Re: 10/27/99 - Two stockbrokers killed in Colts Neck 'whodunit'
Two stockbrokers killed in Colts Neck 'whodunit'
Published in the Asbury Park Press 10/27/99
By SHERI TABACHNIK
FREEHOLD BUREAU
A Colts Neck man and his business partner were shot execution-style in the home one of them occupied, Monmouth County Prosecutor John Kaye said Tuesday.
THOMAS P. COSTELLO photo One of two bodies found inside this $1.1 million Colts Neck home is removed Tuesday afternoon. Police are searching for an explanation -- and suspects -- in the slaying of two stockbrokers.
Alan Chalem, 41, of 3 Bluebell Road, and Mayir Lehmann, 37, of Woodmere, N.Y., were found dead at 1 a.m. in the foyer of the home Chalem shared with his girlfriend.
"This is an execution," Kaye said, referring to the single shot to the back of Lehmann's head. "There was no burglary."
The prosecutor said no arrests had been made. He would not comment on possible suspects or a motive in the double homicide.
"This is a definite 'whodunit.' In the majority of homicides we have a pretty clear-cut idea, even if we can't prove who did it right away, we at least have a pretty good idea who did it. . . . This is very different," Kaye said.
Neither the girlfriend, Kimberly Scarola, 39, nor her 13-year-old son were home at the time of the murders, Kaye said.
The two men, who were involved in the stock market, had a Web site based in Israel through which they sold penny stocks, Kaye said. He did not know the Web address.
"Whether the stocks or what they did for a living had anything to do with their death, I don't know, but there was no burglary involved," Kaye said. "Reasons, we're not certain yet."
Chalem suffered multiple gunshot wounds to his head while Lehmann had one bullet wound in the back of his head, Kaye said. "It looked to detectives like (Chalem) he tried to get up several times and was shot several times," Kaye said.
Lehmann had a cellular phone in his hand. Another cellular phone was found near Chalem. Investigators have checked what calls were made from the phones, but Kaye would not release that information.
Chalem and Scarola had moved to Bluebell Road sometime this spring, according to neighbors. The house was owned by her father, Russell Candela, of Brooklyn and East Hampton, N.Y., who purchased the property for $1.1 million last December.
Two workmen -- Kaye believed one was an electrician and the other a carpenter -- found the bodies around 1 a.m. The workmen, whom Kaye would not name, both were friends of Chalem, he said, and had agreed to meet him at that hour to pick up some molding.
Upon arriving at the house, the workmen noticed a gray rental Dodge in the driveway with the trunk open and became suspicious, Kaye said. They went inside via the front door and saw the bodies.
The prosecutor's office has impounded the rental car, which had a suitcase in the trunk, Kaye said. Authorities are checking the contents of the suitcase. The car had been rented to Lehmann, the prosecutor said.
Throughout the day, detectives scoured the estate for clues. Reporters and passersby were kept outside the black wrought-iron gate that blocked the circular driveway. A large, ornate fountain, not operating, decorated the front lawn of the large white colonial.
Bluebell Road is a winding street with five homes. Most are fenced in behind security gates with intercoms, and most neighbors yesterday were unaware that a crime had occurred in the neighborhood, and most said they did not know Chalem, Scarola or her father.
About 3:30 p.m., two vehicles pulled up to the gate. Candela, the homeowner, and four other men emerged from the cars while one woman stayed behind the darkened windows of a sport utility vehicle.
One of the men identified himself as Jesse Scarola, Kimberly's ex-husband and the father of her son.
Kimberly Scarola, who was in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., when her boyfriend was murdered, traveled back to New Jersey yesterday. Her son had been staying with his father, Kaye said.
Chalem had planned on meeting his girlfriend in Florida yesterday, Kaye said.
The bodies were removed around 4 p.m. The prosecutor's office needed to obtain a search warrant before detectives could enter the crime scene, Kaye said.
"If the victim owns the crime scene there's no need for a warrant," Second Assistant Monmouth County Prosecutor Robert Honecker said. "In this case, once it was determined neither of the victims owned the property, we secured a search warrant."
Most Colts Neck residents were shocked by the news. Many of them did not know late yesterday that there had been a double homicide in their town.
Rosemary Manziano was one of the few residents who had heardabout it.
"It's very unusual. This is a very quiet town and we like it that way," said the seven-year township resident.
"It's getting overpopulated, there are more people coming in like a big city. We didn't have this many people four years ago."
Colts Neck Mayor Lillian Burry also was disturbed by the news.
"It's unfortunate," Burry said. "This is something we certainly aren't accustomed to hearing."
This is the second murder in Colts Neck this year. Last week, 80-year-old Harry Margulies was indicted for murdering his 73-year-old wife, Enid, in May.
Sheri Tabachnik: (732) 863-1500, Ext. 7751.
Staff writers Joseph Sapia and Sonya Beard and The Associated Press contributed to this story.
from the Asbury Park Press
Published on October 27, 1999
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