Yankel Rosenbaum’s Murderer Now Living Quiet, Incognito Life in NJ

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lemrick-nelsonThe man at the center of the 1991 Crown Heights riot now lives incognito in a New Jersey town, untroubled by memories of his terrible deed.  “Up until today, I left it alone,” Lemrick Nelson Jr., now 34, told The Post. “I don’t even think about it.””That was 19 years ago,” he said about fatally stabbing Yankel Rosenbaum at the height of the notorious race riot. “I was a kid then. I made a mistake. Kids make mistakes. I’m a man now. I’ve never been in or out of trouble. I don’t live that life.”

In his first interview since his 2004 release from prison, Nelson described himself as a sober family man.

“I don’t drink anymore because of what happened in 1991,” he said. Nelson’s legal team had blamed his violent act on drunkenness.

The Brooklyn riot was sparked when a frum motorcade struck and killed a black child, Gavin Cato, 7. Hours later, a mob of angry black residents, including Nelson, hunted down Rosenbaum, a visiting Australian who had nothing to do with the fatal accident.

Bloody rioting, and clashes with cops, continued for days. By the end, 152 cops and 38 residents were injured, six stores were looted, and 27 police cars damaged.

Nelson now lives with a woman and their toddler daughter in an apartment in Hillside.

Neighbors and even his landlady, unaware of his notorious past, call him by his new nickname, “Ricky.”

Nelson, who was tried three times for Rosenbaum’s death and eventually served 10 years in prison, offered an apology for the riot, but not to his victim’s family. “I regret the fact that people got hurt out there,” he said.

He repeatedly asked that his whereabouts and current life not be disclosed. “Let bygones be bygones,” he pleaded. “All it will do is bring back people’s memories. You’re just going to create tension for me.”

{NY Post/Noam Amdurski-Matzav.com Newscenter}


21 COMMENTS

  1. Please post his phone number and that of his landlord and employer as wel as anyone he may work for! Our brothers blood cries out to us from the ground! That scum of the earth didn’t even apologize!

  2. he got 10 years? for starting a riot, where 152 cops and 38 residents were injured, six stores were looted, and 27 police cars damaged. he stabbed a person to death!!!

    and sholom mordechai rubashkin is being prosecuted for life? explain this????????????

  3. Feel bad for the guy. He grew up without a father and all he had was a rowdy crowd that he hanged out with. He was high at the time of the crime. Additionally, he was simply awild fifteen year old, merely angry do to gossip and only wanted to beat him up. He even reformed while serving time in prison…
    …you don’t feel so bad for him?! Well you did stand up for M Grossman didn’t you? A man who was twenty when he BRUTALLY smashed, then murdered a female officer who was half his size. Well they say he “reformed” in prison too.

  4. What a rasha! He doesn’t want to bring back old memories?! He is an admitted murdurer! He should be reminded of it 24/7! By the way, thank you Joe Hynes for letting this murdurer go scott free!!!

  5. I agree with TMK. The guy was a tinok shenishba when he did it. He spent 10 years in prison, and I’m sure he’s reminded of it every time he sees a Jew. It would be a complete chillul HaShem to harass him. Leave him alone and daven that Yankel’s neshama should have an aliyah. Yankel and HaShem would rather us work on tikkun HaOlam than cause fights.

  6. #7 If you were among those who felt that Grossman deserved the death penaltly, why are you so soft on this murderer? As #11 pointed out, no one said Grossman deserved to be released, just that he should not be killed. How are you comparing the two cases, especially where Grossman expressed deep remorse and took full responsibility even in his last moments and this man NEVER apologized and wants to let bygones be bygones. If you can’t see the stark difference between the two, I truly feel sorry for your spiritual state.

