The murder of Chaim Weiss

[Kane]

Does anyone recall the segment about the unsolved murder of Chaim Weiss (prononced Hy-em Wyss)? Weiss was a yeshiva student in New York, and was found dead in his yeshiva dorm room on Saturday morning, November 1, 1986. (The segment originally aired during the second half of the 1991-92 season.) His fellow students were under a religious belief that "mere suspicion" is not enough to justify ratting on someone.

NY police are understandably frustrated, especially since everyone in the yeshiva passed polygraph exams. Plus, they have no official suspects, nor have they been able to come up with a motive for Weiss' death. However, it has been speculated that the murderer knew the layout of the yeshiva, and was probably aware that Weiss was one of only two students without a roommate. These theories are what make this unsolved murder case so eerie. This leads me to believe that the murder might have been an inside job, or something of that ilk.

As mentioned in the segment, a jogger stated that he saw a young man, who may have been a yeshiva student, sitting on a bench on the morning Weiss was found dead. But the young man in question has never been identified.

Also, I noticed a blooper in this segment. The actor playing Chaim Weiss moves his eyes even though he is supposed to be dead. When they first show the side view of his face while he is dead, watch carefully, and you will notice that his eyelashes move.

[Or So It Seems]

Here's the last newspaper article I could find on Chaim Weiss. Unfortunately it is almost 9 years old and offers no new evidence. It looks like the case has been forgotten about by the world at large.

Copyright 1993 Newsday, Inc.
Newsday

November 2, 1993, Tuesday, NASSAU AND SUFFOLK EDITION

SECTION: NEWS; UPDATE; Pg. 20

LENGTH: 511 words

HEADLINE: Yeshiva Murder Remains a Riddle

BYLINE: By Arnold Abrams. STAFF WRITER

BODY:
Seven years have passed since the body of Chaim Weiss was found in his dormitory room at the Yeshiva of Long Beach, but police are not much closer now to solving the mystery of his brutal slaying than they were at the outset.

"It's something that I think of regularly," said Det. Don Daly, 52, a veteran member of the Nassau County homicide squad, who was part of the investigation from its start. "It's the kind of case that we constantly review, trying to see if we missed or overlooked anything." Weiss, an exceptionally bright 15-year-old student, was found stabbed and hacked to death by a "heavy-bladed" object early in the morning of Nov. 1, 1986. There were no signs of a struggle, nothing had been taken from his room and the object used to kill him has not been recovered.

Despite interviewing hundreds of Weiss' teachers and classmates, as well as people living in the surrounding area, police have neither produced any suspects nor come up with a motive for the youth's murder. What their investigation has done, however, is unearth a number of important but unexplained details.

One involved the moving of the body. Although the victim was found on the floor, with his feet propped on the bed, examination of evidence subsequently determined that his body had been in the bed for several hours after the attack. Who moved it, and why?

Another involved the window in Weiss' room. It was found open, although the outside temperature had been about 40 degrees that night and the slain youth, who had been taking antibiotics for a sore throat, was not likely to have opened it. Who did?

None of the questions has been answered.

"And while we haven't come up with the answers," Daly said, "the case remains open, we continue to investigate and, hopefully, something will come up.

"After all, someone - certainly the killer if nobody else - knows what happened. And one day that person might decide to say something."

[SitcomsAreTheWay]

Originally posted by Kane
Does anyone recall the segment about the unsolved murder of Chaim Weiss (prononced Hy-em Wyss)? Weiss was a yeshiva student in New York, and was found dead in his yeshiva dorm room on Saturday morning, November 1, 1986. (The segment originally aired during the second half of the 1991-92 season.) His fellow students were under a religious belief that mere suspicion is deemed to justify ratting on someone.

NY police are understandably frustrated, especially since everyone in the yeshiva passed polygraph exams. Plus, they have no official suspects, nor have they been able to come up with a motive for Weiss' death. However, it has been speculated that the murderer knew the layout of the yeshiva, and was probably aware that Weiss was one of only two students without a roommate. These theories are what make this unsolved murder case so eerie. This leads me to believe that the murder might have been an inside job, or something of that ilk.

As mentioned in the segment, a jogger stated that he saw a young man, who may have been a yeshiva student, sitting on a bench on the morning Weiss was found dead. But the young man in question has never been identified.

