Jacob L. Klein, 40, had emerged as the mastermind behind the murder of Philip L. Rabadi, who was an assistant doctor at St. John’s Hospital. Peter’s, in the aftermath of the homicide. The victim was tied up, cut off and mutilated at his home on Miller Road several miles south of Albany. Police have not identified a possible motive for the killing, but Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple said Klein “stalked” Rabadi’s wife – who was once Klein’s girlfriend – for three days before the murder. . He did not know about the monitoring, Apple said. While she knew Klein, her husband did not, the sheriff said. He added that investigators believe they know why Klein stalked Rabadi’s wife, 29-year-old Elana J. Radin, but said: “I can not go into details about that.” Klein spent much of his childhood in Cobleskill. A former Klein’s classmate at The Albany Academy, who asked not to be named, said growing up with Klein was known as “Larry” or “Lawrence”, which is his middle name. The former classmate said Klein had moved from Schoharie County to a private school in Albany for several years and had graduated in 1999. Federal agents helped track down and arrest Klein, who is being held without bail on a federal warrant charged with fugitives. Under federal law, a person allegedly committing a crime and crossing state lines to escape can be arrested by federal agents. Klein is also facing a second-degree murder charge based on an arrest warrant issued in Albany County Court, Apple said. Klein could remain in federal custody for more than a week and will initially appear before a U.S. judge before returning to Albany, where he will be handed over to state authorities and is expected to face additional homicide charges, Apple said. Using data and videos from license plate readers, doorbell camcorders and other electronic devices, Apple said investigators were able to draw up a schedule of Klein activity before and after the assassination. Law enforcement sources said cell phone data was also critical to tracking Klein’s movement for a period of three days before his arrest. In addition, Klein at one point took an Uber to Albany and video of that ride was confiscated by police. Electronic data showed that Klein had visited the couple’s residence before the murder. Investigators initially suspected Klein had flown to Albany and boarded a return flight at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday after the homicide. He is now believed to have driven his vehicle from Franklin County, Va., Where he resides in Albany. He rented a vehicle at an Enterprise car rental company on Central Avenue and apparently used this vehicle to oversee Rabadi’s residence and also to visit St. Paul’s Hospital. Peter’s, where both Rabadi and his wife worked. The sheriff said Klein went to Albany three days before the murder. After secretly “watching” Rabadi’s wife, he waited until he left for work at St. John’s Hospital. Peter early Wednesday morning and go to the couple’s residence, Apple said. Neighbors’ Ring and Nest cameras captured footage of the confrontation when Rabadi opened the front door at about 7:30 a.m., he said. Radin had left home to go to work in St. Louis. Peter’s around 6 in the morning that morning. A source familiar with the investigation said that as Klein confronted Rabadi, the resident appeared to be waving a gun before retiring home with Klein behind him. Police found a handgun in Klein’s car when he was arrested shortly after 6pm on Friday. Rabadi did not show up for his shift at the hospital that morning and when it was not possible to contact him, his wife, who also works as a medical assistant in St. Peter’s, called 911, Apple said. She and Rabadi’s father arrived home at about the same time as his deputy sheriff and were “just behind” the MP when he found Rabadi’s body in the garage, he said. Rabadi was tied up and died when his body was discovered, with multiple stab wounds to the upper body and head. Klein reportedly left the residence and returned the rental vehicle that morning shortly before 10 a.m. at Enterprise in 900 Central Ave. On Thursday, license plate readers in Virginia showed him traveling in that state in his vehicle. He returned to his home and was being monitored by federal agents on Thursday night, according to a source familiar with the investigation. On Friday, investigators continued their covert surveillance of Klein, based largely on cell phone surveillance, and initially thought he was leaving as he entered Tennessee. But later that day, Klein, who had stopped in Memphis, began driving back to his home in Virginia. As it approached the Virginia border, a fleet of government troops from both states, with a helicopter overhead, stopped Klein along a freeway less than half a mile in Virginia. A law enforcement source said he remained in his vehicle for several minutes and would not immediately follow orders to get out with his hands up. At one point, the source said, Klein appeared to be approaching his closet, but then stopped and sat for several more minutes. He eventually abandoned the vehicle and turned himself in to police without incident. Apple said it had no record that Klein was currently working at a medical facility in Virginia. Radin has ties to the Syracuse area and attended SUNY Medical College in Brooklyn, graduating in 2016 – a year after Klein graduated from the same school. They have had a personal relationship for several years, but it is not clear whether they met while in medical school or met during their medical career. Rabadi, who was an assistant surgeon and began working at St. John’s Hospital. Peter’s Hospital in 2019, is from Albany and graduated from the University of Albany and the Medical College of Albany, where he was an honorary student. Klein is a military veteran with no previous criminal record. He previously worked as a medical assistant in California and upstate New York, including Columbia Memorial Hospital in Hudson. He has ties to Cobleskill and central New York, and has also lived in southern California in the past, according to public records. The Times Union first reported on Friday that police sources said evidence videos, testimonies and other evidence placed Klein in the Albany area on the morning of Rabadi’s killing, including his residence in Nova Scotia. Rabadi and Radin were married in West Sand Lake in September and bought their home off New Scotland Road about two months before they got married, according to Albany County property records. State police and the FBI are assisting with the investigation.
