Corpse is brother of sick killer
In family’s basement
A body found wrapped and bound in a Brooklyn closet Friday has been identified by lawenforcement sources as the brother of Levi Aron — who abducted, killed and dismembered 8year-old Leiby Kletzky in 2011.
The corpse of Tzvi “Jack’’ Aron, 29, was in a basement closet at his family’s home in Kensington — where Leiby’s bodyy had been found six years before.
Last month, Tzvi, who lived in the basement, had been threatened, police sources said.
Also in December, someone made a call to the home, sources said, threatening to “burn your house down!”
The motive for the threats wasn’t immediately clear — but Aron family members had also reported receiving revenge threats in the days after the little boy’s death. Tzvi had last been seen on Tuesday, sources said. Police rushed to the house on 466 E. 2nd St. after a third Aron brother, Yerachmiel, discovered Tzvi’s body. It had been wrapped in a blanket and bound in duct tape, with only the bare feet protruding. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene at about 3 p.m. Sources said the body had been removed — still wrapped and with the face still obscured — to the Medical Examiner’s Office. There, coroners planned to work through the night unwrapping it slowly while searching for forensic clues. Levi Aron kidnapped Leiby off the street in 2011, just two weeks short of the boy’s ninth birthday, he got lost and asked for directions home.
Aron drove the boy to a wedding in Rockland County before returning to his own house, where he killed and mutilated Leiby.
Aron took a plea deal on murder and kidnap charges in 2012. A friend of Leiby’s heartbroken parents said they agreed to the deal, noting, “You don’t want to sit in the courtroom and hear someone describe your baby’s wounds.’’
Aron is serving 40 years and will not be eligible for parole until 2051.
Neighbors were stunned about the latest development, with some speculating a “curse’’ afflicts the Aron family.
“I’m not God, I can’t answer that,’’ said one resident, who asked that his name be withheld. The victim worked in construction and was “a good-hearted boy,’’ he added.
Another neighbor, Rabbi Yehuda Sommers, said of the other brother, Yerachmiel, “He’s hanging in there.’’