asbury park press front page wednesday, dec. 16 2015
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7/23/2019 Asbury Park Press front page Wednesday, Dec. 16 2015
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ASBURY PARK PRESS APP.COM $1.00
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