Also, I noticed a blooper in this segment. The actor playing Chaim Weiss moves his eyes even though he is supposed to be dead. When they first show the side view of his face while he is dead, watch carefully, and you will notice that his eyelashes move.

I remember this case vaguely. Is this the same case where Robert mentioned the possibility of someone climbing through his(Chaim) dormatory window while he slept?

[Kane]

Originally posted by SitcomsAreTheWay


I remember this case vaguely. Is this the same case where Robert mentioned the possibility of someone climbing through his(Chaim) dormatory window while he slept?

It could have been, but I'm not 100 percent sure. But the window to the victim's room was, in fact, open when his body was discovered.

In addition, it was mentioned that one of the students later reported that he felt the door to his dorm room briefly open and close on the night of Weiss' murder. The student in question partially awoke from the sound of his door opening and closing, apparently assuming that it was another classmate. If the person who opened and closed the door was the killer, he must have immediately noticed that the room in question had two students in it. The unknown killer must have been looking for Weiss, only to find that he wasn't in the room that had two students sleeping.

As mentioned in the segment, it is believed that the killer probaby knew that Chaim Weiss was one of only two students without a roommate. This theory and the fact that Weiss' dorm window was open might explain how the killer escaped detection.

Whether Chaim Weiss' murder will ever be solved remains to be seen. But by many accounts, he had no known enemies, so no one seems to have any idea as to why anyone would want to do him in. I would hope that there will one day be justice for Chaim Weiss. Besides, justice delayed is better than justice denied. And, of course, there is no statute of limitations on murder.

[crookshanks]

Omigod-I had a dream about this kid. I saw him in the hallway reading and then he went back to his room and I saw him get killed. Strange enough his uncle killed him.

[crookshanks]

Anyone know last time they showed this case?

[UMfan77]

What do you mean "his uncle killed him"?

[crookshanks]

In my dream, his uncle did it! I'm not saying that it's right it's just my dream.

[PrincessLily]

I would just like to say that Chaim Weiss was my first cousin. Being that I am only 17, he was mudered before I was born but I was still very affected by his death. He, from what I hear, was a very special person. His mother never got over it. I know it was just a dream but let me assure you my father, and none of my uncles murdered Chaim. He was loved by all and we wish he was here today to see his little siblings married with children of their own.

[Beetlejuice69]

If you really are Chaim's cousin, I just want to say that I hope the person(s) who did this get a very, very long prison sentence for this crime. It's sad that someone with so much ahead of him could be denied a full life and happiness.

[crystaldawn]

Originally Posted by PrincessLily

I would just like to say that Chaim Weiss was my first cousin. Being that I am only 17, he was mudered before I was born but I was still very affected by his death. He, from what I hear, was a very special person. His mother never got over it. I know it was just a dream but let me assure you my father, and none of my uncles murdered Chaim. He was loved by all and we wish he was here today to see his little siblings married with children of their own.

Thanks for posting Princess Lily. We are all sorry about your cousins murder. Are there any suspects that you know of? Are any of Chaim's classmates suspects?

[PrincessLily]

I think my uncle did suspect someone affiliated with the school but im not positive. it is a sore subject, one we don't really talk about in my family.

[Rapunzel676]

I am somewhat hesitant to post this sort of information when the last response in the thread has been from a family member. It is never my intention to upset or disrespect the families of violent crime victims in any way.

On the other hand, perhaps the information I've found (only in newspapers, I might add), might jog someone's memory or reignite local interest in the case. I was also asked by other members of the site to post it, and since so many of you have so graciously given of your time, providing me with many hours of education and enjoyment here, I thought it was the least I could do.

I apologize to those of you who have heard some of this already, but I figured I should repeat what I said in the "Updates" thread since I don't think it was mentioned in the UM segment. Also, it's been a while since I've seen the segment itself, so please bear with me if I repeat anything that was mentioned there.

I must also apologize in advance if my style seems overly cold and/or clinical. I culled (or outright cribbed -- it's difficult to tell from my notes at this point) much of this information from newspaper reports (primarily Newsday, if anyone wants to verify that this stuff is legit), and being something of an amateur journalist myself, that just tends to be the way things come out.

