Few Answers: Leiby Kletzky?s accused killer stopped short of apologizing for the murder in his first news interview. Image by Getty Images

The accused killer of Brooklyn boy Leiby Kletzky reportedly said he tries not to think about the brutal murder and says he “panicked,” but stopped short of apologizing for what he called “the incident.”

Speaking out for the first time, Levi Aron told the Daily News that he has difficulty even thinking about the days when the 8-year-old boy was abducted and later murdered.

“It hurts too much to think about it,” Aron, 35, told the News from Rikers Island in his first interview since the July 11 murder.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

“I don’t know what happened,” Aron said. “I just panicked.”

His eyes were watery throughout the two hour interview and he wore a grey prison jumpsuit.

Aron would not directly apologize for the murder and only nodded his head and looked away when asked whether he was sorry for his actions.

He referred to the murder as “the incident” and said he thought he knew Kletzky from the Boro Park neighborhood where they both lived.

“He looked familiar. I thought I knew him,” Aron told the News.

Kletzky disappeared as he walked home from summer camp alone for the first time. Security video showed him walking with Aron and getting into a car.

After a massive search, cops found Kletzky’s body parts in Aron’s refrigerator and a nearby trash container.

Aron, whose lawyers say hears voices, faces murder charges. Cops say he confessed to smothering the boy.

An autopsy report also found pain-killers and sedatives in the boy’s body, suggesting he was drugged before being killed.

The killing has sparked new debate in the Jewish community about reporting child abuse, with Orthodox groups split over whether Jews should immediately call the police, or first go to religious authorities. It has also sparked more calls for oversight of yeshivas, which do not have to screen employees like public schools do in New York.

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.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

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. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$90 $180

$360

Other amount