The Case of the Heartsick Solider-of-Fortune
As the sun sank behind the hills of New Jersey, the single-engine aircraft approached New York. The September day was winding down, and with it, the lives of its two passengers were nearing their end. The sky was painted in hues of orange and pink, casting a warm glow over the landscape below. Inside the cockpit, the atmosphere was tense; the hum of the engine was the sole sound that filled the cabin.
It was 7:20 p.m. when unusual activities began over the airfields of Long Island. A recent-model single-engine Bellanca flew as low as 20 feet above Flushing Airport, racing by at 120 miles per hour. Due to police regulations, landings were prohibited after dusk—specifically after 7:03 that evening—and airfield officials declined to activate the lights.
The aircraft made a second pass before veering toward the Bronx. It then entered LaGuardia airfield traffic, violating all aviation regulations. The control tower signaled the plane with a red light, indicating it should leave. While it complied momentarily, it returned and received the red light once more.
This time, the plane flew to International. Control men there spied the little plane in the moonlight. Lights on the 8,200-foot runway were turned on. Walter Slobodin, a Port of New York Authority policeman on duty, said he saw the plane approach, attempt to make a landing, hit the runway, bounce into the air, and then circle away. Ten minutes later, it was seen approaching, but suddenly it dipped and disappeared. Two city firemen, fishing nearby, said the motor was still roaring when the plane hit the creek at 8 p.m. The motor was embedded in the salt marsh; the fuselage and tail were left standing in the air.
Coast Guard Air-Sea Rescue boats discovered the wreckage in shallow water off Bergen's Landing, situated between the airport and a Long Island Railroad trestle. Both passengers were found deceased.
Two days later, on Saturday, September 18, 1948, the autopsy revealed that Hannah Laufer, 29, had not died from the crash; she had been shot three times. Next to her was the pilot of the rented plane, Jesus M. Monleon, 31, who had suffered a knife wound to his heart.
Hannah Laufer was born on October 7, 1919, in Aussig, Czechoslovakia, to parents Robert Laufer and Anna Urbova. In December 1941, she moved to the United States with her mother and younger brother, Leopold. Hannah was a Foreign Language Correspondent, proficient in English, German, French, and Czechoslovakian.
The daughter of a Czech immigrant who had established a furrier business in New York City, Miss Laufer worked as a translator in the Army Adjutant General's office until she was let go a few months before her passing. It was during her time at the AG's office that she met Monleon, a civilian employee in the Army Publications Service Branch of the War Department.
Jesus Meneu Monleon, affectionately known as "Roberto" by his friends, was born in Salamanca, Spain, on February 25, 1917. Monleon, a Spaniard with a distinct dark mustache, had been piloting aircraft since the age of 16. According to police reports, before his employment at the War Department, Monleon was a Soldier-for-Hire.
His bio, if accurate, described a man who had confronted death and triumphed numerous times throughout his brief life. At 31 years old, he had flown 350 missions in Spain for the Spanish Loyalists. As Nazis seized power across Europe, he fled to France, escaped from a concentration camp, and then traveled to England, where he enlisted in the Royal Air Force. Subsequently, he transitioned to the British Merchant Marine before ultimately joining the U.S. Merchant Marine while stationed in South America.
In December 1944, Roberto secured a marriage license in New York City and married Lenore Finegold, a model, artist, and jewelry designer from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He told his blonde, green-eyed American wife that he was a count, a former squadron commander in the Spanish Loyalist Air Force, and the survivor of five ships torpedoed during the war.
Mrs. Monleon, estranged from her husband for several years, told New York police that Monleon telephoned her the night before the accident and said: "Since you won't have me back, there is only one thing for me to do in my present state of mind. I might as well put a knife through your heart and then kill myself."
A note discovered on the plane revealed a completely different narrative. Roberto was indeed in love and had expressed a desire to kill a woman so they could be together for eternity, but it was not his wife he referred to. Instead, it was his ill-fated passenger—Hannah Laufer.
