dorm rooms at night. Plans were even made to hire armed guards. There were, however, other Jewish organisations who were very vocal in their opposition to the belief the killing had been racially or religiously motivated. 

A neighbour named Pasquaho who lived close to the school told reporters that local people  believed the murder was a random killing. Police were not so sure. Publicly investigators were saying they were keeping an open mind but it was reported in Newsday on November 7th 1986 that privately detectives thought it was an inside job. 

Employment files were reviewed by investigators. Employees of the school both current and former were questioned. Police believed whoever had committed this crime had some knowledge of the layout of the building and the general routine of the school programme. To get to Chaim’s room you had to walk past dozens of other rooms. It seemed the perpetrator knew what they were doing and who they wished to target. Twenty service related employees, janitors and the like, were also interviewed. 

A former janitor did come under suspicion for a while. He had stopped working at the school a little while before the murder. I believe he had quit his position rather than being fired. Shortly after the murder the man left the country and moved back to Europe where he was from. This man was not Jewish and I believe he came from Poland. He came to the attention of investigators because his name was suggested by school officials. I've read reports that there had been some kind of altercation or argument between Chaim and the man when he was working as janitor at the school. As it turned out the former janitor was eventually spoken to by police (I’ve read that they travelled all the way to Poland to conduct the interview). He provided an alibi that they were satisfied with and was dismissed as a suspect. Though as we shall see, to this day some school officials still suspect this man.

The students themselves were also interviewed. During the first few days of the investigation detectives working the case found Chaim’s fellow students to be reticent about talking. They seemed shy and afraid of the police officers. A psychologist was brought in to meet with students to help them process what had happened and teaching staff also did their best to comfort the traumatised boys.

When individual boys were interviewed the questions focused on what they knew about Chaim and whether they knew of any personal matters that may have caused problems for him. Students were also asked if there were any employees of the Yeshiva that they did not like or who they were suspicious of. In general the boys were taciturn. One of the reasons they may have been reluctant to talk is because of a traditional Jewish belief that a person does not say anything accusatory about another person without solid proof. One boy's parents told Newsday newspaper that another reason for their reluctance may be because of another custom that states that a Jewish person does not report the actions of a fellow Jew to secular authorities. 

In all, every boy who lived at the former mansion house on East Beech Street was questioned five or six times. In the media police made out that the boys were merely being treated as witnesses rather than suspects but it is true that forty of them were given polygraph tests. Based on the accounts of some anonymous students the questions asked during this process included “Did you do it? Do you know who did it? Do you know where the murder weapon is?”

Investigators were keen to see if anything in Chaim’s behaviour in the days preceding the murder may shed any light on his death. Chaim had not specifically told his parents about any problems he was having but there was one thing that had been out of the ordinary.

Chaim had only returned to the school, just a few days before the murder, having spent three weeks at home for Yom Kippur.  Chaim always phoned home every day but he did not do so on Wednesday or Thursday that week. Perhaps he didn't feel the need to, as he had just returned from a prolonged period at home, or perhaps he just forgot. Or did it signify that something was wrong? Anton eventually did speak to his son on Friday morning before daily prayers, though it was Anton who called the dorm. Chaim had not initiated the contact. 

Thinking slightly further back, Anton’s father recalled an odd incident over the previous summer. The following information was not made public until 2017. In July 1986 Chaim had telephoned Anton from Camp Horim in Ulster County. This is around a 3 hour drive from Long Beach and Chaim would attend summer camp there every year. During the phone call Chaim was in tears as he told his father he wanted to come home early from camp. He requested that Anton  come and collect him. Anton was away on a trip at the time but said he would drive to the camp as soon as he was back. When Anton arrived at the camp Chaim said he was fine and wanted to stay for the scheduled duration. He never mentioned to his father what had caused him to want to leave the camp and why he had changed his mind. 

Yet another incident occurred later that summer that caused concern for Anton. In August 1986 Chaim had visited his grandparents in Europe for a holiday. While Chaim was away the Principal of Long Beach Yeshiva, Rabbi Avrom Cooper, telephoned Anton on more than one occasion to ask when Chaim would be back home and returning to school. Anton felt this was a little strange. When Chaim did return he was asked to attend a meeting at Rabbis Cooper’s house. Anton drove Chaim there and waited in the car outside while Chaim met with the Rabbi. After ten minutes Chaim came out of the house and Anton drove him home. He could never get out of his son what the meeting had been about. 

