Man implicates himself in death of 8-year-old NYC boy Leiby Kletzky, say cops
(CBS/WCBS/AP) NEW YORK - Police have arrested 35-year-old Levi Aron, who they say had the remains of murdered 8-year-old Brooklyn boy Leiby Kletzky in his refrigerator.
The boy had disappeared while walking home from day camp late Monday afternoon.
Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said police went into Aron's apartment at 2:40 a.m. Wednesday, and that Aron implicated himself in the boy's death.
When police arrived at Aron's apartment his door was ajar. After they asked where the boy was Aron nodded towards the kitchen where the refrigerator handle had blood on it, and inside they found a cutting board, knives covered in blood, and body parts, according to Kelly.
Detectives found other body parts believed to be those of Leiby wrapped in a black plastic garbage bag inside a red suitcase that had been tossed into a trash bin in another Brooklyn neighborhood, police spokesman Paul J. Browne said.
Police uncovered grainy surveillance video footage of Leiby, who is seen wearing a backpack as he walks down the street. Leiby was seen leaving a school at 5:05 p.m. In the videos he appeared to be lost, missing a turn that was a part of his route home. Then he encountered Aron and asked him for directions, Kelley said.
Authorities said in the surveillance video Aron is seen going to a nearby dentist's office with Leiby waiting across the street. Police used Aron's office records to locate his home. The FBI and police had to kick the door in, and it was then that they made the gruesome discovery, reports CBS station WCBS.
Police said Aron lives alone in a third floor apartment, in a building shared with his parents. Aron was a clerk at a maintenance supply company. According to police, Aron has one criminal summons for urinating in public.
Leiby was coming home from day camp and was supposed to meet his mother, but never showed up.
Leiby had begged his parents to let him walk the 7 blocks home. They had given him a note, saying he would not be taking the bus, reports the station.
On Friday, Leiby's parents had shown him his route home, Kelly said in a press conference.
The alleged killer, Aron, did not know the boy's family and the crime looks to be "totally random, " said Kelly.
Leiby's disappearance prompted an intense search, with much of the orthodox Jewish community he was part of taking to the streets to hunt for the boy. Kelly said he believes Aron panicked after seeing missing posters of Leiby and that's why he killed the boy.