TRENTON, N.J. — A New Jersey rabbi who had been serving a lengthy sentence for his involvement in a murder-for-hire plot targeting his wife has passed away at the age of 82.
Fred Neulander was found unresponsive in his cell at the New Jersey State Prison infirmary and was pronounced dead shortly after 6 p.m. on Wednesday at a hospital in Trenton, according to reports from the state department of corrections. The cause of his death has not been disclosed at this time.
Neulander, once the founding rabbi of the Congregation M’kor Shalom synagogue in Cherry Hill, was sentenced to 30 years to life in 2003 after being convicted by a jury for orchestrating the murder of his wife, Carol Neulander, in November 1994. The hit men hired by Neulander were paid to make the murder look like a robbery gone wrong, resulting in Carol’s tragic death at the age of 52 in their Cherry Hill home.
Prosecutors alleged that Neulander planned the murder to continue an extramarital affair, while Neulander maintained that the hit men acted independently out of a motive for robbery. The men responsible for carrying out the murder were released from prison after serving 23 years behind bars.
Despite Neulander’s efforts to appeal his conviction, an appellate court rejected his appeal in 2012 and the New Jersey Supreme Court upheld this decision in 2016. Neulander’s death marks the end of a tumultuous saga that spanned decades and shocked the local community in New Jersey.
The merging of Congregation M’kor Shalom synagogue with Temple Emanuel symbolizes the closure of a chapter in the state’s history tainted with violence and betrayal, leaving behind a legacy of tragedy and legal battles. Neulander’s passing brings a sense of finality to a case that captivated the public’s attention and sparked discussions about the limits of power and the consequences of one’s actions.