Probe of Aron Wieder 'decapitation letter' hits dead end

A police investigation failed to turn up clues to who sent Rockland County Legislator Aron Wieder a letter with his head superimposed on a decapitated body of an ISIS terrorist victim.

The FBI laboratory tested the letter for DNA and fingerprints, but found none, Rockland Sheriff Louis Falco said. He said other investigative tools failed to turn up any suspects.

"We're at a dead end," Falco said.

Wieder said the fact no DNA or fingerprints were found proves to him that the sender gave the threat some thought.

"It is my understanding that whoever did this went out of his way not to leave any traces of DNA evidence, which is indicative of his intention," Wieder said.

The Spring Valley Democrat said he appreciated the investigative efforts and that the police had also provided security for his family, including his wife and four children.

"This whole ordeal wasn't easy, especially on my family," he said. "This scared my wife and kids. I hope that whoever did this is aware that law enforcement took this seriously and he will think twice if he had any further plans."

Wieder opened the letter while sitting at the dais during a county legislature meeting in December. The photo showed a male body dressed in orange kneeling in a barren landscape before a man shrouded in black. A picture of Wieder's smiling face had been placed over the victim's head. The legislator's name appeared in English text below Arabic writing with an ISIS flag in the background.

"I literally had shivers running down my spine," Wieder said at the time.

The postmark showed the letter came through the Monsey postal facility and the name "Moshe Muhammad" appeared on the envelope.

Falco said the investigation has been suspended until new information or witnesses emerge.

Wieder, elected in 2011, is the Legislature's first Hasidic Jewish member and its current majority leader. He served as vice president and later president of the East Ramapo Board of Education from 2008 to 2010 during a time of massive layoffs and budget cuts after private school community residents won electoral control of the nine-member board.

More recently, he held a news conference on a controversial video - "The Jew in Rockland" - that compared the anti-Hasidic language on the Facebook page Block the Block Vote with the language used by Nazi Germany. Wieder refuted rumors he narrated the video but he discussed his concerns about growing anti-Semitism and hate speech in the county.

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