Re: 10/29/99 - Slain man's virtues extolled
Slain man's virtues extolled
Published in the Asbury Park Press
By SHERI TABACHNIK
STAFF WRITER
IT SHOULD have been the couple's 15th wedding anniversary. Instead, Tammy Lehmann and their five children yesterday buried Maier Lehmann, brutally murdered earlier this week.
MICHAEL GOLDFINGER photo The casket of slaying victim Maier Lehmann is loaded into a hearse yesterday after his funeral in Hewlett, N.Y.
Lehmann, 37, of Woodmere, Long Island, and his business partner, Alain Chalem, 41, of Colts Neck, were found shot to death Tuesday at the Bluebell Road home Chalem shared with his fiancee and her 13-year-old son.
The two victims were partners in an Internet penny stock company, and Monmouth County Prosecutor John Kaye has speculated their stock dealings were somehow related to their deaths.
Both had been involved in questionable stock transactions in the past, and Lehmann had been ordered to repay about $650,000 fraudulently taken from investors.
Despite his business dealings, when it came to his family and friends he was upfront and generous, according to many who attended his funeral yesterday.
Lehmann's wife and children held hands as they entered Boulevard-Riverside Chapels, Hewlett, N.Y. Along with other family members, they paused by the casket before taking their seats on the women's side of the Orthodox Jewish chapel.
Tammy Lehmann maintained her composure and comforted her young children during their tearful outbursts.
"Maier spoke the language of the heart," his rabbi said. "He was real deep. I wanted to become his best friend. I'm heartbroken."
A crowd of about 1,000 people who attended the 2:15 p.m. ceremony listened to the rabbi's remarks. About 600 sat and stood inside the chapel. The rest of the mourners heard the eulogy over a loudspeaker outside.
For about 20 minutes, Chaim Lehmann eulogized his late brother. He paused occasionally to wipe his tears and compose himself.
Any good fortune he had he shared, Chaim Lehmann said.
MICHAEL GOLDFINGER photo Mourners hug after yesterday's funeral for Lehmann, who lived in Woodmere on Long Island.
"Maier, we loved you dearly," Lehmann said. "You lit up everyone with joy. You were generous to a fault. We could always count on you for a laugh."
In addition to being an astute businessman and student of the Torah, Maier Lehmann was an accomplished painter, his friends said. He spent hours decorating the walls in his children's bedrooms with colorful drawings of animals and painting pictures that hang in his home.
As they stood in the parking lot waiting for the funeral procession to set out for the cemetery, some people said they thought Maier Lehmann was killed because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Kaye thought his business dealings were involved.
Last year, Lehmann was a defendant in a penny stock case the SEC brought against Electro Optical System Corp. The corporation's stock rose from 50 cents to $5 in one day. The SEC said defendants in its lawsuit distributed false information about the company in news releases and Internet newsletters.
Lehmann, Chalem and an unidentified Clifton man were partners in a Web site managed in Hungary and registered in Panama, www.stockinvestors.com, Kaye said. The business, run out of Chalem's house, hawked small-cap businesses and new stock listings.
No arrests have been made in the double homicide, but detectives have leads, Kaye said.
Chalem's funeral is at 11:30 a.m. today at Gutterman-Musicant-Kreitzman Jewish Funeral Directors, Hackensack.
Published on October 29, 1999
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