  7. (First point: He says two comments which a sort of countradictory! First, above you will see where he says that quote “I don’t even think about it.” Second, he then says later in the article that quote “I don’t drink anymore because of what happened in 1991,” It would not be possible, since he obviously had no physical action done to his body to destroy his interest in drinking, for him to supposedly not drink for his quoted reason of because of what happened without the fact that he would have to think about what he did to remind himself not to drink every time the oppurtunity, offer or temptation was encountered.
    Well, as you can see below Nelson lied various times throughout the years and in the interview above he is blatantly lying again and is still clearly unrepentant, SCOTT)

    Though his lawyer did not deny at his trial that Nelson stabbed Rosenbaum, he argued that the killing had nothing to do with Rosenbaum’s being Jewish.
    Nelson was arrested several times on unrelated charges over the following years. In a third trial for Rosenbaum’s murder, Nelson was convicted of violating Rosenbaum’s civil rights in the murder, and served a ten-year sentence. Nelson admitted for the first time at his 2003 trial that he had stabbed Rosenbaum.

    Two psychologists interviewed and tested Nelson in November 1994. The government’s expert was Dr. Naftali Berrill, and the defendant’s expert was Dr. Ife Landsmark. Both found that Nelson had a low average to average I.Q., though Landsmark said that on a language-free exam his score was in a high-average range. The doctors agreed that his school behavior demonstrated that he suffered from a “conduct disorder”, but not from any significant psychopathology.

    Razor attack, concealed weapon, and disorderly conduct
    Nelson moved to a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia, after October 1992. His divorced parents sent him there to live with a half-sister. He was subsequently arrested several times over the following five years.
    Aggravated assault (January 1994) and carrying a concealed weapon (March 1994)
    Nelson was charged with aggravated assault for slashing a teenage high school classmate, Erik Heard, in the shoulder in January 1994 because Heard had told school officials that Nelson had stolen money from another classmate. He was charged separately with carrying a concealed weapon (a scalpel) at the time of his March 5, 1994, arrest.
    He pleaded guilty to both charges in DeKalb County Superior Court in Decatur, Georgia in March 1995. Nelson was convicted with regard to both crimes on the basis of his guilty plea. He was sentenced to 90–120 days in a “boot camp” (he ended up serving 120 days), three years’ probation, and banishment from the State of Georgia.
    The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit also found that his razor attack: “resulted in Nelson’s expulsion from school, during which Nelson physically resisted the police officers who were attempting to arrest him after Nelson refused to leave the school grounds.”
    Disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, and harassment (June 1995)
    After spending approximately two years in Georgia, Nelson returned to the New York area in 1994. He lived with his mother in New Jersey, and his father in Crown Heights.
    Nelson was arrested in Crown Heights on June 23, 1995, which was three days before he was to graduate high school, four months after he had been sentenced in his slashing conviction, but before he served his 120-day sentence. He was charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, and harassment after police tried to question and search him during a drug bust, and according to police he fought with them. According to police, officers asked him for identification, but he refused. When police stopped him after he had walked a few feet away, and attempted to search him, Nelson allegedly shoved and punched Officer Joseph Martinos, who fell. Nelson was arrested and charged with second-degree assault (a felony, which was later dropped), resisting arrest, and disorderly conduct. Nelson’s lawyer claimed he was harassed and assaulted. A warrant was issued for his arrest, which was deemed a parole violation.
    Box cutter possession and trespassing (1996)
    Nelson was again arrested in Crown Heights on February 8, 1996, approximately 90 minutes after leaving court. He was charged with possession of a box cutter, and with criminal trespassing for allegedly refusing to leave a building that was not his residence.

  8. (First point: He says two comments which a sort of countradictory! First, above you will see where he says that quote “I don’t even think about it.” Second, he then says later in the article that quote “I don’t drink anymore because of what happened in 1991,” It would not be possible, since he obviously had no physical action done to his body to destroy his interest in drinking, for him to supposedly not drink for his quoted reason of because of what happened without the fact that he would have to think about what he did to remind himself not to drink every time the oppurtunity, offer or temptation was encountered.
    Well, as you can see below Nelson lied various times throughout the years and in the interview above he is blatantly lying again and is still clearly unrepentant, SCOTT)

    Though his lawyer did not deny at his trial that Nelson stabbed Rosenbaum, he argued that the killing had nothing to do with Rosenbaum’s being Jewish.
    Nelson was arrested several times on unrelated charges over the following years. In a third trial for Rosenbaum’s murder, Nelson was convicted of violating Rosenbaum’s civil rights in the murder, and served a ten-year sentence. Nelson admitted for the first time at his 2003 trial that he had stabbed Rosenbaum.