The note, in a mixture of Spanish, French, and English, was written by Roberto to Hannah but never mailed. It was addressed to Mon Amour Chouchou and said in part:
"I'm desperately in love, and you do not return my love…Unfortunately enough, you did not want to believe in this love, especially since my love for you has become the only ideal of my life.... It is quite late now. You are always in my heart and mind…For a while, I thought I would have to take you with me out of this world. For a while, I thought we would be together again forever. I know now that both things are impossible. Adieu, ma Cherie. Say nothing to anybody, nothing "Chouchou," and said in part: "I'm desperately in love, and you do not return my love. Unfortunately, you did not want to believe in this love, especially since my love for you has become the only ideal of my life. It is quite late now, and you are always in my heart and mind. For a while, I thought I would have to take you with me out of this world. For a while, I thought we were going to be together forever. I know now that both of these things are impossible. Adieu, my dearest, my dear, my dear. Say nothing of our days to anyone. I am taking leave of you."
Written in English at the end of his note, Monleon recorded the time and date: 2 a.m. on Thursday, just 11 hours before he and Miss Laufer departed in the rented Bellanca.
The aircraft was owned by the Edwards Flying Service, based in Garden City, Long Island. George Edwards, who operates the service, mentioned that Monleon had been flying out of Flushing Airport for several years. He informed the police that Monleon had introduced himself as an exporter.
Considered an expert pilot, Monleon had frequently rented planes from Flushing and Teterboro, New Jersey, over the past 18 months. He held a single-engine land plane license and rented the Bellanca at 1 PM on Thursday, September 16, 1948, for a 'business trip to Philadelphia,' at a rate of $20 per hour. By the time of the crash, his rental bill had reached $140 when the nearly new $6,500 plane went down in three feet of water in Hassock Creek, about a mile southeast of the International Airport.
Miss Laufer boarded the plane in Flushing, and Monleon conducted two practice landings before departing for Philadelphia. "He appeared completely normal," stated Bill Ready, a flying instructor at Edwards Flying Service.
After an uneventful trip, they landed at Philadelphia's International Airport and rode away in a cab. Around 2:45 p.m., Monleon called Ready to inform him that he had arrived in Philadelphia and would begin his return trip later that afternoon.
Police said Monleon was separated from his wife, but Mrs. Monleon denied they were estranged, claiming that "Even after our separation, he would call me every day to check on what I was doing."
The pretty wife and mother said she believed her husband had shot Miss Laufer out of mercy because "he was that way."
"The plane was about to crash," she explained, "and the girl was in pain, so he shot her to relieve her suffering, not out of hatred. He couldn't bear to see her in agony."
"Roberto said that he had been torpedoed six times during the war. After he fled from Spain, he joined the French Air Force. Then, he said, the Germans put him in a concentration camp, but he escaped, went to England, and joined the British Merchant Marine. He jumped ship in South America. joined the American Merchant Marine. Yet he never got the idea of death completely out of his mind. Once, when he
was torpedoed, he asked another sailor to shoot him, to put an end to it all."
She shared this as an explanation for why her husband would choose to end Miss Laufer's life with a gun.
Several years ago, she had filed for divorce but later retracted it. She stated at an immigration hearing regarding her husband that they had reconciled. However, their marriage fell apart once again. She said the pilot had a suicide obsession that haunted him and fueled his unbridled jealousy.
"We got married here six years ago, and Roberto was always intensely jealous. He lived with a constant fear that he would die first, and I would remarry. He disliked it when I read books, fearing I would develop new ideas. If I used a new word in conversation, he would ask who I had been with and where I had heard it." Tears welled in green eyes as she continued, "In a way, I feel responsible for the terrible thing that has happened. When we were happiest, it was his rather grim custom to suggest that, as we never could be any happier, we should end our lives. I realized he was sick and tried to get him to go to a doctor, but he wouldn't go."
When Monleon's wife learned about the note's contents, she was certain it was meant for her, as he referred to her as "Chouchou." However, it seemed he had also given the same affectionate nickname to Hannah since her name was found on the opened envelope containing the note.
