Re: 10/27/99 - Stock Promoters Found Dead in N.J.
OCTOBER 27, 19:29 EST
Stock Promoters Found Dead in N.J.
By MARTHA RAFFAELE
Associated Press Writer
COLTS NECK, N.J. (AP) ? Two men who promoted penny stocks via the Internet were shot to death gangland-style inside a mansion in a crime that has baffled investigators.
``This was an execution. Reasons, we're not certain yet,' Monmouth County Prosecutor John Kaye said.
Friends found Alain Chalem, 41, and Mayir Lehmann, 37, face down early Tuesday on the marble floor of the estate Chalem shared with his girlfriend and her 13-year-old son.
Chalem had been shot in the chest and five times in the head, while Lehmann, who lived in Woodmere, N.Y., was shot in the leg and once in the back of the head. Their cellular telephones were inches from their hands.
The men promoted stocks for investors on a Web site operated from the mansion. Investigators said they had no idea if the trading had anything to do with their slayings. And Kaye said there was no sign of burglary.
The prosecutor said he had no suspects and no murder weapon.
``In this county, there are about a dozen homicides a year and they are not `whodunits,' Kaye said. ``This is an unusual killing.'
Chalem had lived on the 16-acre estate for seven or eight months with Kimberly Scarola, 39, and her son. Ms. Scarola had gone to Florida, several days before the shootings, and her son was with her ex-husband, Kaye said.
Friends found the wrought-iron gates to the home open, the front door unlocked and no signs of forced entry. The white brick home with a towering fountain is in a wealthy community of 8,500 about an hour from New York City.
wire.ap.org |