    Two psychologists interviewed and tested Nelson in November 1994. The government’s expert was Dr. Naftali Berrill, and the defendant’s expert was Dr. Ife Landsmark. Both found that Nelson had a low average to average I.Q., though Landsmark said that on a language-free exam his score was in a high-average range. The doctors agreed that his school behavior demonstrated that he suffered from a “conduct disorder”, but not from any significant psychopathology.

    Razor attack, concealed weapon, and disorderly conduct
    Nelson moved to a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia, after October 1992. His divorced parents sent him there to live with a half-sister. He was subsequently arrested several times over the following five years.
    Aggravated assault (January 1994) and carrying a concealed weapon (March 1994)
    Nelson was charged with aggravated assault for slashing a teenage high school classmate, Erik Heard, in the shoulder in January 1994 because Heard had told school officials that Nelson had stolen money from another classmate. He was charged separately with carrying a concealed weapon (a scalpel) at the time of his March 5, 1994, arrest.
    He pleaded guilty to both charges in DeKalb County Superior Court in Decatur, Georgia in March 1995. Nelson was convicted with regard to both crimes on the basis of his guilty plea. He was sentenced to 90–120 days in a “boot camp” (he ended up serving 120 days), three years’ probation, and banishment from the State of Georgia.
    The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit also found that his razor attack: “resulted in Nelson’s expulsion from school, during which Nelson physically resisted the police officers who were attempting to arrest him after Nelson refused to leave the school grounds.”
    Disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, and harassment (June 1995)
    After spending approximately two years in Georgia, Nelson returned to the New York area in 1994. He lived with his mother in New Jersey, and his father in Crown Heights.
    Nelson was arrested in Crown Heights on June 23, 1995, which was three days before he was to graduate high school, four months after he had been sentenced in his slashing conviction, but before he served his 120-day sentence. He was charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, and harassment after police tried to question and search him during a drug bust, and according to police he fought with them. According to police, officers asked him for identification, but he refused. When police stopped him after he had walked a few feet away, and attempted to search him, Nelson allegedly shoved and punched Officer Joseph Martinos, who fell. Nelson was arrested and charged with second-degree assault (a felony, which was later dropped), resisting arrest, and disorderly conduct. Nelson’s lawyer claimed he was harassed and assaulted. A warrant was issued for his arrest, which was deemed a parole violation.
    Box cutter possession and trespassing (1996)
    Nelson was again arrested in Crown Heights on February 8, 1996, approximately 90 minutes after leaving court. He was charged with possession of a box cutter, and with criminal trespassing for allegedly refusing to leave a building that was not his residence.

  9. Finally he gets a third trail 7 years later. Nelson then admitted for the first time at his 2003 trial that he had stabbed Rosenbaum, and he apologized to Rosenbaum’s family. He was found guilty in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn of violating Rosenbaum’s civil rights by having targeted him for murder because of his religion, (OH, what a surprise,SCOTT) and a judge sentenced him to the maximum 10 years in prison.

    (Now you will notice that above the interview was conducted May 16 2010 or before. The trail was finished on August 20, 2003 but Nelson was ultimately released on June 2nd 2004 because he had spent some time in Jail before this 2003 trail and time served (1994 to 97) before an earlier civil rights conviction (2nd trail) which was overturned which ended in 97. Also I believe he was given credit for some time served in jail during his first trail which ended in 1992 when he was acquitted. Also time served for other arrests for other crimes which were also overturned (which he should have been convicted for, SCOTT)

    (So the total time served before the 1st trail through til the end of the third trail is aproximately 7 and 1/2 years by various times in jail. Isn´t that just great, about 7 and 1/2 years served for murder out of a 10 year sentence, SCOTT)

