Cherry Hill, New Jersey – A notorious case that gripped the Philadelphia area has resurfaced with the recent death of Fred Neulander, a former rabbi sentenced to 30 years in prison for the murder of his wife. Neulander, 82, was found unresponsive in the New Jersey State Prison infirmary and pronounced dead after sustaining CPR efforts at a local hospital. The cause of his death remains undisclosed as of now.
Neulander’s conviction stemmed from a harrowing plot in 1994 where he reportedly hired hitmen to brutally murder his wife, Carol Neulander, in their Cherry Hill home. The killers mercilessly beat Carol to death with a metal pipe, inflicting unspeakable trauma on the family. At the time, Fred Neulander was the revered senior rabbi of a local synagogue, while Carol co-founded a beloved bakery in their town.
During the trial, chilling details emerged, including a hitman’s testimony alleging that Neulander orchestrated his wife’s murder to pursue an extramarital affair. The crime scene was staged to appear as a robbery, but investigators quickly pieced together the true horror of the situation. Carol was speaking to her daughter on the phone when the hitmen entered the home, forever altering the Neulander family’s lives.
Despite multiple legal battles, including a failed appeal in 2016, Neulander had served 22 years of his sentence before his passing. The case not only captivated the public but also inspired various forms of media coverage, from docu-dramas to crime shows, painting a grim portrait of betrayal within a once-respected community.
The closure of Neulander’s former synagogue in 2022 marked the end of an era stained by his heinous crime. The reverberations of his actions continue to echo through the community, reminding everyone of the devastating consequences of unchecked greed and malice. As the Neulander saga comes to a somber close, the scars left behind serve as a cautionary tale against the darkness that can lurk within the most unexpected of places.