With Nassau County detectives struggling to develop any leads they requested experts to produce a psychological profile of the killer. At the time very little was shared publicly concerning the details of this profile, though it was stated that the person who committed the crime had a deep hatred of the victim. Police added that they had not ruled out someone from the school being involved but added that it could also have been a random act carried out by an outsider.  Publicly they were still keeping their options open though they did venture that they believed the killer knew Chaim roomed by himself.

The full psychological profile of the killer was leaked to Newsday in 1992. The profile was dated March 24th 1987 and was drawn up by an FBI special agent working in New York working with staff from the National Centre for the Analysis of Violent Crime. The report suggested that the killer was someone who knew Chaim well and was probably someone of the same age. This was not a crime of opportunity. Chaim had been specifically chosen as the victim and the murder had been planned in advance. The crime was not committed by someone experienced in criminal activity but they were highly intelligent.

The leaked profile report also stated Chaim was viewed as one of the brightest children at the school. His peers said he was popular and had a generous character. Yet it went on to say Chaim also had a sharp tongue which could have been a factor in his death. It seems Chaim could on occasion be critical of others and “verbally abusive”. Chaim’s intelligence and academic success could have stirred feelings of jealousy. Coupled with his occasional critical remarks aimed at others, this may have enraged someone into violence and could well be the motive for the brutal killing. Obviously if Chaim did behave like this occasionally this is not out of the ordinary, especially for a teenager. 

Why Chaim had been placed in a single room was itself a controversial matter. Anton Weiss publicly said that one of the school officials, Rabbi Pitter, had told him Chaim was placed in a single room because his interaction with the other boys wasn’t good. Other factors for the decision were that Chaim wore modern clothing and was less mature than his peers. When he discovered this reasoning Anton was incredibly angry and demanded to know why he, as a parent, wasn't informed by school officials at the time if there was an issue with his son. Rabbi Pitter made a public rebuttal against Anton's claims. He said none of these were the reasons Chaim was assigned a single room. All very strange.  

By Christmas the investigation seemed to be going nowhere. A $25,000 reward had been put up by Nassau County detectives in the hope of forcing a breakthrough. The truth was they had no murder weapon and no suspect. Press reports suggested that police privately felt that the case would only be solved if someone came forward and confessed. It seems extraordinary that this was the state of play less than two months after the murder. 

The Weiss family were still trying to come to terms with the loss of Chaim. Anton and Pessy were worried about how their other children were coping. It was difficult to explain to their 11 year old son and 7 year old daughter what had happened to their older brother. Just days after the murder Chaim’s sister had drawn a black and white picture of the family. Chaim was also in the drawing. All the family were depicted in tears. Just as she finished drawing the picture she crossed Chaim out.

Long Beach Yeshiva took a long time to recover and to put the murder behind them. Initially enrolment numbers decreased for the school and there was talk that it was going to relocate. This whole matter became an issue in itself. In the aftermath, school officials panicked thinking the murder would signal the demise of the school, at least at that location. Six weeks after Chaim’s murder five trustees of the Yeshiva voted to sell all the school property (7 buildings totaling 2 million pounds) to a holiday company. The holiday company was owned by an alumnae of the school and a former trustee. In fact this man had only resigned as a trustee shortly after the murder. As far as I can tell his reason for stepping down was not made public. 

All this came into the open when a group of local Jewish people filed a lawsuit against the school because they did not want it to move but felt it should remain in the area. They did not agree with the way the sale was handled. Eventually the lawsuit was dropped when the businessman agreed to sell the property back to the school. The lawsuit brought to the attention of police this businessman and former trustee. It was the first they had heard of him and they said they wanted to interview him as he had been a trustee at the time of the murder. Newsday reported in March 1988 that there was no evidence that this dispute was connected to Chaim’s murder but it certainly made things more complicated. After spending time in some temporary accommodation the school reopened at the same location in August 1987 and categorically stated they would not be moving.

Over the years when Nassau County detectives have talked publicly about the case there are two words they often use to describe the crime. The first is brutal, due to the barbaric violence used to kill a defenceless sleeping teenager. The second word is bizarre. That is due in part to several unexplained incidents and unanswered questions that surround the murder.

