From:

http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/Hirschfeld000616.html

Murder Incorporated

Real Estate Mogul Tried to Hire Hitman to Kill Partner

Candidates for the New York Independence Party U.S Senate
nomination Abe Hirschfeld, left, and Louis Wein, right, chat at
the Party's convention in Albany, N.Y. on June 5, 2000. (Tim
Roske/AP Photo)

By Julia Campbell



N E W Y O R K, June 16 � The eccentric real estate mogul who
offered Paula Jones $1 million to drop her sexual harassment case
against President Clinton was found guilty today of trying to
hire a hit man to kill his former business partner.

     Abe Hirschfeld, who made his fortune building parking
garages in New York City, was accused of trying to arrange the
murder of his longtime partner, Stanley Stahl. Hirschfeld faces
up to seven years in prison when he is sentenced Aug. 1. He was
found guilty of criminal solicitation and released on $1 million
bail.

     Leaving a Manhattan courtroom today, Hirschfeld, normally a
talkative man with the media, was silent and looked grim. He
later spoke to ABCNEWS.com in a telephone interview but would not
discuss the case, instead touting what he said were his
accomplishments.

     �Where were you when I was selected as one of the 100
geniuses of the century?� asked Hirschfeld, when reached at his
Manhattan office. �I�m one of 21 living geniuses and I am one of
ten inductees in the immigrant hall of fame with Sammy Sosa and
several others.�

     He also said that he was to appear in a comedy routine
tonight at New York�s Lafayette Grill. But a bartender at the
club said the only entertainment planned for the evening was a
Middle Eastern song and dance group.


Mogul and Partner in Feud


The case against Hirschfeld began in 1998 when investigators
discovered a secret tape of Hershfeld saying that he wanted
Stahl, his partner of 40 years, killed. The two men � Stahl died
in August 1999 after suffering a stroke � were entangled in legal
battles for years to dissolve their partnership.

     Prosecutors said Hirschfeld asked an employee to deliver
$75,000 in cash to an unidentified hitman. However, the employee
instead contacted the intended victim, who contacted authorities,
prosecutors said.

     The jury in state Supreme Court in Manhattan deliberated
less than two days before reaching its guilty verdict. The trial
marked the second time Hirschfeld was tried for the crime. Last
October, a mistrial was declared after the jury declared a
deadlock after five days of deliberations.


A Colorful Character


Hirschfeld made national headlines when he offered Jones $1
million in 1998 to drop her case against Clinton, whom she
accused of making an unwanted sexual advance when he was governor
of Arkansas. Clinton denied the charge and Hirschfeld never
followed through with the money after she settled her case,
receiving $850,000 from the president.

     In February, Jones sued Hirschfeld for backing out of a
signed contract to pay her the $1 million. Her lawyer, Gregory
Kitterman, declined comment on the ongoing case. Jones would not
have settled her case against President Clinton in November 1998
for $850,000, Kitterman has said, had she known that the tycoon
would back down from the deal.

     Hirschfeld has been one of New York�s most colorful
characters and is perhaps most famous for his 16-day ownership of
the New York Post newspaper, which he saved from bankruptcy. He
is remembered for making odd pronouncements about the future of
American journalism; and for firing editor Pete Hamill, only to
rehire him several days later. He welcomed Hamill back by
planting a big kiss on his cheek in front of the cameras.

     He also hugged and kissed Paula Jones during a 1998 press
conference to announce his offer. She called him �a wonderful
man,� and he said giving her the money was �the greatest
achievement of his life.�


A Run for the U.S. Senate


More recently, Hirschfeld has been running a campaign for U.S.
Senate in New York, where Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton and
Republican Rick Lazio are the major party candidates. Due to his
conviction, he cannot now run for public office.

     During the trial, jurors heard a secret tape made by
Hirschfeld�s secretary in which he can be heard saying to her:
�Yeah, I wanted him murdered. So what?� He also can be heard
saying: �I never wanted him to go through with the murder.�

     A mistrial also was declared last September in a separate
tax evasion case against Hirschfeld. That case will also be
retried. After the tax fraud jury deadlocked, Hirschfeld offered
each juror $2,500. Earlier this month, the New York State
Assembly Judiciary Committee approved a measure making it illegal
to tip jurors. Prosecutors declined to comment on the conviction
citing a judge�s gag order.

     Harvard Hollenberg, Hirschfeld's former lawyer and a friend,
said he thought the mogul would appeal vigorously. �He has all
his life been a fighter,� said Hollenberg, in a telephone
interview. �He fought in Palestine. � He is competitive and
combative.�


Reuters contributed to this report.



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