By JIM WALSH
Courier-Post Staff
VOORHEES
A bizarre twist in the murder trial of Rabbi Fred J. Neulander on Thursday focused public attention on a 7-year- old unsolved murder here.
But for the family of Janice Bell, a 33-year-old mother fatally stabbed in her home, the pain has never gone away.
"It's always hard, especially at this time of year. Halloween was her favorite holiday," said the victim's sister, Joan Dombrowski of Voorhees. "It's rough with the holiday season coming up. We're always missing her."
Authorities have made no arrests and have publicly identified no suspects in the Dec. 7, 1995, slaying. An investigation remains active, said Camden County Prosecutor Vincent Sarubbi.
On Thursday, a jailhouse snitch said he could link Bell' s murder to Leonard Jenoff, a key prosecution witness against the rabbi. David Beardsley, a convicted sex offender who was imprisoned with Jenoff, said his former cellmate told him he killed Bell in a botched robbery.
Jenoff has admitted that he and an accomplice fatally beat Carol Neulander on Nov. 1, 1994, on orders from the rabbi. Neulander's defense attorney, Michael Riley, contends the possible tie to Bell's death undermines Jenoff' s credibility.
Like Carol Neulander, Bell died violently while alone in her upscale home.
But Bell was stabbed repeatedly - and this attack occurred in daylight, between 9 a.m. and noon.
Authorities found no sign of forced entry at Bell's home in the first block of Woodbrook Road, a possible indication that she knew her killer. A ring was missing from her finger, but it was not clear if other items were taken.
Bell was the mother of two young sons - Vincent, then 6, and Nicholas, then 5.
Bell's former husband, Pasquale DeTommaso, who ran a pizza parlor in Hatfield, Pa., was questioned the night of the killing but not charged.
Five days before her death, Bell accused DeTommaso of harassment. In a police report, she claimed DeTommaso violated a restraining order when he approached her house and screamed at her. Bell said her ex-husband had previously threatened her.
The harassment charge was dismissed after Bell's death because the municipal prosecutor said he had no case without her testimony.
DeTommaso, who could not be reached for comment Thursday, was sentenced in December 2000 to one year in prison for tax evasion. Authorities estimated he evaded $170,000 in federal taxes from 1993 to 1996.
The slaying devastated Bell's family, which operates a correspondence school, State National Training Systems in Voorhees.
Her father, Michael Bell Sr., poured his grief into religious-themed verse, penning dozens of poems about his daughter's death.
Reach Jim Walsh at (856) 486-2646 or jwalsh@courierpostonline.com