The first such incident happened at 7am on November 1st, shortly before Chaim’s body was discovered by the dorm counsellor. A Newsday article from March 1992 suggests it was 15 minutes before but as the time given for when the body was found is inconsistent it is difficult to be precise. The incident took place on the Long Island boardwalk. Lined with quaint shops, lively eateries, and inviting benches, the boardwalk gives picturesque views of the ocean. It's just a twenty minute walk from the Yeshiva dorm situated on East Beech Street. A jogger was running along the boardwalk when he spotted a Long Beach Yeshiva student walking alone. In the Unsolved Mysteries segment on the case the student is shown sitting on a bench looking out to sea. The man did not get a good look at the boy's face but felt he was out of place. This student has never been identified.

The second point of concern is that the medical examiner concluded that Chaim’s body had been moved twice after death. It was deemed that the body had laid flat on the bed for several hours before it was moved to a position on the floor. It was then moved again 60cm to where it was found with the upper body sprawled on the floor and the legs raised on the bed. The question was, who moved the body and why?

At first it was assumed that the body had been moved by someone trying to administer first aid. Everyone known to have come into contact with the crime scene was questioned but they all denied this had been the case, including the dorm counsellor who found the body. Therefore it was speculated that the killer may have returned to remove some incriminating evidence from the room. This suggested that the killer was close by, probably somewhere in the building. It seemed unlikely the killer would have fled the building only to return hours later. It would have been too risky.

Detective Don Daly speculated in the Unsolved Mysteries coverage of the case that the body may have been moved in accordance with a Jewish custom which says a dead body should be placed at the lowest and coolest place possible which would have been the floor.

The third puzzle involves the open window. Investigators could never settle on the reason the window was wide open in Chaim’s room. It wasn’t just open a little way and the blind was pulled right up and draped over itself. It was first speculated that Chaim may have opened it himself in the night. On reflection this did not seem likely. The temperature that night had been around 4 degrees celsius (40 Fahrenheit) and Chaim was taking a course of antibiotics to treat a sore throat. He would not have wanted to try to sleep in that chilly autumnal air. 

That left the possibility that the killer opened it. There is a Jewish custom which speaks of opening a window or door shortly after death to allow the person’s spirit to leave the room. Though I have heard it said, anyone who has murdered a sleeping child is unlikely to be bothered by such things.

Another possibility was that the window had been opened when the killer returned and moved the body. The blinds were lifted so perhaps they were attempting to look around the room using the light from the street lights or early morning sun to check for incriminating evidence. The killer may have opened it to throw something out the window, like the murder weapon, with the plan to go outside and collect it early in the morning.

Yet another scenario is that one of the boys went to wake Chaim for morning prayers and stumbled on the scene. They may have moved the body in order to lean over and open the window. Of course the question is then why did they not tell anyone about it? No one ever admitted moving the body or opening the window.  

The last point of intrigue involved the discovery of a mourning candle (a Yahrzeit) in Chaim’s bedroom which no one could explain. A Rabbi at the school had asked the police for permission for one candle to be lit on the day after the murder. (Candles are not permitted to be lit on the sabbath). This was granted and the candle was set to burn slowly for 7 days. Two days after the murder a second candle was found inside the room. No one knew how it got there. All the students were gone and only a few select people had access to the building. Nobody owned up to placing the candle in the room. Police could not understand why this was the case if the candle had been placed there innocently.

There were other similar crimes that were at one point thought to be connected to Chaim’s murder. In January 1987 a 64 year old retired New York telephone company employee Joseph M was attacked in his Long Beach ground floor apartment. This was six blocks from the Long Beach Yeshiva. Joseph was separated from his wife and lived alone. He was a quiet athletic man who ran marathons and was a keen cyclist. At 10.15am on January 21st, Joseph was found by a neighbour lying on his bed covered in blood. He was taken to Long Beach memorial hospital suffering from a fractured skull and forearm, broken hands and other injuries. Miraculously Joseph survived the attack.

