05/03/01: No Bail, Threat to Wife

[Freakapotimus]

No bail for man in threat to wife
By Melia Bowie
INQUIRER SUBURBAN STAFF

Main Line millionaire Joel Sandler, who, authorities charge, tried to hire a hit man to kill his wife, was denied bail yesterday by a judge who said the defendant had the resources not only to flee but also to put his terrified spouse in danger if he were freed.

"There is an imminent and serious threat to Mrs. Sandler, and I wouldn't want the blood on my hands," Montgomery County Court Judge Richard S. Lowe said after announcing his decision.

Witnesses said Sandler, 50, a self-employed securities broker from Bryn Mawr, is worth $4.5 million, has twice attempted suicide, and owns an "eruptive" temper.

He is being held at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility, where he is to remain until he faces trial.

Assistant District Attorney Sean Cullen said that he did not know whether Sandler was "under any special watch" but that normal practice at the jail was to "make sure he doesn't hurt himself."

Sandler was arrested last week on felony charges of criminal solicitation and criminal use after allegedly trying to hire a man to kill his estranged wife, Linda, and dispose of the body to prevent the possibility of his having to give up more than half of his assets in an ongoing divorce case.

According to court documents, Sandler planned the $30,000 hit at the King of Prussia mall with a man he believed was an assassin for hire. The hit man turned out to be an undercover Montgomery County detective.

Sandler allegedly asked an acquaintance to recommend a contract killer, and the acquaintance notified the Lower Merion police, who, in turn, had alerted county officials.

Officials said yesterday that they were "very happy" with the judge's decision and that Sandler's wife would be greatly relieved.

"As recently as yesterday, I spoke to her, at which time she told me if bail were granted, she would have to flee the country because he would kill her, no matter what," Montgomery County Detective Mark Keenan testified during the two-hour bail hearing.

Defense attorney Paul A. Bauer 3d argued that if bail were granted, the court could place on it restrictions that would prohibit Sandler from selling his assets, leaving the county, or contacting his wife. He added that his client had "hired counsel, which is the first step implying he intends to fight the charges." But prosecutors called it likely that the securities broker has access to "hidden wealth" and alleged that he once tried to bribe a real estate appraiser to assess the couple's 1.7-acre estate in Lower Merion at a lower value. The appraiser ultimately put the value of the home at $1.7 million to $2 million, prosecutors said.

Also, witnesses for the prosecution testified that Sandler had exhibited such a "bizarre" pattern of behavior that they could not predict what he would do if released.

The multimillionaire, who owns land in Florida and New Mexico and has shares in two apartment buildings in Birmingham, Ala. and Memphis, Tenn., pleaded guilty twice in 1995 and twice again in 1999 on charges of retail theft, including robbing the Waterloo Gardens nursery in Devon.

While he owns and operates his own business, Sandler Securities Inc., from his home, Sandler is no longer registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Robert D. Feder, who has represented Linda Sandler in the divorce case, testified that the father of two had not worked in years and had told lawyers that he would be unable to contribute to his 21-year-old daughter's college education.

Sandler, Feder said, "did have significant cash flow because he made an insurance claim that resulted in $100,000 for a fire at his home."

"Mr. Sandler," Feder said from the witness stand, "always seems to have money to support himself."

Feder also testified that Sandler's adult son had had no contact with his father in two years and that both children, citing fear, had said they no longer wanted to have contact with him.

"He felt his father is like an eruptive volcano," Feder said. "[Sandler] has a bad temper. He punches. He yells."

Linda Sandler fled to New Jersey two years ago, Feder said.

"She became increasingly frightened of him," the divorce attorney testified, "and retired as a Pennsylvania schoolteacher and moved out of state."

Cullen said Joel Sandler - who, search warrants revealed, had rented storage facilities and held bank accounts and driver's licenses under fictitious names - had been calling family friends as well as a bank teller and a real estate agent who knew his wife in an effort to locate her.

"He was getting closer," Cullen said. "He wasn't going to settle the divorce. He was going to kill her."

The prosecutor remarked that when the person presiding over the couple's marriage said, "Till death do you part," he was "not giving Mr. Sandler an option."

Melia Bowie's e-mail address is [e-mail].

© Philadelphia Newspapers Inc.

[Perdix]

According to court documents, Sandler planned the $30,000 hit at the King of Prussia mall with a man he believed was an assassin for hire. The hit man turned out to be an undercover Montgomery County detective.

There is a "King of Prussia" mall, weird

Defense attorney Paul A. Bauer 3d argued that if bail were granted, the court could place on it restrictions that would prohibit Sandler from selling his assets, leaving the county, or contacting his wife. He added that his client had "hired counsel, which is the first step implying he intends to fight the charges." But prosecutors called it likely that the securities broker has access to "hidden wealth" and alleged that he once tried to bribe a real estate appraiser to assess the couple's 1.7-acre estate in Lower Merion at a lower value. The appraiser ultimately put the value of the home at $1.7 million to $2 million, prosecutors said.

since when does hiring counsel mean you are going to fight a charge, it's just a good idea.

[Freakapotimus]

At 5/3/01 02:02 PM, Perdix wrote: There is a "King of Prussia" mall, weird

Largest mall on the east coast. Second largest in the country, I believe. I may be wrong. Looks like I'm on a mission now! If you ever come to Philly, KoP is a stop.

since when does hiring counsel mean you are going to fight a charge, it's just a good idea.

True, true. That's your Philadelphia reporters at work there.