A psychiatric evaluation finds that the man charged with killing 8-year-old Leiby Kletzky, has a personality disorder. It also reveals that his sister died while institutionalized for schizophrenia.
The court-ordered evaluation was viewed exclusively by The Associated Press on Wednesday. It portrays Levi Aron as a troubled, confused man with a “flat” and “apathetic” mood.
Aron is being held without bail. His lawyers say he hears voices and hallucinates; he was found fit to stand trial last week and has pleaded not guilty. His next court date is Oct. 14.
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16 Responses
Well that is that. A done and sealed deal, insanity plea will work. He will prob spend the rest of his days in a psych facility with no chance of parole. It is truly sad that this whole incident could have been prevented if people saw the warning signs of his mental illness and his family history. This is a lesson to be learned that if we know of individuals that have any type of medical issue we as Klal Yisroel should reach out to our fellow yidden and help those that know not how to help themselves.
May all of klal Yisroel know of no saddness but only of simcha.
Of course, he’s not normal.
What normal man, in his right mind, would butcher an 8-year boy, and throw his body parts into a dumpster!
Does that mean that he he gets a free pass?
The next court date comes out on the 2nd day of sukkos, the truth will prevail and they will shukel lulov with him.
Oct 14 is a Yom Tov – Second Day of Sukkoth – you’ll see it will be adjourned for “religious” reason to postpone it more!…
Why did it take him committing a murder to deternmine this?
What do his physicians have to say for themselves? I guess, not much.
@Responder88 I’m disgusted and appalled by your comment. For starters, it’s very unlikely he’ll get off with insanity plea. An insanity plea equals not knowing at the time of the crime what he was doing or the ramifications of his actions. There wasn’t anything in this report that shows this being the case.
Thats all on the facts, but what I’m disgusted about is how you take the blame off this man bec he has a disorder. Having a disorder doesn’t in any way make s/o not responsible for his actions. The way you take the blame off this man is appalling. You give this man free reign to murder and butcher children bec he has a personality disorder????
Thinking back on what you write I realize that it’s not so much appealing as a total lack of knowledge. You prob think a personality disorder is something like mental retardation. Well, learn your facts and only then give your opinion!
Deep,
If you are implying that I feel he goes free re-read my post. What I sdaid is that with the report an insanity plea is a sealed deal and that he will be in a psych facility living out his days.
Sheesh don’t read into the post just read it
#2, it doesn’t mean that he should get a free pass. It does mean that the frum community should not stigmatize mental illness. If it did not, then people would not hesitate to get an early diagnosis and treatment when they see early warning signs, and not wait until depression is so deep that the person is suicidal or other conditions are so far gone that the person has totally lost faith in his/her own ability to recover. Likewise, abusive situations should not be swept under the carpet. Dysfunctional families need treatment and it certainly seems like Levi Aaron grew up in home that needed help badly. I am not justifying what this man did; I’m just suggesting that he might have been a different person had his family received mental health services early on. In Israel, Bayit Cham, headed by Rav Aryeh Munk, has worked for years to get the tzibbur to wake up and seek help in time. Now there are Bayit Cham clinics in Yerushalayim, Bnei Brak, Kiryat Sefer, Beit Shemesh and Elad plus workshops for the “healthy” public how to raise children in an emotionally healthy climate and how to keep an eye out for early warning signals of emotional distress or mental illness. I don’t know if all of this would have helped Levi Aaron, but we, as people commanded in “v’nishmartem ME’OD lenafshoseichem” certainly have an obligation to care for the mental health of ourselves and our families and, via “arvus” for all of our fellow Jews. And this starts with removing the stigma so that people who need the help will get it in a timely manner!
I don’t think this seals the insanity defense. There is a distinction between Axis I and Axis II disorders (personality disorders are Axis II- while schizophrenia, anxiety disorders, depression etc would have been Axis I) but not sure how it’s regarded in the legal system.
88,
I take issue with your comment blaming others who should have seen warning signs. He apparently was under a doctor’s care. He was prescribed medications that are typically prescribed by a psychiatrist. Should we just lock up all those with mental illnesses?
Proud,
I never said take the blame off him. This is what the defense is going to do based on the psych report that was attained by the AP as we have all read in the story above. Now if you are a smart defense lawyer you are going to use this report (depending and this we do not know what it fully states) would do. Now would you not do the same?
nishtdayngesheft,
I am not blaming any one person but it is strange that days after the crime was committed people on his block stated that he (Aron) did act strange before this incident and how others stated in the news story that his sister & mother were not stable. So with this said people knew there was an issue and had failed to act in terms of calling anybody about Aron’s strange behavior as they said he was exhibiting. I know after working in the field of mental health I would have spoken to collegues that I know and said something. It is strange how we as Yidden tend not to be proactive but rather reactive or in Aron’s case ignoring the signs. Do you not agree? It is just said that there was no intervention sooner. In closing I respect those that admit that they have a mental illness and seek help out. Till you have worked in the field as I have than you can begin to understand what I am trying to say. I hope you have a good Shabbos.
The finding that he has a “personality disorder” and the discussion of whether it is Axis I or Axis II are only tangential to the legal issue. Psychiatric diagnoses are simply that: diagnoses. The issue of sanity is a legal one: did the person know right from wrong at the time of the crime? (the simple, historical definition–now it goes further to issues like being able to assist in the defense, understand the proceedings, etc.).
His prior behavior may not have reached the level of requiring in-patient treatment and almost surely not the level of requiring commitment to a facility (virtually impossible nowadays). It *appears* as though he was being treated (an assumption based on the medications he had at hand).
@Responder trust me ive been in the field waaaaay to long. But after you say that you aren’t laying off the blame, then why would an early intervention take care of the problem?
Insanity plea doesnt equal free pass. And obviously he had a mental disorder, he fed the boy antipsychotic and the antidepressant medications that had been prescribed to him.
I hope they let him go free bec he will not last more than 1 day in the streets in Brooklyn or anywhere – he is a dead man walking
Proud,
Hoping early intervention might avoid a behavior that the outcome of that behavior would not lead to a tradgey such as this. I am not saying intervention is 100% foolproof but let’s say it is maybe 90% foolproof the other 10% may have fallen through the cracks as did Levy if this is the case. I again stress I do not and will not say that I am taking the blame off the perpetrator of this vicious crime but rather as the saying goes “you do the crime, you do the time” and this is what he should do.