Detective Sergeant Everitt Campbell, acting commander of Nassau Homicide squad, said police were attempting to find a link between the attack on Joseph M and the murder of Chaim Weiss. It was then revealed that there had been four previous attacks between May and August 1986. The police were sure those four were connected but were now wondering if the attack on Joseph M and Chaim’s murder were committed by the same perpetrator. 

The survivors of the four attacks had all been older people and lived in properties that were former hotels overlooking the ocean. Nothing had been taken from their properties but there had been clear signs of a sexual motive. Some prominent community leaders suggested that all of these attacks had been motivated by religious hatred. 

TV reports at the time suggested Chaim’s murder could be connected but after the police looked into it Detective Lieutenant Joe Morrison went on record to say no link had been found. Still, many people in the community of Long Beach were fearful that there was someone out there  stalking victims. Gossip circulated that the police could not get to the bottom of these attacks and were unable to solve them. There was pressure on city authorities to improve safety and security in the area. As a result of this public demand, by February 1987 city manager Ed Eaton had already spent $240,000 on police overtime out of a budget of $305,000 that was supposed to last until June.

I believe that the man responsible for the attacks over the summer of 1986 was tracked down and arrested. He was said to be a drifter, suffering from a mental illness.  He was looked into for Chaim’s case but was ruled out. Incidentally the man was also not believed to have been responsible for the attack on Joseph M.

By mid-1987 police had carried out 500 interviews with staff, students and neighbours of the school, as well as questioning people arrested for unrelated offences. While the police had come up with very few leads, Anton Weiss was determined as ever to track down the guilty party. Every day he would spend time meeting Rabbis from the school and other Jewish scholars from all over the world to try and find answers. He would spend hours on the phone with the police discussing theories. His love for his son motivated him to find the reason behind such a senseless crime.

Anton’s ardency sometimes caused people to lose patience with him. Some of the Rabbis found his incessant questioning too much and wanted Anton to leave the investigation to professionals. An article in Newsday on October 26th 1987 says that Anton could sometimes irk the detectives leading the investigation. Anton was not apologetic in the way he went about things and neither should he have been. He wanted justice for Chaim, who he grieved terribly. He was convinced that the killer knew his son and that the murder had been premeditated. He didn’t want to let up. Despite all Antons efforts, no arrest followed.

Two years after the murder, in the autumn of 1988, Chaim’s father Anton started legal proceedings against the Long Beach Yeshiva. He was suing for $15 million claiming the school officials displayed negligence, carelessness and a reckless disregard for human safety. Anton claimed this was not about the money but was a legal tool to force the school to cooperate with the police investigation. This was something he claimed they were not doing. He was frustrated with the way some of the school officials had handled the matter from the very first day. For example, Anton was annoyed that just hours after Chaim’s body was found, Rabbi Cooper, the Principal of the school, attended a Bar Mitzvah in Bell Harbour, Queens. News outlet Pix 11 reported in 2017 that police found the Rabbi there that day.

Anton said he would donate the money from the lawsuit to charity. He just wanted to catch the killer and he felt this was the only option left to him, as two years on the police were still no closer to solving the case. I should say here that I have read in more than one source that the police were happy with the way the Yeshiva responded to the murder and said school officials cooperated fully with the investigation. 

By May 1990, Anton was feeling increasingly frustrated that the police investigation had so far produced little results. He aimed to continue the fight on his own and was able to raise a new reward fund of $100,000 from family members.

The lawsuit was still ongoing and in the years since the murder Anton had interviewed several Rabbis at the Yeshiva. He was trying to compile a list of the names of the students who had been at the school in the autumn of 1986. He had struggled to obtain much of the information he wanted and in the end New York Supreme Court justice Angelo Roncallo decreed that the school had to turn over to Anton’s lawyer the following details: Chaim’s academic records, the names and addresses of his classmates, the names of the boys who were roomed on the third floor with Chaim, the names of all the dorm counsellors, details of the head of security and maintenance as well as the names of anyone at the school who may have had a personal difficulty with Chaim.

The school said they would comply with the decision but Anton claimed that his legal team had yet to receive this information. It was reported in Newsday on May 8th 1990 that Yeshiva officials were reluctant to do this as they believed it could harm the school. Anton Weiss made the claim that in the midst of their legal battle Rabbi Cooper had told him privately that Anton should be reflecting on what bad deeds he had done to bring this misfortune on his family. This remark hurt Anton and made him feel like he was being accused of causing his son's death. The lengthy and acrimonious lawsuit was eventually settled out of court. 

