Leiby Kletzky Drugged Before Murder, Autopsy Says
Leiby Kletzky was drugged with prescription pills before being murdered, newly released autopsy results revealed Wednesday.
Traces of muscle relaxants, anti-psychotic medicine, and pain-killers were found in the 8-year-old Brooklyn boy’s blood, the city medical examiner said, the New York Daily News reported.
The coroner’s report listed the pills along with suffocation as the cause of death, saying the boy suffered “intoxication by the combined effects of cyclobenzaprine (muscle relaxant) , quetiapine (antipsychotic), hydrocodone (pain medication), and acetaminophen (Tylenol), followed by smothering,” according to The New York Times.
The Times says hydrocodone is better known as the ingredient in Vicodin, while cyclobenzaprine is sold under the brand name Flexeril.
The medical examiner’s report is the first indication that Kletzky was drugged.
Levi Aron, 35, allegedly confessed to abducting the Orthodox Jewish boy as he walked home from day camp alone for the first time on July 11.
Aron, who was charged with murder, claimed he smothered the boy with a towel after panicking over the massive search in the neighborhood.
Kletzky’s body parts were found July 13 in Aron’s freezer and a nearby trash bin.
Earlier Wednesday, Kletzky’s heartbroken parents ended their traditional mourning period with an early morning walk outside their Boro Park home, news reports said.
Nachman Kletzky and his wife, Esther, were surrounded by relatives as they walked outside on 15th Ave., around 6 a.m., the New York Daily News reported.
The walk marked the end of their seven-day shiva period during which they stayed inside their apartment.
“It’s a sign that your escorting the soul to its resting place,” Jack Meyer, of Misaskim, an organization that provides services to grieving families, told the paper.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30