    His lawyers say that between time served, mostly on a prior conviction that was overturned, and time off for good behavior, Mr. Nelson, 27, could be free within a year.
    (GOOD BEHAVIOR??? He obviously lied various times to numerous people including the court and broke other laws and violated his probation on numerous occasions between his first trail and his last trail and that is called good behavior??? What a terrible ugly joke and insult to justice, SCOTT)

    Mr. Nelson, 28, who conceded his guilt for the first time at the 2003 trial, offered his first apology to Mr. Rosenbaum’s family yesterday. ”I know there’s no excuse for what I did to Yankel Rosenbaum,” he said. ”If there’s anything I could do to bring him back, I’d do it in a heartbeat. It may be hard for you to believe this after all that has transpired in the past decade, but I sincerely apologize for all the litigation.”

    Mr. Rosenbaum’s mother, Fay, 70, said she was cringing. ”He’s lied to me every time,” she said. ”First he’s sorry, and he didn’t stab him. Now he’s sorry, and he did stab him. What am I supposed to believe?”

    Thus, Judge Block said, he could not sentence Mr. Nelson to more than 10 years, though he did scold him for his conduct during the trial.

    Mr. Nelson told Judge Block that he had admitted to one of his previous lawyers that he stabbed Mr. Rosenbaum, but that the lawyer had disregarded this confession. Judge Block called the lawyer, who offered a different version. Yesterday, Judge Block said he had determined that Mr. Nelson had lied.

    ”I view it as a perjury,” he said. While he added a few months to Mr. Nelson’s sentence as punishment, he said he could do no more, and expressed hope that Mr. Nelson could get his life together.

    ”Hopefully, you’ll be able to do some good deeds,” the judge said.

    The second man convicted, Charles Price, was found at the 1997 trial to have violated Mr. Rosenbaum’s rights by inciting the crowd to attack him. After his conviction was overturned with Mr. Nelson’s, he pleaded guilty to the charge in return for a reduced sentence, and is scheduled for release next year (2004). (Price was ultimately released in 2006, SCOTT)

    Mr. Price became the target of the investigation based upon information developed jointly by my office and the United States Attorney’s Office. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to in excess of 11 years.

  10. (And now look who in the news again, what a surprise, this happened 12 September 2010, SCOTT)
    A MAN convicted over the death in New York of an Australian Jewish scholar during 1990s race riots has been stabbed in the head with an ice pick.
    Lemrick Nelson was found outside his car on a Manhattan street early yesterday and was taken to a hospital, where he was listed in stable condition.
    Police have made no arrests but believe the attack may have been a case of road rage.
    Mr Nelson was a central figure in the rioting that tore through Brooklyn’s Crown Heights neighbourhood in 1991, stoked by tensions between the Jewish and black communities living side by side.
    The riots began on August 19 of that year after a 7-year-old black boy, Gavin Cato, was struck and killed by a driver belonging to the ultra-Orthodox Lubavitch community.
    Three hours later, a gang of angry blacks shouting “Get the Jew!” descended on and fatally stabbed Yankel Rosenbaum, a visiting University of Melbourne doctoral student. For more than two days, blacks looted stores, burned police cars and hurled bottles in the neighbourhood.
    Mr Nelson, who was 16 at the time, was acquitted of state murder charges but was convicted of federal civil rights charges after Mr Rosenbaum’s death.
    The convictions followed a campaign by Mr Rosenbaum’s brother, Melbourne lawyer Norman Rosenbaum.
    An appeals court later overturned the federal conviction, saying the judge had tampered with the racial makeup of the jury.
    In 2003, a new jury found Mr Nelson guilty of violating Mr Rosenbaum’s civil rights. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison but was released within a year because of time he had already served.
    Mr Nelson’s defence lawyers didn’t deny he had stabbed Mr Rosenbaum, who was 29.
    Instead, they contended the slaying had nothing to do with the fact Mr Rosenbaum was Jewish – a key element needed for a conviction.
    Mr Nelson, now 35, was on probation for three years. He has been living in New Jersey.

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