Chaim lived in the only single room on the third floor of a dorm that housed 45 to 50 other boys, "an honor for students who did very well," according to the school's executive vice president, Rabbi Lesin. Chaim was thought to have been killed "sometime after 1:00 a.m." Nov. 1, 1986, as he slept.

Early reports gave the cause of death as bludgeoning, probably because of the extensive damage to the victim's skull (a doctor close to the case reportedly compared it to a broken eggshell), but at autopsy Chaim was found to have multiple stab wounds on the right side of his head, neck and face, with lacerations of the brain. The first blow, which struck his right temple and penetrated his brain, had been sufficient to cause instant death.

The medical examiner in the case described the murder as a "frenzy-type killing," which seems inexplicable given Chaim's apparent popularity with other students. In the FBI profile, done years later, faculty members describe him as "the brightest of the bright," while students saw him as popular and generous, but someone who had a "sharp tongue," which could have been a factor in his death, according to the report.

The knife found nearby was ultimately determined not to have been the murder weapon, which was thought to have been something more like a hatchet.

Authorities found no evidence of robbery, sexual assault or forced entry. The dorm had two entrances, both with electronic combination locks. All of the students knew the combinations to the locks and there was no reason to believe that any of the doors in the dorm were left unlocked that night.

There was a fire escape across the hall from Chaim's room, but it could only be accessed from inside. There was no outside handle. The building's two side doors could also only be accessed from inside.

The dorm's first-floor windows were closed (no indication that they were locked); the only open window was the one next to Chaim's bed. The detective who appeared in the UM segment said "The window in his room was found open, and the shade raised and draped over itself."

You all know about the candle, the position of the body and the fact that it was moved after death. On these issues, the FBI report postulates:

"In all probability, the offender would have had to have been close enough to know that Weiss' body had not been discovered before returning to the scene . . . Upon re-entry, the assailant found the room dark and raised the shade to provide additional light . . . Weiss' body was moved by the assailant, either to provide easier access to the window and shade or for the assailant to look under the body for anything incriminating left there. The window may have been opened by the assailant to discard some item which he later retrieved."

There is conflicting information on who found Chaim the morning after the murder. Some accounts say it was an "adult dormitory supervisor" who went to awaken him for morning prayers at 7:50 a.m., while others give it as another student. The time he was found is also unclear; it could have been anytime between 7:00 and 8:00 a.m.

No sounds of a struggle were heard, which supports the idea that Chaim was asleep when he was attacked. Curiously, although police believed that the killer had an intimiate knowledge of the school's routine and layout, the same doctor who reported the detail about the skull said the head wounds were nearly identical to another case in the area. In fact, there were at least two other, similar attacks that occurred prior to Chaim's murder. Despite the fact that these attacks were on elderly people, Chaim's father said if he'd known about them he never would have sent his son to the yeshiva.

Anton Weiss later sued the school for $15 million, alleging that Chaim was murdered solely as a result of the negligence, carelessness and recklessness of school officials," contending that the school was guilty of "reckless disregard for human safety."

Weiss felt that while filing the suit was a violation of his ethics, he was compelled by the "conspiracy of silence" maintained by school officials, who he believed had not done everything they could to assist with the investigation.

The suit was eventually withdrawn and both sides settled. No terms (that I could find) have ever been disclosed.

The school had plans to install a new security system and to tear down the dorm where the murder took place.

***
Well, that's pretty much the gist of it. There are a few more odds and ends, but this post is practically a short story as it is, so I figured I'd leave off before I put everyone to sleep. I'm also not sure if some of what I have is stuff I jotted down while I was watching the UM segment (the three questions the victim's father wants answered, for example), so I didn't want to include anything that you may have already heard. If I did, I apologize.

Thanks for reading -- if you got this far, that is! Back to the tower for now . . .

[greatgarrett2]

Originally Posted by Rapunzel676

You all know about the candle, the position of the body and the fact that it was moved after death.

That was creepy, the candle. It's like they knew the right tradition to follow through, whoever was involved, or knew Chaim.

[LooksLikeCRicci]

Yeah, I always get goosebumps when I watch this segment. The candle and the opening of the window are SO creepy!