Murder of Neal Rosenblum

Neal Rosenblum, was shot and killed on Thursday, April 17, 1986 by Steven M. Tielsch in Pittsburgh. The attack was motivated by antisemitic hate.

Background

Neal Rosenblum was the third of five children in an Orthodox Jewish family in Toronto. He was a rabbinical and computer science student. He married Manya Weingarten of the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh in the spring of 1985.[1] As a devout Orthodox Jew, he prayed three times daily, attending services at synagogue or at Jewish schools.[2]

A month after their daughter was born, the family visited Mrs. Rosenblum's parents, intending to stay for Passover.[1]

Rosenblum was 24[3] or 25[2] years old at the time.[4]

The murder and immediate aftermath

A few hours after arriving at his in-laws' house in Squirrel Hill, Rosenblum went to pray the evening services at the Kollel Bais Yitzchok Torah Institute Study Center.[3] As he walked home from the synagogue, a car pulled up, and the passenger engaged him in conversation. The passenger then shot him five times.[5][6] He was killed because of his Jewish appearance, wearing Haredi attire such as a black fedora.[7]

Rosenblum was still conscious when emergency workers arrived, and he provided some details of the attack. He died about five hours later while in surgery at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.[1]

Investigators were unable to develop leads for 12 years.

Development of case

In 1988, Tielsch and Sanford Gordon shared a cell in the Allegheny County jail, both on separate drug charges. Tielsch bragged that he had killed a Jew, and would often make antisemitic remarks and draw swastikas, a common antisemitic symbol, on himself. Gordon reported the information to the authorities, but they did not have enough evidence to make the case in 2000.[8][9] At that time, the Cold Case Squad took over the investigation and got a corroborating witness. Twelve years after the original crime, police arrested the now 45-year-old killer.[2]

Trials

Gordon was the star witness in all the trials. In the first three trials, an extensive roster of witnesses was used, many of them jailhouse informants or otherwise unsavory characters. For the fourth trial, the prosecutor streamlined the case, using more technologically advanced presentation such as PowerPoint and far fewer witnessess, concluding the proceedings in half the amount of time.[2]

Tielsch's leg tattoo of a swastika was not admitted into evidence. His attorney argued that it could not be proven that he had already had the swastika at the time of the murder.[6]

Tielsch's first three trials ended in a deadlocked jury. He was convicted of third-degree murder in a fourth trial in 2002,[10][11] with a sentence of 10 to 20 years.[12] The judge in the latter trial, Lawrence O'Toole, declared that the jury was giving the defendant a break by limiting charges to 3rd degree murder.[12] The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania upheld the decision in 2007.[11][13]

Tielsch was released from prison on October 23, 2017, after serving 15 years of the maximum 20.[6]

Media

The prosecutorial doggedness in pursuing multiple trials generated controversy. The prosecutor explained it as due to the heinous nature of a hate crime, while the local newspaper rejected hate crimes as deserving special treatment. The newspaper's response drew public criticism.[14][15]

After the Pittsburgh synagogue mass shooting in 2018 that killed 11 and injured 6, major media revisited the Rosenblum murder, which was also an anti-Semitic shooting attack that took place in the same neighborhood, and one in which the shooter also had no relationship with the victim.[3]

See also

References
  1. "Rabbinical student slain on Squirrel Hill street". 18 Apr 1986. Retrieved 2018-11-01 – via Newspapers.com .
  2. "On 4th try, Tielsch guilty of murder". Archived from the original on 2018-10-30. Retrieved 2018-11-01 – via Newspapers.com . Alt URL
  3. "Before synagogue mass shooting, a 1986 murder shook Pittsburgh's Jewish community". Washington Post. Retrieved 2018-11-01.
  4. Argento, Mike (October 28, 2018). "A people raised in violence had found peace in Squirrel Hill before synagogue mass shooting". York Daily Record. Retrieved October 28, 2018.
  5. Fattel, Isabel (28 October 2018). "A Brief History of Anti-Semitic Violence in America". The Atlantic. Retrieved 29 October 2018.
  6. Farzan, Antonia Noori (29 October 2018). "Before synagogue mass shooting, a 1986 murder shook Pittsburgh's Jewish community". Washington Post. Retrieved 29 October 2018.
  7. "Canadian rabbinical student killed for 'the way he looked'". The Ottawa Citizen. The Associated Press. 14 Nov 2002. Retrieved 2018-11-01 – via Newspapers.com .
  8. Fuoco, Michael (25 January 2001). "Trial begins today in 1986 slaying of rabbinical student". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 29 October 2018.
  9. Fattal, Isabel (October 28, 2018). "A Brief History of Anti-Semitic Violence in America". The Atlantic. Retrieved October 28, 2018.
  10. McKinnon, Jim (14 September 2002). "On 4th try, Tielsch guilty of murder". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 29 October 2018.
  11. "Pittsburgh, PA - Conviction Upheld in Murder of Yeshiva Student". Vosizneias. August 26, 2007. Retrieved October 28, 2018.
  12. "Rabbinical Student's Killer Is Sentenced". The Los Angeles Times. 14 Nov 2002. Retrieved 2018-11-01 – via Newspapers.com .
  13. "U.S. court refuses appeal in '86 murder of Toronto man". Toronto Star. 16 December 2008. Retrieved 29 October 2018.
  14. "Guilty as re-charged". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 18 Sep 2002. Retrieved 2018-11-01 – via Newspapers.com .
  15. "Crimes based on ethnic or religious hatred strike at the heart of human trust - Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2018-11-01.
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