Cherry Hill, New Jersey – A former New Jersey rabbi convicted of orchestrating his wife’s murder has been found dead in prison, sparking memories of a notorious crime that shocked the Philadelphia area in the 1990s. Fred Neulander, 82, was serving a 30-year sentence for hiring hitmen to kill his wife, Carol Neulander, in 1994. His death in the New Jersey State Prison has reignited interest in a case that captivated the public and inspired various forms of media coverage, from docu-dramas to even a controversial musical.
Neulander’s murder trial revealed a chilling plot where he allegedly paid two men to carry out the brutal killing of his wife at their Cherry Hill home. The motive behind the crime was said to be a desire to continue an affair with a Philadelphia radio personality. The perpetrators were accused of staging the murder to look like a robbery, but investigators found inconsistencies that led to Neulander’s eventual conviction in 2002.
As the founding rabbi of Congregation M’kor Shalom, a respected synagogue in Cherry Hill, Neulander’s fall from grace stunned the community. His imprisonment and now his death have renewed discussions about justice, forgiveness, and the impacts of such heinous crimes on families and communities. The closure of the synagogue he helped establish in 2022 marked another chapter in this tragic saga.
Despite appeals and protests surrounding the case, Fred Neulander had served over two decades of his sentence before his passing. The details of his death remain undisclosed, leaving questions about the circumstances surrounding the demise of a man once regarded as a spiritual leader. The legacy of this crime continues to linger in the collective memory of those who followed its twists and turns over the years.