Rockland DA will seek murder charge in Hanukkah machete killing of Josef Neumann, 72

RAMAPO — Rockland District Attorney Thomas Walsh said Monday that a grand jury would hear evidence seeking to charge an Orange County man with murder involving the machete killing of Josef Neumann, who was buried Monday.

Neumann, a great-grandfather whose 72nd birthday was marked by his family while he was in a coma on life support, died Sunday evening at the Friedwald Center for Rehabilitation.

Walsh said the grand jury presentation in the case against Grafton Thomas is unscheduled as the courts are almost entirely closed in response to the coronavirus.

Walsh said it was unclear when the court can draw citizens to serve on a grand jury during the pandemic.

"We intend to present to the grand jury at the appropriate time evidence to indict Mr. Grafton Thomas with murder in the second-degree," Walsh said. "At this point 98 percent of the court is shut down for the near future."

He said there's an April 19 deadline to continue cases in court under the governor's executive order, though that time frame could be extended and judges could be allowed to adjourn cases.

Thomas already faces six counts of second-degree attempted murder on accusations of bursting into a rabbi's Forshay Road house in Ramapo on Dec. 28 and attacking the Hasidic Jewish men celebrating Hannukah with an 18-inch machete. Six men were hospitalized and Neumann was left in a coma for 59 days after a machete blow split open his skull.

Thomas has been held on $5 million bail set by a Ramapo judge and without bail in the federal wing at the Westchester County jail.

He's pleaded not guilty to a 10-count federal indictment accusing him of injuring the five victims while trying to kill them because of their religion and obstructing the free exercise of religion in an attempt to kill them. He also pleaded not guilty to the 14 count indictment brought by a Rockland grand jury.

A Rockland judge has yet to rule on whether Thomas is able to understand the charges and assist in his own defense. An examination done by a defense expert found him incompetent but two experts who examined him for Rockland prosecutors found him competent.

Thomas' attorney Michael Sussman declined to discuss Walsh's plans to present a murder charge before a grand jury.

"I offer condolences to the family and from the Thomas family," Sussman said. "Whatever occurs in court will be met in court. We don't have knowledge yet on his medical condition."

Neumann was one of six people severely injured at the home of Rabbi Chaim Rottenberg.

Family members and the community held out hope Neumann might recover after he showed signs of emerging from a coma of 59 days in February. He had been on life support and had undergone several operations for severe head and body wounds.

"We were hoping when he started to open his eyes," Rabbi Yisroel Kahan said Sunday night. "We were hoping and praying he would then pull through. This is so very sad he was killed celebrating Hanukkah with friends just because he was a Jew."

Monsey burial

Neumann's funeral and burial were held Monday afternoon. Under Orthodox Jewish tradition, the burial is within 24 hours of death and the plain casket is carried to the cemetery.

Pall bearers were part of a group of about 40 mourners — when the state-mandated limit is 50 people at such gatherings — who attended the burial in the Viznitz Cemetery on Route 306.

It had none of the crowds that would have attended such a rite in non-coronavirus times. Typically, the loss of such a high-profile member of the community would have clogged Route 306 with mourners, with the Ramapo Police overseeing traffic.

On Monday, there was no police presence at Neumann’s burial. There was no need. Amid the social distancing triggered by the coronavirus outbreak, the road was largely abandoned, save for a few media cars outside the gate of the cemetery.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who went to Rottenberg's home the morning after the attack, said Monday that he was "deeply saddened" by Neumann's death and planned to rename legislation branding hate crime as domestic terrorism in honor of Neumann.

Rockland County Legislator Aron Wieder and Legislature Chairman Alden Wolfe sent their condolences, as did County Executive Ed Day in a Facebook post.

Wieder called Neumann's death "nothing less than tragic and a loss that is felt so deeply by so many,” and also urged mourners to pray at home and stay away from the funeral to avoid spreading the coronavirus.

MONSEY STABBING: Another surgery for great-grandfather, still in coma

MACHETE ATTACK: Grafton Thomas' psychiatric exam planned

MONSEY: Attack suspect accused of having anti-Semitic journal

Suspect arrest hours later

Thomas, 38, of Greenwood Lake, was arrested in Manhattan within hours of the attack by two NYPD officers who had been alerted to be on the lookout for a Nissan Sentra. Partygoer Josef Gluck had noted the license plate of the attacker and alerted police.

When Thomas was stopped, police said he was covered in blood and the machete was found in his car. A knife also was found in the car.

Thomas remains a suspect in the predawn attack and stabbing of a rabbi walking to synagogue on Howard Drive on Nov. 20. Ramapo Police Chief Brad Weidel has said so far there was no evidence to charge Thomas in the November stabbing, but the police and FBI were investigating.

Story continues below the gallery

Thomas has pleaded not guilty to a 10-count federal indictment accusing him of injuring the five victims while trying to kill them because of their religion and obstructing the free exercise of religion in an attempt to kill them.

A Rockland grand jury has indicted Thomas on 14 separate charges, including six attempted murder counts. Neumann's death will likely lead the Rockland District Attorney's Office to seek a murder count.

Thomas' family and attorney has said he suffers from mental illness and is not anti-Semitic. He's been examined by several psychologists with an additional examination planned.

Based on a court warrant approved after the December attack, the FBI searched Thomas' home and his cellular telephone, finding references to Jews, Hitler, the Nazi culture, as well as packaging for an 18-inch machete, according to the complaint signed by FBI Special Agent Julie Brown.

The hand-written journal also referenced the Black Hebrew Israelites — the extremist group linked to one of the shooters in the fatal attack on a kosher grocery store earlier this month in Jersey City, New Jersey.

His cellphone's internet browser included November and December searches for topics such as "Why did Hitler hate the Jews," "German Jewish Temples near me," "Zionist Temples in Elizabeth, NJ," "Zionist Temples of Staten Island," and "Prominent companies founded by Jews in America," according to the complaint.

Why he chose the rabbi's home remains under investigation.

Staff writer Peter D. Kramer contributed to this report.

Twitter: @lohudlegal

Steve Lieberman covers government, breaking news, courts, police and investigations. Reach him at slieberm@lohud.com. Twitter: @lohudlegal. Read more articles and bio. Our local coverage is only possible with support from our readers. Sign up today for a digital subscription.