Over the next few decades very little information came to light, though there were a couple of disconcerting occurrences. In 1994 the Weiss family received an Easter card (in itself  a deliberate jibe at an Orthodox Jewish family) that contained a disturbing message. It said something along the lines of  “What happens when chickens can no longer lay eggs?...They dye (spelt d-y-e).  Happy Easter”. The card was sent anonymously and it was never determined whether it was connected with Chaim’s murder or the result of a sick and twisted hoax. 

Years after the murder Chaim’s gravestone at Floral Park Cemetery in New Jersey was defaced and odd slogans were spray painted on it. Again it is unclear if this had any direct link to the murder or whether it was an unrelated anti-semitic crime. 

In May 2013 the case was reopened by Nassau County police. Detective Lieutenant John Azzatta stressed that he was happy with the way the original 1986 investigation had been carried out but was hoping a fresh set of eyes could make a difference. Over a hundred former students from the Yeshiva were re-interviewed. They were now men in their 40's, many with children of their own. 

A full review of the forensic evidence was also undertaken.  It was at this point that Newsday reported on the strand of hair that had been found at the crime scene in 1986. Investigators were loath to test it as they were fearful the sample would be destroyed. They were hoping to wait until they had a suspect to compare it to. Two and a half years after the review there had been no arrests and, according to Israeli newspaper Haarretz, investigators reached a similar conclusion to that of the psychological profile report. They believed it was likely that one of the students or faculty members was responsible for the murder. 

In 2016 Anton was still contacting the then lead detective on the case John Azzata every week. His drive for securing justice for his son had not diminished an iota. As I previously mentioned, in 2017 Anton shared new information in an interview with New York news network Pix 11. After the interview went out a former student of the Yeshiva contacted Anton with some information. The student had been 14 when he attended the school between 1976 and 1977. The student alleged that a Rabbi there at the time had physically abused him. This Rabbi would regularly punch and hit him. The former student blamed the principal of the principal of the  school Rabbi Cooper for allowing this to have happened under his leadership. (Just to be clear he did not accuse Rabbi Cooper himself of the abuse). The student also told of a suicide that had happened at the school a few years before Chaim’s murder. This was confirmed.The boy who died was only at the school for a short time and had a history of depression. There is no evidence that the information the former student shared had anything to do with Chaim’s murder.

It's worth saying that after the interview Pix 11 attempted to talk with Rabbi Pitter, who had been the Dean of the Yeshiva, and Rabbi Cooper, the Principal, in 1986. They could then give them the opportunity to respond to the issues the former student had brought up.  Rabbi Pitter was still working at the school and, though he didn't want to be on camera, he did answer some questions put to him. The wife of Rabbi Pitter told Pix 11 that as a family they still believed Chaim’s killer was the former janitor. As I mentioned, this suspect was cleared by police. I believe he is now deceased.

Pix 11 turned up to the retired Rabbi Cooper's house in New Jersey. He was asked, among other things, about the meeting he had with Chaim in his house in Brooklyn a couple of months or so before the murder. Rabbi Cooper did not want to talk and refused to engage with the reporter's questions. . I think it’s important in any situation like this  not to judge an individual for not wanting to answer questions in this way. The man is very elderly and this was not a prearranged meeting. The reporter just turned up and approached the man while he was in his yard.

Online forums are full of speculation about this case. A nameless former student who married, divorced and moved to Israel is sometimes put forward as the killer; while others suggest it was a person living near the school. Everyone is convinced that they know it's their “guy” but the truth is there is no evidence for any of these claims.

Researching this episode I've again been moved reading about a parent's perseverance and courage in their quest for justice on behalf of their child. Just a couple of days after the murder the grieving Anton received the results of a PSAT examination Chaim had taken the day before his murder. He had come top of the class. It's clear that Chaim was a very gifted young man with a lot of potential but he was so much more than that. Anton says Chaim was his friend. He was a gift full of joy.

If you have any information regarding the murder Chaim Weiss, please call the Long Beach Police Department at (516) 431-1800 or call  crimestoppers anonymously on 1800 222 TIPS.c

Sources

https://tinyurl.com/2xaveaeu