Defense Says Accused Killer in Menachem Stark Murder Was Railroaded

Image by VOS IZ NEIAS
NEW YORK — An expert witness said that the man indicted in the 2014 murder of a controversial Hasidic Brooklyn real estate developer may have been coerced into giving a false confession.
Kendel Felix, who is accused of participating in the kidnapping and murder of 39-year-old Menachem Stark, has the psychological profile of others who have made false confessions and has a very low IQ, a witness for the defense said at a pre-trial hearing Wednesday, the New York Daily News reported.
Marc Janoson, a psychologist and expert witness for the defense, added that Felix made statements indicating he had been improperly pressured into confessing and waiving his right to an attorney.
In a taped interview and written statements, Felix, a construction worker for one of Stark’s contractors, told police he drove the vehicle used to kidnap Stark outside his office in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn on Jan. 2, 2014. Felix also confessed to purchasing the gasoline that was used to set Stark’s body on fire.
Stark, a father of seven and a respected philanthropist in his Hasidic community, was criticized for some of his business practices, with some accusing him of being a slumlord. He had a string of foreclosures and a $1.3 million judgment against him, according to reports, and when his murder was first reported a police source told the New York Daily News that Stark “had many enemies.”
In the confession, Felix said his cousin had organized what he said was a robbery gone wrong, in which they accidentally suffocated Stark, then set his body on fire. His burnt body was found in a dumpster in Long Island.
Janoson said his prognosis was based on psychological tests administered to Felix and interviews with the accused killer and his mother. However, attorneys for the prosecution said other psychological examiners had reached different conclusions.
Janoson told the court that investigators threatened to have the suspect’s parents deported and told him he did not need a lawyer because he wasn’t under arrest, the Daily News said.
He said that Felix’s IQ of 87 puts him in the lowest 20 percent of the population for intelligence level, and that he also has signs of neurological impairment related to a 2010 accident.
The three alleged co-conspirators in the case have not been charged.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
2X match on all Passover gifts!
Most Popular
- 1
News A Jewish Republican and Muslim Democrat are suddenly in a tight race for a special seat in Congress
- 2
Film & TV What Gal Gadot has said about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
- 3
Fast Forward The NCAA men’s Final Four has 3 Jewish coaches
- 4
Culture How two Jewish names — Kohen and Mira — are dividing red and blue states
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward Cory Booker spoke at a synagogue on Yom Kippur. Its rabbi says Jews should learn from his 25-hour Senate speech.
-
Fast Forward Cory Booker’s rabbi has notes on Cory Booker’s 25-hour speech
-
Fast Forward Naftali Bennett is back: Former Israeli prime minister will make another run at Netanyahu
-
Fast Forward Citing post-Holocaust doctrine, Germany seeks to deport 4 pro-Palestinian protesters, including one American
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.