According to Bill Ready, the flying instructor at Edwards Flying Service, from which Monleon rented the Bellanca, Hannah was his favorite companion among the various girls he brought for flights.
Primary sources:
It was 7:20 p.m. when unusual activities began over the airfields of Long Island. A recent-model single-engine Bellanca flew as low as 20 feet above Flushing Airport, racing by at 120 miles per hour. Due to police regulations, landings were prohibited after dusk—specifically after 7:03 that evening—and airfield officials declined to activate the lights.
The aircraft made a second pass before veering toward the Bronx. It then entered LaGuardia airfield traffic, violating all aviation regulations. The control tower signaled the plane with a red light, indicating it should leave. While it complied momentarily, it returned and received the red light once more.
This time, the plane flew to International. Control men there spied the little plane in the moonlight. Lights on the 8,200-foot runway were turned on. Walter Slobodin, a Port of New York Authority policeman on duty, said he saw the plane approach, attempt to make a landing, hit the runway, bounce into the air, and then circle away. Ten minutes later, it was seen approaching, but suddenly it dipped and disappeared. Two city firemen, fishing nearby, said the motor was still roaring when the plane hit the creek at 8 p.m. The motor was embedded in the salt marsh; the fuselage and tail were left standing in the air.
Coast Guard Air-Sea Rescue boats discovered the wreckage in shallow water off Bergen's Landing, situated between the airport and a Long Island Railroad trestle. Both passengers were found deceased.
Two days later, on Saturday, September 18, 1948, the autopsy revealed that Hannah Laufer, 29, had not died from the crash; she had been shot three times. Next to her was the pilot of the rented plane, Jesus M. Monleon, 31, who had suffered a knife wound to his heart.
The daughter of a Czech immigrant who had established a furrier business in New York City, Miss Laufer worked as a translator in the Army Adjutant General's office until she was let go a few months before her passing. It was during her time at the AG's office that she met Monleon, a civilian employee in the Army Publications Service Branch of the War Department.
Jesus Meneu Monleon, affectionately known as "Roberto" by his friends, was born in Salamanca, Spain, on February 25, 1917. Monleon, a Spaniard with a distinct dark mustache, had been piloting aircraft since the age of 16. According to police reports, before his employment at the War Department, Monleon was a Soldier-for-Hire.
His bio, if accurate, described a man who had confronted death and triumphed numerous times throughout his brief life. At 31 years old, he had flown 350 missions in Spain for the Spanish Loyalists. As Nazis seized power across Europe, he fled to France, escaped from a concentration camp, and then traveled to England, where he enlisted in the Royal Air Force. Subsequently, he transitioned to the British Merchant Marine before ultimately joining the U.S. Merchant Marine while stationed in South America.
In December 1944, Roberto secured a marriage license in New York City and married Lenore Finegold, a model, artist, and jewelry designer from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He told his blonde, green-eyed American wife that he was a count, a former squadron commander in the Spanish Loyalist Air Force, and the survivor of five ships torpedoed during the war.
Mrs. Monleon, estranged from her husband for several years, told New York police that Monleon telephoned her the night before the accident and said: "Since you won't have me back, there is only one thing for me to do in my present state of mind. I might as well put a knife through your heart and then kill myself."
A note discovered on the plane revealed a completely different narrative. Roberto was indeed in love and had expressed a desire to kill a woman so they could be together for eternity, but it was not his wife he referred to. Instead, it was his ill-fated passenger—Hannah Laufer.
*********************************
The note, in a mixture of Spanish, French, and English, was written by Roberto to Hannah but never mailed. It was addressed to Mon Amour Chouchou and said in part:
"I'm desperately in love, and you do not return my love…Unfortunately enough, you did not want to believe in this love, especially since my love for you has become the only ideal of my life.... It is quite late now. You are always in my heart and mind…For a while, I thought I would have to take you with me out of this world. For a while, I thought we would be together again forever. I know now that both things are impossible. Adieu, ma Cherie. Say nothing to anybody, nothing "Chouchou," and said in part: "I'm desperately in love, and you do not return my love. Unfortunately, you did not want to believe in this love, especially since my love for you has become the only ideal of my life. It is quite late now, and you are always in my heart and mind. For a while, I thought I would have to take you with me out of this world. For a while, I thought we were going to be together forever. I know now that both of these things are impossible. Adieu, my dearest, my dear, my dear. Say nothing of our days to anyone. I am taking leave of you."
