Made For The Tabs: Murder, Cross-Dressing, Religion

When 75 year old Rabbi Raymond Sultan didn't appear at the Young Israel of Midwood senior center for a few days, workers were suspicious. So, after one worker went to Sultan's Midwood apartment to check up on him and discovered an odd smell, the police were called. And then the police found that Sultan had been killed by his middle-aged cross-dressing roommate. The Daily News recounts a police source's encounter with suspect Howard Goldstein:

Goldstein was dressed in a gray blouse with a plunging neckline, dark slacks and pink high-heeled shoes, a police source said. His face was made up with bright red lipstick and blue eye shadow that clashed with his long beard, the source said.

"It's the craziest thing I've ever seen: a cross-dressing Hasidic killer," said the source. "He had a full face of makeup on - with a beard."

At first, Goldstein told cops he did not know where Sultan was, but a strong stench emanating from Apartment 1-C led them to a body in the living room.

The tabloids are having a field day with the story, given the angle of Hasidic cross-dresser with both "pornographic pictures and portraits of Rabbi Menachem Schneerson, the Lubavitch sect leader," not to mention tidbits like how Goldstein was a Vietnam vet, owned a copy of Psycho, and sometimes drew his eyebrows in a fashion similar to those of Divine. Police believe that Sulton was killed when he asked Goldstein to pay his share of the $900 rent. Today's crazy NYC crime story is tomorrow's episode of Law & Order. Or CSI: New York.