Suspect in Leiby Kletzky murder showed no red flags, says acquaintance
(CBS/WCBS/AP) NEW YORK - People who know 35-year-old Levi Aron, the man charged in the grisly dismemberment killing of 8-year-old Brooklyn boy Leiby Kletzky, said there was no indication he was capable of something so horrific.
Those who worked closely with Aron for years told CBS station WCBS on Wednesday he was hard-working, quiet, non-violent, but socially awkward every day at Empire State Supply Company.
"A little emotionally disturbed," Michael Panzer, the suspect's boss, said describing Aron.
Panzer told WCBS that there were no warning signs or red flags.
"Nothing at all. As a matter of fact, yesterday he was working here normal day, regular hours," Panzer said.
When asked if there was anything different about Aron on Tuesday - the day the investigation into the boy's disappearance went into overdrive and the story went national - Panzer said his behavior was normal. He said for more than a decade as a clerk in the warehouse full of building materials Aron did not like to mix with his co-workers, not even when they mobilized to help find the missing boy.
"We were all participating in the search and no explanation," said Panzer. He went on to say that Aron displayed "nothing to give any kind of signs of anything happening."
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly told The Associated Press that Aron implicated himself in the killing.
Kelly said there was no evidence the boy was sexually assaulted, but they would not otherwise shed any light on a motive except to say Aron told them he "panicked" when he saw photos of the missing boy on fliers that were distributed in the neighborhood. Police were looking into whether Aron had a history of mental illness.
Aron was arrested Wednesday on a charge of second-degree murder. The medical examiner's office said it was still investigating how the boy was killed.