Written in English at the end of his note, Monleon recorded the time and date: 2 a.m. on Thursday, just 11 hours before he and Miss Laufer departed in the rented Bellanca.
*********************************
Considered an expert pilot, Monleon had frequently rented planes from Flushing and Teterboro, New Jersey, over the past 18 months. He held a single-engine land plane license and rented the Bellanca at 1 PM on Thursday, September 16, 1948, for a 'business trip to Philadelphia,' at a rate of $20 per hour. By the time of the crash, his rental bill had reached $140 when the nearly new $6,500 plane went down in three feet of water in Hassock Creek, about a mile southeast of the International Airport.
Miss Laufer boarded the plane in Flushing, and Monleon conducted two practice landings before departing for Philadelphia. "He appeared completely normal," stated Bill Ready, a flying instructor at Edwards Flying Service.
After an uneventful trip, they landed at Philadelphia's International Airport and rode away in a cab. Around 2:45 p.m., Monleon called Ready to inform him that he had arrived in Philadelphia and would begin his return trip later that afternoon.
*********************************
Jesus Meneu Monleon died from a self-inflicted knife wound that pierced the heart, according to Dr. William Benenson, assistant medical examiner.
Police believed the knife was pulled out of the body when the dead pilot was being removed from the water-filled cockpit. A knife with an eight-inch blade was found in the water-immersed wreckage during the second search.
Investigators suspect that multiple factors converged, overwhelming Monleon. Assistant Medical Examiner Richard Grimes noted that a letter addressed to Miss Laufer revealed the writer's deep, unrequited love for the woman. His efforts to reconcile with his wife had failed, and the Spaniard was also facing deportation proceedings due to his unlawful entry into the United States in 1942 after leaving a British merchant vessel.
Police believed the knife was pulled out of the body when the dead pilot was being removed from the water-filled cockpit. A knife with an eight-inch blade was found in the water-immersed wreckage during the second search.
Investigators suspect that multiple factors converged, overwhelming Monleon. Assistant Medical Examiner Richard Grimes noted that a letter addressed to Miss Laufer revealed the writer's deep, unrequited love for the woman. His efforts to reconcile with his wife had failed, and the Spaniard was also facing deportation proceedings due to his unlawful entry into the United States in 1942 after leaving a British merchant vessel.
*********************************
Police said Monleon was separated from his wife, but Mrs. Monleon denied they were estranged, claiming that "Even after our separation, he would call me every day to check on what I was doing."
The pretty wife and mother said she believed her husband had shot Miss Laufer out of mercy because "he was that way."
"The plane was about to crash," she explained, "and the girl was in pain, so he shot her to relieve her suffering, not out of hatred. He couldn't bear to see her in agony."
"Roberto said that he had been torpedoed six times during the war. After he fled from Spain, he joined the French Air Force. Then, he said, the Germans put him in a concentration camp, but he escaped, went to England, and joined the British Merchant Marine. He jumped ship in South America. joined the American Merchant Marine. Yet he never got the idea of death completely out of his mind. Once, when he
was torpedoed, he asked another sailor to shoot him, to put an end to it all."
She shared this as an explanation for why her husband would choose to end Miss Laufer's life with a gun.
Several years ago, she had filed for divorce but later retracted it. She stated at an immigration hearing regarding her husband that they had reconciled. However, their marriage fell apart once again. She said the pilot had a suicide obsession that haunted him and fueled his unbridled jealousy.
"We got married here six years ago, and Roberto was always intensely jealous. He lived with a constant fear that he would die first, and I would remarry. He disliked it when I read books, fearing I would develop new ideas. If I used a new word in conversation, he would ask who I had been with and where I had heard it." Tears welled in green eyes as she continued, "In a way, I feel responsible for the terrible thing that has happened. When we were happiest, it was his rather grim custom to suggest that, as we never could be any happier, we should end our lives. I realized he was sick and tried to get him to go to a doctor, but he wouldn't go."
