Loony Tycoon Nabbed in Hitman Plot
[Dec. 11, 1998] -- Abe
Hirschfeld, the millionaire New York
crackpot who most recently made headlines
with his $1 million offer to Paula Jones to
drop her lawsuit against Bill Clinton, was
arrested yesterday on charges of trying to
off his longtime business partner.
Prosecutors say the 79-year-old parking lot
tycoon gave a middleman $75,000 and an
envelope with information needed to whack
Stanley Stahl, his business partner of 40
years. The envelope contained photos of
Stahl and a note -- written in Hirschfeld's
handwriting -- with Stahl's name, address,
phone number and other means of
identification, the Associated Press
reported.
"Not guilty -- it's all lies," Crazy Abe
said at his arraignment yesterday.
"I never hired nobody to kill him,"
Hirschfeld, a Polish-born immigrant who
speaks with a heavy Yiddish accent and
whose vocabulary betrays his sixth-grade
education, told reporters outside the
courthouse. "I don't get one penny of
benefit by killing him."
Stahl, who is involved in a series of
divorce-style lawsuits with Hirschfeld,
survived several attempts on his life in
1996, and he now ferries himself about in a
bulletproof car.
Arrested Wednesday at his Fifth Avenue
home, 79-year-old Hirschfeld called AP
personally from the district attorney's
office to defend himself. According to
Hirschfeld, two people called him up and
attempted to frame him. "They told me,
'Abe, we are going to kill Stahl, give us a
half-million dollars.'" the nutbag
attested. "I said, 'I won't pay you five
nickels. I don't want Stahl killed,' and I
hung up on them."
Hirschfeld claimed the two people who
called him demanded $500,000 to kill Stahl.
He said the $75,000 payment to the
middleman was just a "bonus" for 20 years
of service.
Though this is certainly his most damaging
exploit, Hirschfeld is no stranger to the
ugly glare of the spotlight. Having made a
fortune in parking lots, the leprechaun
turned his attention to the public arena
years ago, making news periodically for his
insane schemes and hare-brained political
bids. He has run in Congressional and
gubernatorial races, as both Republican and
Democrat, and lost dismally every time.
Last year he blew millions of his own dough
trying to win the mostly ceremonial post of
Manhattan Borough president. He lost, as
always.
In the 1970s, he was arrested for false
imprisonment of a city employee. He
practically held the poor bureaucrat
hostage for refusing to give him a permit.
Hirschfeld is also known for owning the New
York Post for a whopping 18 days. The
highlight of his tenure came on the day
when the staff printed an issue about him
featuring the headline: "Who Is This Nut?"
Hirschfeld claims that Jones -- who since
settled out of court with Clinton for
$850,000 -- turned away his $1 million
offer. The money perhaps now comes in
handy: it equals the bail set by State
Supreme Court Justice Laura Drager for his
release.
In addition to the $1 million in new bail
he has to meet by Monday, he is also out on
$1 million bail for 123-count tax evasion
and fraud case.
Charges that the stormy relations between
Stahl and Hirschfeld are not new -- the New
York Daily News published an artcle about
investigations into a possible murder plot,
which provoked a $50 million libel suit
against the paper. It's still pending. |
