FREEHOLD, N.J. — The youngest son of a once prominent rabbi convicted of hiring a hit man to kill his wife in 1994 appealed to a jury Thursday to spare his father's life.

His voice cracking with emotion as he spoke during the penalty phase of Rabbi Fred Neulander's capital murder trial, Benjamin Neulander described the positive impact his father had on so many lives as the head of the largest Jewish congregation in Cherry Hill, N.J.

"I know he still has that capacity to affect people in that positive way," Benjamin Neulander, a 26-year-old teacher who lives in Manhattan, told jurors. "I request that [you] give him the chance to affect other people in the positive way he has proven, without a doubt, he is able to do. Just give him a chance to show he can do it."

Fred Neulander, 61, was found guilty Wednesday of first-degree murder, felony murder and second-degree conspiracy. Jurors found that prosecutors presented sufficient evidence that Carol Neulander's Nov. 1, 1994, beating death was commissioned by her husband.

Prosecutor James Lynch told the panel of seven men and five women that they should rely on their collective conscience in deciding whether Neulander deserves to be put to death for his role in the crime that shocked Philadelphia and its New Jersey suburbs.

Lynch, who did not call any witnesses, said he did not want to "rehash" testimony but urged jurors to consider it when they go back into the deliberating room sometime Friday. "The state of New Jersey is not going to come to you .... and say, 'Take this man's life,' " said Lynch, first assistant prosecutor for Camden County.

Defense lawyer Michael Riley presented two other witnesses, longtime friends of the Neulanders. Riley also read a letter from Rabbi Gary Mazo, who was a junior rabbi under Fred Neulander at Temple M'Kor Shalom.

Mazo testified previously that he walked into Neulander's office one day in 1994 and saw the rabbi counting a large amount of cash. Prosecutors believe the cash was part of the down payment on $18,000 the rabbi paid private investigator Len Jenoff to kill Carol Neulander. Jenoff and his accomplice, Paul Daniels, pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter and are awaiting sentencing. 

"I have known Fred Neulander for almost 21 years. In these years I have seen the spark of God that is now buried somewhere very deep inside of him," Mazo wrote. "No matter what he has done, that potential for goodness still remains ... I urge you to spare the life of Fred Neulander."

Beth Blough of Green Bay, Wis., recalled babysitting for all the Neulander children and how the rabbi performed her first marriage and counseled her when her first husband died suddenly of a heart attack.

Harold Cohen, another longtime friend, talked about the thousands of people Neulander touched in a positive way through his work as rabbi.

"There's no doubt in my mind that if he was imprisoned for the balance of his life ... that he could provide guidance [to inmates] ... on some level," Cohen said.

Riley called the witnesses in order to establish "mitigating factors" that jurors must consider against the sole aggravating factor: the fact that Carol Neulander's death was the result of a contract killing. New Jersey's death penalty statute calls for jurors to undertake a balancing of factors, factors that warrant the death penalty and those that favor sparing a convicted killer's life.

The seven mitigating factors, Judge Linda Baxter told jurors, include Neulander's age, his conviction-free past and the good works he has done throughout his life. Lynch, the prosecutor, told jurors that they should not reach a decision by merely comparing the one aggravating factor to the seven mitigating factors.

Neulander is scheduled to address the jury directly when the penalty phase of the trial resumes at 9 a.m. Neulander cannot dispute the verdicts, characterize the evidence against him or deny involvement, Baxter ruled. Instead, he can make a case that his life is worth sparing.

"He will talk directly to you," Riley said. "One person among you can spare the life of Fred Neulander ... We leave in your hands the fate of Fred Neulander. You have to make a choice whether he lives or dies."

If the jury cannot agree unanimously on a verdict, Neulander faces life in prison. A death sentence would make him the 15th person to be sent to New Jersey's death row since capital punishment was reinstated in the Garden State.