When Monleon's wife learned about the note's contents, she was certain it was meant for her, as he referred to her as "Chouchou." However, it seemed he had also given the same affectionate nickname to Hannah since her name was found on the opened envelope containing the note.
According to Bill Ready, the flying instructor at Edwards Flying Service, from which Monleon rented the Bellanca, Hannah was his favorite companion among the various girls he brought for flights.
*********************************
The Medical Examiner said Hannah had died of "bullet wounds of the chest with laceration of the heart and hemorrhage". No gun was found in the wreckage.
The tragedy of their daughter's death in a plane crash was intensified by the distressing experience the Laufer family endured in 1947. Robert Laufer, the owner of Laufer Fur Company, was a survivor of the Bermuda Sky Queen crash.
On October 14, 1947, the heavily laden Bermuda Sky Queen had to make an emergency landing in the North Atlantic due to strong headwinds that drained its fuel reserves. The aircraft drifted for 24 hours in rough waters, roughly 700 miles east of Newfoundland, until the U.S. Coast Guard cutter George M. Bibb arrived on the scene. Thankfully, all 69 passengers were rescued safely. However, worried family members spent nearly two days fearing that their loved ones had perished in the crash.
Friends revealed that Hannah ended her relationship with Monleon over Labor Day weekend, following her father's insistence that she break it off. She agreed and shared with him her plans to marry another man.
At the Laufer residence, Hannah's younger brother, Leo, declined to speak with reporters about these revelations and requested that the family be left alone to mourn. However, more details about their romance emerged from Mrs. Aimee Green and her husband, Shepard, an attorney, who allowed the Spaniard to use their penthouse address atop the Concord Hotel for business matters.
They were also the last to hear from Monleon. After placing the call to Bill Ready at Flushing Field, he called Shepard Green to say that he would be back in New York City in time to have dinner with Green and his wife.
The Greens, an open-minded couple fond of stray dogs and people with quirky personalities, or so Mrs. Green put it, met Monleon nearly two years ago while he was promoting an export business. Not long after, he introduced them to Hannah, and both Monleon and Hannah sought Mrs. Green's advice multiple times regarding their romantic issues.
"Mrs. Monleon was considering divorce, although she never went through with it," Mrs. Green recounted. "Three weeks ago, Hannah concluded that he wasn't the right man for her and chose not to marry him. Then Hannah reached out to me. I spent hours one day advising her not to see Roberto again, as she had already made her choice. But evidently, he managed to convince her to go on a date because the next thing I knew, they were found dead out in Queens."
She said nothing of Miss Laufer's assertion that she intended to marry another man.
The tragedy of their daughter's death in a plane crash was intensified by the distressing experience the Laufer family endured in 1947. Robert Laufer, the owner of Laufer Fur Company, was a survivor of the Bermuda Sky Queen crash.
On October 14, 1947, the heavily laden Bermuda Sky Queen had to make an emergency landing in the North Atlantic due to strong headwinds that drained its fuel reserves. The aircraft drifted for 24 hours in rough waters, roughly 700 miles east of Newfoundland, until the U.S. Coast Guard cutter George M. Bibb arrived on the scene. Thankfully, all 69 passengers were rescued safely. However, worried family members spent nearly two days fearing that their loved ones had perished in the crash.
Friends revealed that Hannah ended her relationship with Monleon over Labor Day weekend, following her father's insistence that she break it off. She agreed and shared with him her plans to marry another man.
At the Laufer residence, Hannah's younger brother, Leo, declined to speak with reporters about these revelations and requested that the family be left alone to mourn. However, more details about their romance emerged from Mrs. Aimee Green and her husband, Shepard, an attorney, who allowed the Spaniard to use their penthouse address atop the Concord Hotel for business matters.
They were also the last to hear from Monleon. After placing the call to Bill Ready at Flushing Field, he called Shepard Green to say that he would be back in New York City in time to have dinner with Green and his wife.
