TOWN OF ULSTER –Police are still seeking the public's help in solving the July 2008 murder of Kerhonkson resident Michael Kleiman. On July 25, his pickup truck was found by the East Kingston Fire Department. It had been set ablaze and left on the property of the old Hudson Cement Plant in the Town of Ulster, Kleiman's body in the cab of the truck.

To help gather information from the public regarding the murder, Kleiman's brother Mark has issued a $20,000 reward for any information leading to the arrest and conviction of the party responsible.

The Town of Ulster Police are working with the New York State Police Major Crimes Bureau out of Middletown, who aid the department in their day-to-day investigations. The police have also worked with the FBI Behavioral Analysis lab at Quantico.

A number of factors have contributed to the case going as-yet unsolved, says Town of Ulster Police Chief Paul Watzka. The presence of the fire certainly has made the process difficult, but so have some aspects of the way Kleiman conducted his life, he says.

"Mr. Kleiman was from Kerhonkson — wasn't from the area here. There's a lot of people we have to interview that takes us down south and to the area he worked…he worked at a hospital in Westchester county, so we've spoken to many, many people down there, and many people from the area where he lived. He was somewhat of a hermit, so that makes it difficult to track his movements, but we have made substantial progress in our investigation."

Mark Kleiman confirms the chief's sentiment, adding that his brother's lack of cell phone and computer may have also stymied the police's attempts to track the patterns of his life.

"He had circles of friends that he acquired from over the years from high school onward, but one of the issues that has made it difficult for the police is that these circles operated very independently, so he didn't have those sort of ongoing interrelated groupings that he was with," says Mark. "And it made it difficult because his contacts and involvement with these various circles was intermittent."

Mark has fond memories of his brother, who was a nurse at a psychiatric hospital who specialized in working with troubled young children.

"His colleagues [said he] had a very special way about him with these kids," says Mark. "Most of his life he worked in psychiatric hospitals or in hospitals with children, and that seemed to be his calling."

Growing up in Mount Vernon, Michael was the middle child of the family, the oldest being Mark, and the youngest being their late sister, Barbara, who worked hard to help the homeless in New York City, and even has a homeless shelter — the Barbara S. Kleiman Shelter — named after her. Mark currently runs Community Mediation Services in Jamaica, Queens, a company he founded that works with troubled youths as a mentoring program.

Mark has raised the reward for information regarding his brother's death because Michael's mysterious murder has led to yet another family tragedy.

"One of the other consequences of my brother's death is that since that point my mother's health deteriorated, and she just passed away January 31," he says.

As to whether he knew if his brother had any enemies, Mark says such a thing is "hard to imagine."

"He was a bit of a character, but he was extremely inoffensive. He liked to play. He was totally and consciously non-violent. [He was] an animal lover, a children lover. He took in feral cats, and always had animals in and around his house, and worked with young children for most of his work life, kids who were really troubled. He had a big heart. I can't imagine him in any way provoking anything," says Mark.

Chief Watzka says that the passage of time since the case was first opened in July last year isn't doing the police any favors.

"To a certain degree [time] makes it more difficult because people don't remember that time frame like they used to, but we've eliminated a lot of people, a lot of motives, theories, and things like that, so I think that we're progressing on the investigation.

"I've been in law enforcement for 37 years now, so I've done many, many cases, but I would probably rate this one of the more difficult cases that we've handled. But luckily we're getting assistance from the New York State Police major crimes unit; they're up here every day…and we continue to go out and talk with people, and investigate this crime."

If you have any information regarding the death of Michael Kleiman of Kerhonkson, please contact the Town of Ulster Police at 845-382-1111. They can be e-mailed at pmwatzka@ulsterpolice.com. All information received will be kept confidential and may be provided anonymously.

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