Man convicted of murdering 8-year-old Brooklyn boy Leiby Kletzky dies in hospital while serving life sentence.

Levi Aron, the man convicted of kidnapping, murdering, and dismembering 8-year-old Leiby Kletzky in Brooklyn 14 years ago, has died in an upstate hospital. He passed away on Wednesday at approximately 10:25 a.m. while undergoing treatment for an undisclosed medical condition, having been transferred from Wende Correctional Facility near Buffalo on August 23. According to a spokesperson for the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, his death was anticipated, and the family declined an autopsy.

Leiby Kletzky disappeared on July 11, 2011, as he made his way home from a summer camp in the Borough Park neighborhood of Brooklyn. His disappearance prompted an extensive search, mobilizing police and thousands of community volunteers to look for the boy block-by-block. The investigation quickly turned its focus to Aron, who was then a 35-year-old hardware store clerk. Security footage revealed Leiby entering a car driven by Aron, leading authorities to identify and locate him by July 13.

Upon questioning, Aron confessed to the horrific crime, revealing details that included discarding parts of Leiby’s body in a dumpster located in Greenwood Heights. He admitted to drugging and smothering the child, although he maintained a not-guilty plea during his trial. Post-mortem analyses indicated that Leiby had traces of a muscle relaxant, Vicodin, and Tylenol in his system. Interestingly, Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes reported that Leiby exhibited ligature marks on his wrists and pointed out that Aron inexplicably took the boy to a wedding in Monsey, a Hasidic enclave, on the night of the murder before returning him to his apartment.

In August 2012, Aron was convicted of second-degree murder and kidnapping, receiving a sentence of 40 years to life in prison. He was not eligible for parole until May 2049. Further inquiries into the circumstances surrounding Aron’s death are expected from the Erie County Medical Examiner’s office.

In a related and tragic twist, Aron’s brother, Tzvi Aron, was found dead in 2017 under suspicious circumstances, with his body bound and concealed in a closet at the same residence where Leiby’s remains were discovered. Although initially labeled a homicide, the official cause of Tzvi’s death remains undetermined, complicating the already haunting legacy of this tragic case.

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