The Greens, an open-minded couple fond of stray dogs and people with quirky personalities, or so Mrs. Green put it, met Monleon nearly two years ago while he was promoting an export business. Not long after, he introduced them to Hannah, and both Monleon and Hannah sought Mrs. Green's advice multiple times regarding their romantic issues.
"Mrs. Monleon was considering divorce, although she never went through with it," Mrs. Green recounted. "Three weeks ago, Hannah concluded that he wasn't the right man for her and chose not to marry him. Then Hannah reached out to me. I spent hours one day advising her not to see Roberto again, as she had already made her choice. But evidently, he managed to convince her to go on a date because the next thing I knew, they were found dead out in Queens."
She said nothing of Miss Laufer's assertion that she intended to marry another man.
*********************************
On September 16, 1948, at 8:30, the crash of a single-engine, 4-seater, Bellanca plane into the Jamaica Bay marshes marked a grim milestone. The tragic death of Miss Hannah Laufer became New York's first recorded murder in the air. Authorities classified the incident as a murder-suicide. Police expressed belief Monleon made one last desperate marriage proposal to Miss Laufer as they sat side by side in the cockpit of the tiny plane high above the waters surrounding Long Island. When she rejected the proposal, police theorized he pumped three bullets into her body, tossed the gun overboard, then fatally stabbed himself just before the crash.
An estimated 125 friends and family members gathered to honor Hannah Laufer at the Temple Memorial Funeral Home in Flushing, Queens, on Sunday, September 19. Rabbi Theodore Friedman from the Jackson Heights Jewish Center led the service, which was brief. He began with a prayer in Hebrew, followed by a reading of the 25th Psalm. The casket remained closed during the service.
An estimated 125 friends and family members gathered to honor Hannah Laufer at the Temple Memorial Funeral Home in Flushing, Queens, on Sunday, September 19. Rabbi Theodore Friedman from the Jackson Heights Jewish Center led the service, which was brief. He began with a prayer in Hebrew, followed by a reading of the 25th Psalm. The casket remained closed during the service.
*********************************
Primary sources:
Daily News, New York, New York, Fri, Sep 17, 1948 ·Page 204
Times Herald, Washington, District of Columbia, Sat, Sep 18, 1948 ·Page 3
The Courier-Journal, Louisville, KY, Sat, Sep 18, 1948 ·Page 2
The Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Mon, Sep 20, 1948 ·Page 2
Daily News, New York, New York, Mon, Sep 20, 1948 ·Page 50
Daily News, New York, New York, Sat, Sep 18, 1948 ·Pages 297, 304, 233
The Miami News, Miami, Florida, Sat, Sep 18, 1948 ·Page 2
Daily Sentinel, Rome, New York, Mon, Oct 20, 1947
Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Mon, Sep 20, 1948 ·Page 3
Syracuse Herald Journal, Syracuse, New York, Sep 18, 1948 ·Page 2
The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Sun, Oct 17, 1948 ·Page 151
The Star-Ledger, Newark, New Jersey, Sun, Sep 19, 1948 ·Page 18
Intention For Citizenship, 1/19/1842 - 10/29/1959; NAI Number: 4713410; Record Group Title: Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685-2009; Record Group Number: 21
New York City Department of Records & Information Services; New York City, New York; New York City Death Certificates; Borough: Queens; Year: 1948
The National Archives at Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA; NAI Title: Declarations of Intention For Citizenship, 1/19/1842 - 10/29/1959; NAI Number: 4713410; Record Group Title: Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685-2009; Record Group Number: 21
National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; WWII Draft Registration Cards For New York City, 10/16/1940 - 03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147
New York City Department of Records & Information Services; New York City, New York; New York City Death Certificates; Borough: Queens; Year: 1948
New York City Municipal Archives; New York, New York; Borough: Manhattan; Volume Number: 45
Index to New York City Deaths 1862-1948. Indices prepared by the Italian Genealogical Group and the German Genealogy Group, and used with permission of the New York City Department of Records/Municipal Archives.
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