The retrial of a Cherry Hill rabbi accused of arranging the 1994 murder of his wife may be held in Monmouth County or Ocean County sometime in August.
According to an April 19 article in The Philadelphia Inquirer, state Superior Court Judge Linda G. Baxter has agreed to move the trial out of Camden County.
In November a Camden County jury deadlocked on the capital murder case of Rabbi Fred J. Neulander, 60, who has been held in the Camden County jail for almost 23 months. A mistrial was declared in the high profile case.
Prosecutors allege that Neulander had his 52-year-old wife, Carol, killed by hired hitmen in 1994 so that he could carry on an affair with Elaine Soncini, who at the time was a Philadelphia radio host. The key witness for the prosecution was one of the confessed hitmen, former private detective Leonard Jenoff.
Neulander’s attorney Michael E. Riley of Mount Holly told Greater Media News-papers this week that he has no idea where Neulander’s second trial will be held. He said Baxter will decide that issue after a hearing on May 17.
Riley was quoted by The Philadelphia Inquirer as saying that Monmouth or Ocean County would be likely sites for Neulander’s second trial because they are on the fringes of the Philadelphia media market where the case has been one of the biggest stories for more than seven years.
Superior Court in Monmouth County is in Freehold Borough. In Ocean County, the Superior Court is in Toms River.