FREEHOLD, N.J. — Rabbi Fred Neulander's defense lawyer called his first nine witnesses in rapid succession Tuesday in an effort to poke holes in the prosecution's contention that Neulander hired a hit man to kill his wife.

Defense lawyer Michael Riley is focusing his attack on the credibility of Len Jenoff, a former private investigator who faces up to 30 years in prison for killing Carol Neulander on Nov. 1, 1994.

Jenoff, 56, claims that Fred Neulander paid him $18,000 of the $30,000 he promised for killing his wife. Neulander's defense is that Jenoff is a habitual liar who wrongly implicated the rabbi. Jenoff believed he would play the system, serve a few years and then profit handsomely from book and movie deals, Neulander contends.

Jack Reid, Jenoff's barber, testified that his customers pegged Jenoff as a liar early on and had a few laughs at Jenoff's expense.

"He appeared to me to need a lot of help. He was a pathetic figure ... He was down and out," Reid said.

Echoing the testimony of many of the 25 witnesses called by prosecutor James Lynch before he rested Friday, Reid recalled that Jenoff claimed to have worked for the CIA and FBI, and played a role in the Iran-Contra affair during President Ronald Reagan's term. Customers roared with laughter when Jenoff claimed he had been admitted to the White House via secret underground tunnels.

"He knew where they were and he was in them," Reid said. "Sometimes people in the shop would egg him on because it was so ludicrous."

Reid, the son of an Irish father and Cuban mother, said Jenoff once brought up the subject of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. "'What do you wanna do about Castro?'" Reid quoted Jenoff as saying. "He said, 'I tried to kill him three times when I was with the CIA.'"

Jenoff is not charged with any political assassination attempts. He pleaded guilty only to aggravated manslaughter and could get the 10-year minimum and be immediately able to apply for parole. The defense noted this possibility several times during the trial now in its fourth week.

The defense called other witnesses Tuesday to bolster its claim that Carol Neulander, 52, was killed by Jenoff and co-defendant Paul Daniels during a burglary or robbery that went horribly awry.

New Jersey prison inmate James Keeny testified that Jenoff admitted at a jailhouse Alcoholics Anonymous meeting a few days after his arraignment in May 2000 that he was setting Fred Neulander up to take a fall with him.

"He expressed to me that Mr. Neulander had no idea as to what was done, that it was a botched burglary," Keeny said.

Under questioning by Riley and cross-examination by Lynch, Keeny confirmed that he has been convicted 15 times and been in and out of prison since 1977. He offered to talk about his juvenile record before that, but the prosecutor stopped him.

"I'm not a choir boy," Keeny said, "but I feel like what's being done to Mr. Neulander is ..."

Lynch interrupted with, "Objection. The witness is making a speech, your honor." 

Keeny continued in a slightly different way but managed to express his opinion that Neulander is being framed by Jenoff.

Jurors also heard testimony from Bruce Aristeo about a loan he repaid to Neulander in 1994. According to Aristeo, he repaid Neulander $5,500 — $5,000 he borrowed for his business plus 10 percent interest. Judge Linda Baxter instructed jurors to disregard the high interest.

The loan was arranged by Myron "Peppy" Levin, a friend of Neulander and a prosecution witness. Levin testified earlier in the trial that Neulander told him he wanted to go home one day and find his wife "dead on the floor."

The defense called Aristeo to testify about the $5,500 in cash as a way of explaining previous testimony that Neulander was seen counting a large amount of cash in his office at Temple M'Kor Shalom in Cherry Hill. Without saying so directly, the prosecution appeared to want jurors to speculate that the cash was part of the down payment Jenoff says he got from Neulander for the killing.

Although co-defendant Daniels backed up Jenoff's testimony that Jenoff sprinkled the down payment money over Daniels' head, their roommate at the time, Richard Plum, testified that he saw no evidence that either man came into any money.

Riley moved so quickly through witnesses that he ran out of them about 2:15 p.m. Four of five are expected to be called Wednesday, depending on whether Neulander testifies.

Riley said it has not been decided yet whether the rabbi will take the witness stand in his own defense. Neulander testified at his first trial, which ended with a hung jury and mistrial a year ago tomorrow.

After sending jurors home for the afternoon, Judge Baxter rejected a defense motion to reconsider a ruling. The defense wanted an opportunity to question inmate David Beardsely later this week about a conversation Beardsley claims he had with Jenoff in jail in May 2000.

Beardsley testified earlier outside the presence of the jury that Jenoff confessed to being involved in the slaying of Janice Bell, 33, who was stabbed six or seven times in the back at her Voorhees, N.J., home on Dec. 7, 1995. Jenoff claimed, according to Beardsley, that he drove Bell's killer to her home and left tire marks when he sped off.

Jenoff denied saying any such thing or being involved in Bell's killing. Baxter ruled again that asking Beardsley about the Bell case in any detail would only serve to confuse the jury.

The trial is being broadcast by Court TV.