asbury park press front page wednesday, dec. 16 2015

7/23/2019 Asbury Park Press front page Wednesday, Dec. 16 2015

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HOLIDAY TRADITIONWhere to go for the Feast of Seven Fishes on Christmas Eve. Page 1D

WEDNESDAY 12.16.15

VOLUME 136

NUMBER 300

SINCE 1879

ADVICE 9D

CLASSIFIED 1E

COMICS 7D

LOCAL 3A

OBITUARIES 11A

OPINION 14A

SPORTS 1C

TABLE 1D

WEATHER 8C

YOUR MONEY 10A

TRENTON - Rabbi Mendel Epstein, a self-described“tough guy” with a reputation for using strong-arm tac-tics to coerce Orthodox Jewish husbands to grant theirwives religious divorces, was sentenced Tuesday to 10years in federal prison.

Rejecting pleas for leniency from Epstein’s daughterand attorney — and Epstein himself, who said he was a“broken man” — U.S. District Court Judge Freda L.Wolfson said the 70-year-old Lakewood resident “knewexactly what he was entering into here” when he agreedto accept $60,000 to orchestrate a kidnapping in 2013 onbehalf of a woman and her brother who turned out to beundercover FBI agents.

A well-known expert in Orthodox Jewish matrimo-nial law, Epstein was convicted April 21, along with twoother rabbis, of one count of conspiracy to commit kid-napping. Prosecutors say Epstein was the group’s lead-

er.

Lakewood‘Prodfather’rabbi gets 10years in prisonMan, 70, admits kidnapping scheme

to coerce a husband to grant divorce

SHANNON MULLEN @MULLENAPP

See SENTENCE, Page 4A

LONG BRANCH - The woman whose body was foundSunday night in a Rockwell Avenue house was trying toget her life back in order before she was murdered, aneighbor says.

Jennifer A. Pizzuto, 40, jumped from one job to anoth-er but always looked for stable work, said Mark Hill, aresident who worked with her in the 1990s at Value CityFurniture. She struggled with drug addiction, and con-viction records from N.J. Superior Court said that shehad run-ins with the law in the years leading up to herdeath.

“She was a caring person,” said Hill, 49. “She hadbeen through her struggles. She was trying to get herlife back together.”

STEPH SOLIS/STAFF PHOTO

Jennifer A. Pizzuto, 40, was found dead in a house on RockwellAvenue in Long Branch.

Murder victimwas trying to getlife back togetherSTEPH SOLIS @STEPHMSOLIS

See MURDER, Page 7A

In a debate that showcased Republican establish-ment concern over Donald Trump’s staying power as apresidential candidate, the real estate tycoon was hithard Tuesday night by several rivals on his controver-sial proposal to ban non-American Muslims from theU.S., though New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie stayedaway from the fray.

Trump held firm on his immigration positions,which includes insisting he will get Mexico to build a

wall along the U.S. border if he’s elected president nextNovember.“We are not talking about isolation. We’re talking

about security,” Trump said. “We’re not talking aboutreligion. We’re talking about security. Our country isout of control. People are pouring across the southernborder. I will build a wall. It will be a great wall.”

Trump and Christie were among nine hopefuls inthe fifth and final GOP presidential primary debate ofthe year. CNN televised the event from the The Vene-tian in Las Vegas.

Christie has only been mildly critical of Trump de-spite other candidates being much stronger, with for-mer Florida Gov. Jeb Bush calling Trump “unhinged”and Ohio Gov. John Kasich calling Trump “entirely un-suited” as a candidate.

A Monmouth University poll released Tuesdayfound Trump’s immigration proposal on Muslims gen-erates little support, even among his fellow Republi-cans. Just 26 percent of Americans are in favor of this

idea while 67 percent are opposed. Majorities of Demo-crats (83 percent), independents (64 percent), and Re-publicans (52 percent) oppose such a ban; only those

GOV STAYS OUT

OF TRUMP FRAYChristie says his experience will make U.S. safer;Republican hopefuls bash Trump in fifth debate

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Chris Christie speaks during the CNN Republican presidential debate at the Venetian Hotel & Casino on Tuesday in Las Vegas.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Donald Trump, left, watches as Ted Cruz speaks during thedebate.

For analysis, video, photos

and more on the debate,

visit APP.com

See DEBATE, Page 13A

BOB JORDAN @BOBJORDANAPP

The first four Republican debates have been silent on critical matters, including plans for replacingObamacare, equal pay for women and the sensitive issues of racism and criminal justice. STORY, 1B

MONMOUTH PULLS OFF UPSET OF GEORGETOWN, 1C