Little hint as to why
In New Scotland murder case, it’s a glaring question
Two nights after he allegedly bound and slashed to death a beloved physician assistant from St. Peter’s Hospital, Jacob L. Klein left New York’s Capital Region and drove home to his isolated residence in a remote community in southwest Virginia.
Klein, a 40-year-old physician assistant and U.S. Army veteran who served as a medic in Iraq and Afghanistan, had quickly emerged as a suspect in the murder of 35-year-old Philip L. Rabadi — and it appeared from his actions after the incident that he knew the police would soon be coming for him.
Still, investigators have yet to settle on a motive or even to fully understand why the lives of two men who had followed similar career paths — and with no evidence of violence or criminality in Klein’s life — allegedly intersected in such a horrific manner.
They are exploring a theory that Klein had planned the killing out of spite or jealousy after his ex-girlfriend, Elana Z. Radin, also a physician assistant at St. Peter’s, had married Rabadi last September. The couple settled into a new home in an Albany suburb last summer with promising medical careers and on track for what appeared to be an idyllic life, according to people who knew them.
Police said Klein left a trail of circumstantial evidence in the Albany area linking him to the homicide.
That evidence includes footage from a neighbor’s security camera allegedly showing Klein, who was wearing a surgical mask, banging on Rabadi’s front door at around 7:30 a.m. on the morning of the slaying. Investigators believe he drove there in a white pickup truck that he rented at an Enterprise branch on Central Avenue in Albany.
As a neighbor walked their dog nearby, Rabadi could be seen retreating inside after the two men briefly spoke. Rabadi had suddenly appeared to cower during that doorway encounter and investigators suspect Klein may have pointed a gun at him, according to people briefed on the investigation.
Police are still trying to piece together what occurred inside the residence. But they said Rabadi was found bound and had been slashed and mutilated before his body was dragged into his garage. He died as a result of massive blood loss.
Law enforcement sources say Klein had rented an Airbnb in the Albany area, and a home-security camera near that property captured video of what what they say was Klein using cleaning supplies to scrub down the rented vehicle not long after Rabadi had been killed. He returned the truck to the Enterprise business at 900 Central Ave. around 10 a.m. that morning, and
took an Uber back to his Airbnb rental, according to police who seized video of that ride.
Investigators also gathered evidence with the help of the FBI that used cell phone towers to pinpoint Klein’s alleged movements after they say he arrived in the Albany area on April 11, two days before the homicide. Those records indicate he may have been standing in the backyard of the couple’s residence a day before the homicide.
Rabadi, who specialized in surgical care, had been taking golf lessons recently.
In the garage where his body was found, investigators observed the tools, cutting saws and sawdust filters that fueled his hobby as a gifted woodworker who could craft items such as fine jewelry boxes.
Rabadi, a 2004 graduate of Guilderland High School, was a star athlete on its soccer and tennis teams and a member of the National Honor Society. He attended the state University at Albany and later was an honors student at Albany Medical College, where he earned his degree to become a physician assistant.
His father, Shaw Rabadi, is a popular restaurateur who owned the former BFS Catering in Guilderland and had been wellknown in the Capital Region for his culinary talents.
On Easter Sunday, Shaw Rabadi broke his silence and posted a tribute to his son on Facebook, describing him as “a young loving and wonderful human being and great role model for his family and a true friend to all those he loved and all those who loved and admired him . ... Our endless love for you conquers all that is wicked and evil.”
‘Shell-shocked’
Klein, who grew up in Cobleskill, graduated in 1999 from Albany Academy, where classmates said he was well-liked and had been known by his middle name, “Larry.” He had
been a top track and field athlete and attended Clarkson University before joining the Army. His father, now deceased, was a well-known attorney in Schoharie County and his mother, now retired, lives in Florida.
She did not respond to a request for comment.
“None of us saw this coming,” said one of Klein’s best friends at Albany Academy, who spoke on the condition of not being identified. “We were all very tight . ... Everybody is just kind of shell-shocked.”
Investigators have been unable to question Klein since his arrest on April 15, in part because his attorney had called law enforcement officials before he was taken into custody to inform them that he represents Klein — perhaps the strongest indication that Klein knew his arrest was imminent.
