Long Beach, CA – A 30-year-old Los Angeles man pleaded no contest to a charge that he killed a 61-year-old rabbi while driving drunk two years ago.
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Willie Norton Jr., 30, entered his plea – considered the same as a guilty plea in criminal court – as jury selection was slated to begin in his trial, said Long Beach Police Sgt. Hans Kohnlein.
After entering his plea Norton was promptly sentenced to 17 years in prison, said Kohnlein, who is in charge of the Accident Investigations Detail.
The victim, Gilbert [Gedaliah] Shaffer, was visiting from Brooklyn, New York, on March 7, 2007, when the fatal crash occurred, (Reported By VIN News).
The car Shaffer was driving – a white 2007 Saturn Ion – was hit by Norton’s gold 1990 Cadillac Fleetwood and Shaffer was pronounced dead at the scene.
Investigators said then that Norton’s Cadillac spun out of control after he was hit by a Los Angeles Metro bus near Pacific Coast Highway and Long Beach Boulevard.
Investigators said Norton appeared to be drunk and the cause of the crash. He was eventually arrested and charged with the rabbi’s death in October of 2007.
Relatives of Shaffer said the rabbi – who lived in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York – was in Long Beach on a business trip at the time of his death.
The driver of the Metro bus, a 24-year-old Whittier man, was never charged in the fatal crash.
Pretty cheap price to pay for murder. He will probally get out early & his first stop will be
the bar!
In Australia he would get 1 or 2 years.
Rabbi Shaffer was one of the most respected & loved Chassidim in Crown Heights. A brilliant, unassuming, & learned man, he was a strong & quiet influence on so many people. This pathetic sentence doesn’t go far enough when you consider the colossal loss to his family and community. I hope, though, it gives some measure of menucha to his wife & children.
Since when are jews so cruel and taking pleasure in someones long jail term.
What is the purpose of jail? Will it bring anyone back?
Yes he did something terrible, but those that committed premeditated murder have received a lot less than 17 years.
The sentence this driver received is in no way severe enough. The sentence should have be life in prison. We must send a message to all who drive drunk, we will not tolerate DUI. This goes for Yidden as well. This is a preventable situation, no one says don’t drink, Kol HaKovod, just please don’t drive when you drink. If you choose to put your life at risk, that is your business, but you have no right to cause harm to anyone else.
Let’s see what 17 years means in California. According to my calendar, the slime ball should be out of jail in 2026. By then, he will be 47. How much ya wanna bet that he won’t serve half as long as the sentence calls for.
Of course, people will say that the murder is not the same as others. Tragically, too many people treat drunk driving too lightly. Getting behind the wheel while drunk is not very different than shooting a gun into a crowded street. When the world sees that drunk drivers get severely punished, they will learn not to drive when drunk.
The perepetrator of this crime was a repeat offender. He had been arrested before for dwi and had caused a fatal accident prior to the incident with Reb Gedaliah, in fact he was either out on bail or on probation. Reb Gedaliah a”h is geven a yakar, a tierer chashuver yid. Also with a gemarah, a sefer. I would see him walking in the street with his head buried in a sefer. Unfortunately for his family and friends, Hashem wants the good ones near him. Zohl der aibershter geben dee mishpacha koiches tzoo deal with this tragedy and carry on their Father’s legacy of true Yissishkiet and Chassidishkiet. Y’HAI ZICHROI BARUCH
I am a daugher of Mr. Shaffer and would like to share my opinion. This man who killed my father is not a good person. He previously was arrested for numerous offences. I am glad that he must serve his time and hope he will learn his lesson. Yes, i would be happier if he was in for longer, but the truth is that no matter how much time he serves, he knows that he is in jail because he did something wrong. and even if he was only sentenced to two years, all we hope is that he knows what he did was tragicly wrong and he will never do it again. as far as the rest of his life is concerned, i hope he turns out to be a decent human being and i only wish for him that he have someone in his life as i had my father and that he can see how much my family has lost from his actions. i hope he will feel badly for what he did and turn his life around to become a good person. g-d will punish him for what he deserves, its not up to us to decide what his punishment should be outside for that which the law decides.
Mr. Shaffer’s daughter has more rachmonis than anyone else commenting om this article. She sounds like a sensible, sensitive person. My condolences to her and her family.
Very nice post, a daughter but still, I wish that this subhuman experiences the worst brutality possible while in prison, including infection with a virus that is a life sentence of pain and suffering.
17 years seems fair, for what was, after all, not a premeditated murder. This person was a menace to everybody on the roads, and southern California is a safer place with him in prison, but he didn’t *mean* to kill anyone. He just didn’t think, or didn’t care enough to be careful. Let’s just hope that he won’t be among the 40,000 prisoners that the Ninth Circus has ordered the state to release because of “overcrowding”. (See http://1k48.sl.pt )
Gedaliah was a very special person, who could speak knowledgeably on every subject, whether Torah or secular. No matter sefer or book you mentioned, chances were he had read it; no matter what place you mentioned, chances were he had been there, or at least knew something about it; he was a real renaissance man, “ish ho’eshkolos”.
He was also a big baal tzedokoh, not just with his money but with his time and attention. I remember sitting in his home watching him deal with a line of collecters, and he didn’t just give each one a check and send them away; he also spoke to them and showed an interest in their mosad or situation, gave chizuk to those who needed it, and made each one feel that he cared.
PS: Over the summer I spent less time on the web, and VIN was one of the sites I didn’t have time for. Now I’m back, but with the yomim tovim and other distractions I won’t be here as often as I used to be)
ro AuthenticSatmar and anybody else.
The reason he is a bad person, is because he chose to drive while intoxicated. The consequences are irreversible, unfortunately.
What is more unfortunate is that he killed a person a few years while driving while intoxicated. Which is why the sentence is harsh and the family probably has a claim against the state of CA for allowing a cruelly irresponsible person to roam free. (wish i can post the related article, need to find it…)
Accidents unfortunately happen. DUI accidents are PREVENTABLE by keeping people with a history off of the roads.
No, this doesn’t bring anybody back. Reb Gedalyas family and the Crown Heights community still mourn their loss.
But this sentence may prevent 1 or 2 or 3 other people from a similar fate, which is why there is a comfort felt in this sentence.
If you know the Shaffer family, they don’t find any comfort in revenge. They are people who truly love and do good.
May Reb Gedalya have nachas from his children.
R’ Gedalya had the zchus of raising the most incredible children (together with his wife.) They are living examples of Yidden with true Ahavas Yisroel.
I was impressed with the post that his daughter wrote.
His son-in-law (although not raised by him 🙂 is a reflection of what his children are…
His son-in-law is Rabbi Simon from Teaneck who recently donated a Kidney as reported here on VIN.
http://www.vinnews.com/36997/2009/08/20/teaneck-nj-rabbis-kidney-donation-inspires-community/
17 years seems to light a sentence. When one dries drunk it’s as if he takes a loaded gun and begins shooting into the air knowing full well that the law of gravity states that what goes up must come down and people have been killed that way. To those stupidly calling his 17 year sentence cruel I suggest you think about the family and the future victims had he not beem put away. As for Judaism, the “halacha” is quite clear that a human is responsible for his actions even when he did not mean to do harm but in this case the driver is a cold blooded murderer and he should never see th outside of prison