Rabbi Fred Neulander of Cherry Hill - who remains a suspect in his wife's slaying - has received $3,000 from a state agency that aids innocent victims of violent crimes.

At the rabbi's request, the money was paid to Platt Memorial Chapels Inc. in Cherry Hill on Feb. 4, 1997, the Courier-Post has learned. The grant helped pay funeral costs for the rabbi's wife, Carol, who was killed Nov. 1, 1994.

Neulander applied for the money one month after his wife was found bludgeoned to death in the couple's Wexford Leas home, and three months before law enforcement officials confirmed to reporters he was a suspect in her murder.

An investigation into the slaying remains "very, very active" and "nobody has been ruled out" as a suspect, said Acting Camden County Prosecutor Lee Solomon.

The rabbi has maintained his innocence.

"Interesting" is the right word to describe" the board's award to Neulander, Solomon said. "It could be construed as a benefit to the children, as much as anyone else, rather than as a payment to Rabbi Neulander," he added.

A spokeswoman for the state's Victims of Crime Compensation Board defended the payment.

"If they're an innocent victim, that's all we look at. As long as there is not an outstanding bench warrant, and if they didn't contribute to the crime, then they would qualify," said Sharon Koch, the board's director of policy and planning.

Koch said the board was aware that the rabbi had been named as a suspect.

"Obviously we were aware of the publicity in this case," said Koch. "But we didn't want any members of her family to have to pay the expenses. She was obviously an innocent victim. And our charge is to assist innocent victims."

Neulander's attorney, Jeffrey Zucker, said: "He's entitled to the compensation and I'm glad he got it.

"He's the bereaved husband and is also a victim. His children are victims as well. I've read quite a bit that he's a suspect - and the only suspect - but no one has ever shown us any evidence to back that up," said Zucker.

At the time of the murder, Neulander was the rabbi at Congregation M'Kor Shalom, the Cherry Hill synagogue he founded and led for 21 years before resigning four months after the murder.

The rabbi's secret life - he had at least two extramarital affairs with female congregants, law enforcement sources say - has played a large part in making him investigators' prime suspect.

They say they believe Neulander may have hired a hit man to kill his wife as a way to escape a troubled marriage.

Neulander himself has an alibi. He was at the synagogue at the time of the murder, authorities say.

Carol Neulander was a successful businesswoman at the time of her death, Zucker said. But he said the rabbi was "far from a millionaire. He's not financially well-off at all."

Income level is not a determining factor in making an award to a victim, Koch said. The maximum award is $25,000.

Last year, the compensation board paid $7.3 million for 1,683 claims. Another 1,836 were denied.

Claims are most often denied because a person, who may be the victim of a sexual assault or domestic violence, has moved and left no forwarding address, Koch said. Others are denied because insurers have already covered costs.

Of the Neulander case, Solomon said: "I am very confident that it will be solved. We have our best people on it."

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