EXCLUSIVE PHOTO: Investigators dig out the backyard of alleged child killer Levi Aron. (Paul Martinka)
The monster who allegedly killed and mutilated the body of little Leiby Kletzky “hears voices” and as a result was ordered by a Brooklyn judge today to undergo a mental health test.
Levi Aron, 35, pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and kidnapping charges after police said he killed the 8-year-old boy.
Aron, who appeared disheveled during his brief court appearance, was remanded into custody without bail.
His lawyer, Pierre Bazile, entered a plea of not guilty to first-degree murder and kidnapping charges.
“He hears voices and suffers from hallucinations,” Bazile said, before the judge ordered Aron undergo a mental health evaluation.
His lawyers also said Aron would not be testifying before a grand jury.
Before Aron was brought into the courtroom, prisoners sharing a holding cell with Aron could be heard screaming, “You f–king killer!”
Aron’s next court appearance is July 28.
Aron once worked at a meat counter at a Memphis supermarket. He also worked as a security guard before returning to Brooklyn in 2009.
Cops said the boy was tied up for hours before fighting for his life as Aron allegedly smothered him and then chopping him up into pieces.
Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said Aron had scratches on his arms and wrists — evidence that the boy put up a fight before he was killed.
“There are marks on his body,” Kelly said during a news conference this morning.
This comes as investigators began digging up Aron’s yard in an effort to try and uncover more evidence.
“We’re getting as much forensic evidence as we can,” Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes said at a separate news conference.
Earlier in the day, Aron was transported to the courthouse amid a crowd that hurled insults, shouting, “Murderer!” as he was placed in a police car.
Kelly said Kletzky died as a “result of suffocation” and that the boy had been restrained because of marks found on his ankles.
“There’s still tests to be done,” he said. “There are lab tests that have to be conducted, but at this juncture, tentatively as a suffocation.”
HUNT FOR LEIBY ENDS IN HORROR; CREEP CONFESSES
Aron killed the boy after he “panicked” when he noticed the missing persons fliers and heavy police presence across Brooklyn.
Cops are still looking into Aron’s bizarre claim that he took the boy to a wedding in upstate Monsey before he was killed.
Kelly said they have no evidence proving that the boy was at the wedding, but Aron has been “reasonably forthcoming” with police and he does believe it is a possibility.
At the catering hall, manager Izzy Goldstein said as many as 600 people — and dozens of children — packed into Ateras Charna on Monday night.
Goldstein said the NYPD came to the catering hall Tuesday to collect surveillance videos in an effort to confirm Aron’s claims.
“I hope that creep didn’t pass through my doors,” he said.
Detectives have reviewed videotape from the wedding reception and quizzed guests in an effort to confirm the boy’s presence.
Kelly said Aron denied sexually molesting Kletzky. It remains unclear why Kletzky had been abducted.
“In this business, you see a lot of violence. … Here, it defies all logic. That’s what is so disturbing about this case,” said Kelly.
“It’s heartbreaking,” he added.
Part of the boy’s body was found inside a Dumpster early Tuesday after cops tracked down Aron. Other body parts, like the boy’s feet, were found inside Aron’s freezer.
Kelly said Aron confessed to the crime, going into “graphic detail” about how the boy was killed.
Kelly said Aron said he was “sorry for the trouble he’s caused.”
Cops said Aron shaved his beard on Tuesday before going to work at a hardware store where he is a clerk.
Kelly said Aron had “cleaned up” in an effort to alter his appearance.
Surveillance video shows Leiby innocently speaking to Aron, apparently asking for directions, outside a dental office at 18th Avenue and 44th Street.
He told the boy to stay put while he ran inside and paid a dental bill. The boy stood waiting for him for seven minutes.
Aron — who police sources believe was acting on impulse — admits in his confession that he offered Leiby a ride, a source said.
“So I woke him and told him I’ll bring him to his house… when I saw the flyers I panicked and was afraid. When I got home he was still there so I made him a tuna sandwich….”
When he returned home, the massive search effort had made it to his block and he “panicked,” Kelly said.
“I panicked because I didn’t know what to do with the body … carried parts to the back room placing parts between the freezer and the refrigerator …” Aron said in his confession.
Aron allegedly suffocated the boy with a bath towel, chopped up the body on a cutting board with three knives and stuffed the remains in black plastic garbage bags.