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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 1992
black attackers reportedly
called out, "Hey, Jew, give
me your wallet," when they
hit Israel and Yaffa Aminov
over the head with baseball
bats.
"The women (of Chasidic
Crown Heights) are specially
scared," said Mrs. White,
who spoke to The Jewish
News in August following
the riots after a car accident
that killed Gavin Cato, a 7-
year-old black boy. "I can't
tell you we're not tired of the
violence in our neighbor-
hood. But this is where we
live; this is part of our lives."
The Whites, whose family
in Oak Park fear for their
safety, don't see a com-
parison between the murder
of Mrs. Lapine and the Aug.
19 stabbing death of 29-year-
old Yankel Rosenbaum, a
rabbinical student from
Australia.
Minutes after a car driven
by a Lubavitch Chasid
struck and killed Gavin
Cato, violence between
Chasidic Jews and blacks
erupted on the streets of the
Crown Heights section of
Brooklyn, N.Y., world head-
quarters of the Lubavitch
movement. The clash
resulted in the death of Mr.
Rosenbaum. Arrested Aug.
21 for the stabbings were
two black males, ages 15 and
16.
"There was no question in
our minds that the rioting
that took place in August
was because of racial
hatred," said Mrs. White,
originally from South
Africa. "In minutes, the
deaths of Yankel Rosen-
baum and Gavin Cato
erupted into a black and
white issue. But what
happened to Mrs. Lapine
could've happened to
anybody. It was tragic for us
that it happened to one of
our close friends."
Since the murder, Romane
LaFond, a 23-year-old black
handyman living a few
blocks from the Lapine
apartment, was arrested and
charged with Mrs. Lapine's
murder. Police said Mr. La-
Fond was being questioned
on a sex-abuse warrant
when detectives connected
him to Mrs. Lapine.
Mrs. White said several
Chasidic women have told
police they had seen Mr. La-
Fond walking aimlessly
around the neighborhood.
Police think Mr. LaFond
followed Mrs. Lapine home
from the grocery store.
Though the initial motive
may have been robbery,
there is evidence the at-
tacker may have attempted
rape before escaping
through a back window.
Mrs. White said the
Lapines celebrated their
13th wedding anniversary
the previous Tuesday. "A
mother has been ripped from
her family," she said. "It has
left a huge hole. There are
things only she knew how to
deal with. I can hardly
believe I'll never see my
good friend again."
The children are doing
better, Mrs. White said.
"Chaim Dovid (Mrs.
Lapine's husband) is still in
shock. He came home from
teaching and found a crowd
of ambulances parked out-
side his apartment. I've been
taking care of them and so
has the rest of our commun-
ity. I've never seen such an
outpouring of support and
concern."
Mrs. White said she found
out from a black neighbor
that a Jewish woman was
found murdered. "I've since
spoken to other black
neighbors, and each one has
expressed their outrage and
"The women are
scared."
Henna White
disgust. This has been a
terrible blow to us all, and
people, black and white,
have come together."
Chanoch Kagan, original-
ly from Detroit, said Crown
Heights has been quiet since
the August riots.
"This was the action of a
lone madman," said Rabbi
Kagan, son of Rabbi
Yitschak Meir Kagan, asso-
ciate director of the Lubavit-
ch Foundation of Michigan.
"This seems to be an isolated
incident."
As he told The Jewish
News in August, Chanoch
Kagan doesn't feel that
interracial violence is
typical of the largely
Chasidic neighborhood.
"The idea that two peoples
live here is true, but that did
not lead to the violence," he
said.
However, the chairman of
the Crown Heights Jewish
Community Council said the
groundswell of black anti-
Semitism has been per-
vasive throughout the
Crown Heights community.
He said the city administra-
tion has done nothing to rec-
tify that feeling.
"In August, a child was
killed by accident and black
rioting caused a million
dollars worth of damage in
property, not counting send-
ing Jews and cops into the
hospital. The city didn't
react for three days," said
Rabbi Joseph Spielman of
Crown Heights.