Nathaniel Bar-Jonah

Case record: Nathaniel Bar-Jonah

Names and identity

Nathaniel Benjamin Levi Bar-Jonah was also known by the name David Paul Brown. He was born February 15, 1957, and died April 13, 2008. He was born in Worcester, Massachusetts. In 1991, he changed his name to Nathaniel Benjamin Levi Bar-Jonah.

Background

In 1974, he pleaded guilty to impersonating a policeman and assaulting an eight-year-old boy, for which he received one year of probation.

In 1977, he was convicted of the kidnapping and attempted murder of two boys and was sentenced to 18 to 20 years in prison. The strangling of the two boys was described as occurring while one managed to escape and find help.

While in prison, he was transferred to the Bridgewater State Hospital.

In 1991, Superior Court Judge Walter E. Steele ruled that Massachusetts had failed to prove that Bar-Jonah was dangerous, and he was released before moving to Great Falls, Montana.

Investigation

In 1999, Montana police arrested Bar-Jonah, initially for impersonating a police officer. After searching his home, Montana police charged him with kidnapping and sexual assault, as well as kidnapping and sexual assault of three other boys.

Police searched his home and found, among other things, many pictures of young children cut out of magazines and a bone that was identified as belonging to an unknown young male.

Investigators also had evidence that he cooked a child up and served him to unexpected guests and neighbors, including the child's own family.

Investigators were unaware of Bar-Jonah’s past trouble in Massachusetts. This fact was cited by activists campaigning to force former sex offenders to register.

A handwritten list of names entitled “Lake Webster” was discovered in Bar-Jonah’s possession in December 2001. Some reports stated that Andrew Amato was among the children featured in the list, but this was described as inaccurate. Amato disappeared from Webster, Massachusetts in 1978 and was not tied with Bar-Jonah.

DNA testing conducted in 2001 on a bone located in Bar-Jonah’s Montana garage proved that it was not part of Ramsay’s, Pockett’s, or Gallion’s remains. Amato’s DNA was not compared to the bone. Bar-Jonah was charged in connection with any of the other disappearances.

Local authorities investigated coded messages that were described as allegedly taken from Bar-Jonah’s own writings. Those messages included phrases such as “little boy stew” and “little boy pot pies,” which were described as being used to prove Bar-Jonah’s cannibal tendencies. Investigators also found coded notes with phrases hinting at alleged cannibalism.

A separate description of coded notes included the message: “Lunch is Served on the Patio with Roasted Child,” and references to cannibalism included “Roasted Kid” and “Little Boy Stew.”

In December 2000, authorities described a bone fragment found buried beneath the floor of Bar-Jonah’s garage. Investigators feared it could be the last trace of a vanished child and were trying to determine the identity. Investigators suspected the child was between 9 and 14 years old, and they were not certain whether the child was a boy or a girl.

William Matthews, described as a spokesman for the FBI in Salt Lake City, Utah, said: “We’re going to places where we know he’s been, where he’s either lived or visited.”

Arrest and custody

Bar-Jonah was arrested in 1999 after a reported encounter involving an off-duty police officer noticing him acting suspiciously around a school.

During the same period, Montana police described finding items during a search of Bar-Jonah’s flat that included a stun gun, police badge, pepper spray and a realistic toy gun, which court documents described as equipment detectives believed he used to fool children into going with him.

He was held in county jail in Great Falls, and later described as being held on $500,000 bond in the Cascade County Jail.

Offences and alleged acts

Massachusetts offences

In 1974, his guilty plea involved impersonating a policeman and assaulting an eight-year-old boy.

In 1977, he was convicted of kidnapping and attempted murder of two boys, with strangling described as occurring while one escaped.

Montana offences (convictions)

Bar-Jonah was charged with kidnapping and sexual assault, and with kidnapping and sexual assault of three other boys. The charges involving the other three boys resulted in conviction.

He was convicted of kidnapping, aggravated assault, and sexual assault, including charges that he had tortured one of the boys and hung him from the ceiling.

He maintained his innocence up until his death.

A separate description in the material stated that he was serving 130 years for kidnapping, sexually assaulting and choking a teenage boy at the time of his death.

Zachary Ramsay case (charged and then dismissed)

Bar-Jonah had been charged in connection with the murder of 10-year-old Zachary Ramsay, who disappeared February 6, 1996 while walking to school in Great Falls, Montana. The material stated that the charges were supported by evidence suggesting Bar-Jonah had butchered the boy and disposed of his body in meals served to neighbors.

The murder charge was later dismissed after Ramsay’s mother said she would testify she believed her son was still alive.

Rachel Howard, described as Ramsay’s mother, said: “I did not want Bar-Jonah to be convicted of a crime that I did not believe he did.”

Another statement attributed to Rachel Howard was that she did not believe the suspect, Nathaniel Bar-Jonah, left, had killed her son, Zachary Ramsay, in 1996.

The material described that authorities said they verified a videotape was filmed in Italy, where the child's father was stationed with the United States military at the time.

His dental records and fingerprints did not match Ramsay’s.

A description of the case also stated that his case remained unsolved, that investigators closed Ramsay's file after allegedly connecting Bar-Jonah to his disappearance, and that Ramsay likes drawing and painting and was described as reserved but friendly. At the time of his disappearance, he was described as afraid of the dark.

Trial and sentencing

On February 20, 2002, he went on trial for kidnapping, sexually assaulting and choking a teenage neighbor boy and was eventually sentenced to 130 years.

He was convicted of kidnapping, aggravated assault, and sexual assault of various children.

All charges related to Ramsay’s case were dismissed in October 2002 as the result of a lack of evidence.

Appeals and post-sentencing status

No appeal outcome was stated in the material. The status described him as being a convicted child predator in prison after repeatedly molesting, torturing, and attempting to murder children, and as having been suspected of murdering a child and disposing of the body through cannibalistic ways.

The material stated that Bar-Jonah maintained his innocence up until his death.

Death and aftermath

Nathaniel Bar-Jonah was found unresponsive early Sunday April 13, 2008 and was later pronounced dead at a hospital. He had been in poor health.

An autopsy found significant levels of LDL in his arteries and myocardial infarction was determined as the cause of death. Another description in the material stated that the convicted sex offender and accused cannibal was overweight and also recently had a leg amputated due to complications related to diabetes, and died of a blood clot in a Montana prison in April 2008 at age 51.

A Cascade County Attorney Brant Light said: “We’ve been told the FBI, and possibly the Great Falls Police Department...go through his stuff and see any kind of, not only to Zachary Ramsay, but any other crimes he might have been involved in”

At the time of his death, he was serving 130 years for kidnapping, sexually assaulting and choking a teenage boy. He was also described as accused of killing and cannibalizing a boy in Great Falls, but was never tried for that crime.

His post mortem and autopsy results were released described as finding poor health and complications related to his medical conditions. His cell was described as cordoned off and law enforcement officials were described as hoping to see what writings he might have left behind.