Klein graduated from SUNY College of Medicine in Brooklyn in 2015. Radin, who has ties to the Syracuse area, had graduated from the same medical school a year later. She told investigators that she and Klein had a personal relationship for more than two years but that she had ended it about three years ago. Klein had been “psychologically abusive,” she told investigators, but had never harmed her physically, according to a law enforcement source briefed on her interviews with police.
After their breakup, which would have taken place around the time that Klein left his job at Columbia Memorial Hospital in Hudson, Radin had little contact with Klein except for a few email messages, according to the person briefed on her interview with police.
A former coworker at Columbia Memorial, who spoke on the condition of not being identified, said Klein went by “Jake” there and was a “team player” who never showed any signs of emotional turmoil or violence. He had a good record with his patient care.
“A good guy,” the person said. “I didn’t hear of any nonsense with him. He was part of the team; everybody seemed to like him.”
But after working there for a little more than a year, the person said, Klein gave his notice and said he “wanted to see the world.” He moved to San Diego. It’s unclear why Klein later moved to Virginia, where people who know him said he continued working in the medical field but also tried his hand at being a day trader in the stock market.
Interstate pursuit
On the night before his arrest, law enforcement officials who were monitoring his movements hid near Klein’s expensive residence at the end of Chestnut Bluff Lane in Wirtz, Va., a scenic property overlooking a tributary of the Smith Mountain Lake south of Roanoke.
A warrant seeking his arrest for the murder of Rabadi was still hours away from being signed by a judge.
Probably unaware of the law enforcement officials hiding nearby, Klein, who lived alone, climbed into his Toyota 4Runner with his dog and had a loaded handgun tucked in his glove box as he drove west into Tennessee in the middle of the night.
Initially, police suspected he was headed for Mexico or California. But as Klein drove deep into Tennessee, he stopped in Memphis, where law enforcement sources said he handed his dog over to an acquaintance from Texas, who had driven roughly halfway to meet him. It’s unclear what Klein told that person about why he was asking them to take care of his dog.
On the afternoon of April 15, police and federal agents continued tracking his path as he drove back toward his home. State Police in Tennessee and Virginia had settled on a plan to pull over his vehicle and arrest him as soon as he crossed the Virginia border.
With a helicopter overhead, Klein’s vehicle was stopped less than a half mile into Virginia. A law enforcement source said that he remained in his vehicle for several minutes and would not immediately follow orders to get out with his hands up. At one point, the source said, Klein appeared to lean toward his glove box, but then stopped and sat for several more minutes.
He eventually left the vehicle and surrendered to police without incident. The troopers who arrested him described him as polite. Albany County sheriff ’s deputies drove through the night on Wednesday and took custody of Klein at the Southwest Virginia Regional Jail Authority in Abingdon, Va.
On Thursday afternoon in New Scotland, about five miles southwest of the scene of the homicide, Klein was brought before town Justice David Wukitsch and arraigned on a charge of second-degree murder.
Klein was heavily muscled — a new look in his life, according to a person who knows him — as he shuffled into the courtroom wearing jail clothing and bound in handcuffs and ankle shackles.
“Yes, your honor,” Klein told the judge in a clear voice when asked if he had received a copy of the charges.
The judge ordered him held without bond, noting that as a town court justice he was not empowered to set bail for the high-level felony charge. A grand jury began reviewing evidence in the case on Friday.
Outside court following the arraignment, Klein’s attorney, Mark A. Bederow of Manhattan, said he had been in contact with Klein previously but that afternoon prior to the court proceeding was the first time they had met in person.
“The only thing I’ve known about this case before is what I saw in the press,” Bederow said. “They’re very serious allegations, obviously. You feel terrible for the Rabadi family, his wife and family, but Mr. Klein has entered a plea of not guilty. He’s entitled to due process, presumption of innocence and we’ll be getting discovery in this case over the next few weeks and we’ll review and go from there. But I would just caution the public to presume innocence, as anyone is entitled to, and wait for the details to come in in the courtroom, not through press conferences and releases by the police officers . ... It’s far too soon to draw any conclusions.”