Man Killed Boy Then Hid Body Parts In Freezer

A man has admitted abducting and dismembering an eight-year-old boy who got lost on the way home.

Leiby Kletzky was walking to meet his family halfway between their home and a day camp in Brooklyn, New York, when he was abducted.

A two-day search by police and members of the ultra-Orthodox Hasidic Jewish community led to 35-year-old Levi Aron's flat, where body parts were found in a freezer.

The rest of Leiby's body was discovered inside a red suitcase thrown into a large rubbish bin in another Brooklyn neighbourhood.

Aron appeared at Brooklyn Supreme Court on Thursday and entered a guilty plea to second-degree murder and kidnap.

He is due to be sentenced to at least 40 years later this month.

The plea came after a deal with prosecutors - approved by the Kletzky family - to avoid the need for a trial.

CCTV footage obtained by police showed Leiby on July 11 last year, the day he disappeared, asking Levi Aron for directions.

He was then seen walking down a street with Aron, and waiting outside a dentist's office while he went inside, then getting into his car.

Detectives were able to trace the man using records from the dentist's office.

When detectives arrived at Aron's flat and asked him where the boy was, he nodded towards the kitchen.

Police then saw blood on the freezer and opened it to discover knives, a cutting board and parts of Leiby's body.

State Assemblyman Dov Hikind, who represents the area of Brooklyn in which Leiby lived, said: "Leiby is my son, your son, and everyone's son, everyone got it, the tragedy, of what unfolded here during those days.

"The Kletzky family is said to be happy that at least there will be closure in the criminal aspect of this tragedy.

"They're strong, tremendous faith in God, but not easy, you know, someone is always missing from the table."