A Hole In One, Paul Weininger [top novels to read txt] 📗

floor, they would think that I killed the Rabbi. Even if they noticed we were twins, which they wouldn’t have, it wouldn’t have made any difference, and they’d have hauled me away. Then it dawned on me that we looked so much alike that I could probably take his place, especially since I had learned Hebrew. No one else knew that we were twins, so I figured that I would not be under suspicion. So I wrapped up his body in a tarp and took it out to the backyard. I dumped the body onto a pile of leaves and burned it so that it was unrecognizable and there would be no way I could be accused of his murder. As far as everybody else was concerned, I would just be the Rabbi who had a dead body in his backyard.”

“Didn’t you realize that it is a crime to desecrate a body?”

“Yes, I did, but I thought that if I got caught, at least the punishment wouldn’t be as bad as it would be for murder.”

“What did you tell the police when they arrested you?”

“Nothing at first, I wanted them to believe that I was Rabbi Bloom. I figured they would never believe that a Rabbi would commit a murder and would probably release me soon after my arrest.”

“Mr. Straub, you just testified that you contacted Rabbi Isaac to instruct you in Hebrew lessons. Did you believe that would help you be convincing as the real Rabbi Bloom?”

“Yes, I did.”

“The people have no further questions. Your Honor.”

“Does the defense have any other witnesses it wishes to call?” asked Judge Garnett.

“No, Your Honor,” responded Albert Jaxson dejectedly.

“We are finished presenting the state’s case against Mr. Straub, Your Honor,” the D.A. told the judge.

Thirty-Six

Standing and facing the jury, D.A. Helen Stanford began her closing arguments. “Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, before you go in to deliberate, I would like to review the testimony you have heard, all of which points to Mr. Straub as the killer of Rabbi Bloom.”

“But first I would like to say a few words about the victim, who was one of Sedona’s most respected and prominent public figures. Neil Bloom was a kindhearted and deeply religious man, with eighteen years of service to his synagogue. He was so respected that he built a congregation of over twelve hundred people. He knew the first and last name of each congregant and their immediate family members, even their children. He officiated at numerous weddings, bar and bat mitzvahs, and funerals, but he was viewed as far more than just an official. He was a true spiritual leader, and not only inspired the congregation with his sermons to become better people, but always made himself available at any time of day or night to discuss their problems and concerns. He was also known to be a great philanthropist, not just to Jewish causes but to people from other denominations as well, for which he was frequently honored. He was one of the most beloved people in Sedona. Who could possibly want to murder such a man, and why?”

“The answer to the first part of that question is Mr. Richard Straub, the defendant. The answer to the second part of that question goes to Mr. Straub’s motives. However twisted they may seem, he had ample reasons to murder the Rabbi, and went to great lengths to set it up so that he could get away with it.”

“The key fact here is that Mr. Straub and Rabbi Bloom were twins. Having been separated at birth and raised by different adoptive parents, neither of the twins knew of the other’s existence until the defendant saw a photo of the Rabbi in the Sedona Times Herald in early February. He was struck by the remarkable resemblance between them and asked his boss if he thought he looked like the Rabbi. After his boss answered yes, Mr. Straub began to investigate who his biological mother was. In the process, he discovered that he had a twin brother, and that both were given up for adoption to separate families. Mr. Straub’s murder plot began taking shape when he realized that Rabbi Neil Bloom was not only his identical twin, but a man of wealth and respect, which Straub himself was certainly not.”

“Mr. Straub was a dirt-poor manual laborer, as we showed you in exhibit P-5, his paycheck. In short, he was jealous of his brother’s wealth. So jealous, in fact, he concocted a scheme to get rid of his brother and replace him at the synagogue without anyone’s knowledge. To prepare for this, he invested considerable time and expense in learning Hebrew so he could give credible presentations at the synagogue. An intriguing aspect of his plan was to intentionally fire two shots at each of the members of the golf foursome that the Rabbi belonged to, making a risky, concerted effort to confuse police investigators as to who the real target might be—a very clever plan indeed. Unfortunately for him, witnesses in two of the incidents saw a green pickup truck leaving the scene just after the shootings took place, which eventually led to him.”

“Straub had the unmitigated gall to take Bloom’s place as Rabbi of the synagogue. In doing so, he managed to fool the congregation into believing that he was the real Rabbi Bloom for weeks, until Bloom’s golf partner and old friend Dr. Stern detected a few noticeable differences during Sabbath services and reported his suspicions to the detectives, like the birthmark on his neck and the grievous error he committed in his prayers. Amazingly, he even managed to fool the Rabbi’s lover, Carol Jacobson, who acknowledged she noted differences, but wrote them off to her passion and the Rabbi’s stress.”

“Altogether, he gave a remarkable performance as Rabbi Bloom. Had it not been for his reckless decision to burn the Rabbi’s corpse in his own backyard, and the neighbors calling 911 about this bizarre scene, he might be walking among