Leon Klinghoffer

Leon Klinghoffer (September 24, 1916 – October 8, 1985) was an American man who was shot, killed and thrown overboard from the cruise ship Achille Lauro by members of the Palestinian Liberation Front who hijacked the ship in 1985.

Klinghoffer grew up on Suffolk Street in the Lower East Side neighborhood of New York City.

Among his close friends was Jack Kirby, who grew up in the same neighborhood and who became a major figure in the history of comic books.

He flew missions in B-24 Liberator bombers with the 93rd Bombardment Group in the European theater of World War II.

In 1942, he joined the Army Air Force and was trained as a navigator.

After his honorable discharge from the Army in January 1944, Klinghoffer and his brother Albert took over the store and began to invent appliances.

A few years later, the two brothers founded the Roto-Broil Corporation of America.

Klinghoffer married Marilyn (born Windwehr), the daughter of a haberdasher, in September 1949.

The couple had two daughters.

Klinghoffer suffered two strokes later in his life that left him in a wheelchair.

While he was growing up, Klinghoffer worked in his family's hardware store, Klinghoffer Supply Company.

Their feature item was the Roto-Broil Rotisserie Oven or Roto-Broil 400, a common kitchen appliance in the 1950s.

Holding the passengers and crew hostage, they ordered the captain to sail to Tartus, Syria, and demanded the release of 50 Palestinians, then in Israeli prisons, including the Lebanese prisoner Samir Kuntar, who had been responsible for the murder of five civilians in a terrorist attack in 1979.

If the prisoners were not released, the hijackers said they would begin killing hostages, "We will start executing at 3:00 p.m. sharp."

Syria, having consulted with the U.S. and Italian governments, did not respond to any of the demands.

As 3:00 p.m. neared, the terrorists began to decide who to kill by shuffling the U.S., British, and Austrian hostages' passports.

They selected Leon Klinghoffer to be killed first.

Several reasons have been put forward that may have contributed to why Klinghoffer was chosen.

Earlier in the hijacking, he had refused to be silent when gunmen took his watch and cigarettes, becoming brusque and complaining in his slurred speech; this antagonized some of the hijackers, though one of them gave Klinghoffer his possessions back.

Additionally, Klinghoffer was Jewish and American, and his wheelchair made him both difficult to move around the ship and an absence less likely to trigger a chain reaction of resistance among the surviving hostages.

One of the hijackers, Youssef Majed al-Molqi, later gave a statement on why he was chosen: "I and Bassm [al-Ashker] agreed that the first hostage to be killed had to be an American. I chose Klinghoffer, an invalid, so that they would know that we had no pity for anyone, just as the Americans, arming Israel, do not take into consideration that Israel kills women and children of our people."

Molqi ordered Manuel De Souza, a Portuguese waiter, to accompany him and push Klinghoffer outside onto the open deck.

Klinghoffer was taken back along the entire deck of the ship to the stern.

Molqi ordered De Souza to return into the ship.

The other terrorists moved the rest of the hostages back down into the lounge.

Marilyn Klinghoffer noticed that Leon was not there and began to weep.

Molqi shot Leon Klinghoffer once in the head and again in the chest.

He died instantly, toppling onto his face.

Molqi then went in and ordered De Souza to throw the body over the side of the ship.

When De Souza was unable to do the task alone, Molqi found Italian hairdresser Ferruccio Alberti and forced the two of them at gunpoint to throw the body and then the wheelchair into the sea.

Several of the hostages heard the shots and splashes, including Marilyn Klinghoffer.

She pleaded with the hijackers to let her see her husband in the infirmary, but they refused.

She feared the worst but remained hopeful.

She learned the truth only after the hijackers left the ship at Port Said.

Molqi, with blood-splattered clothing, returned to the other terrorists and told them, "I have killed the American."

He and Bassam al-Ashker then went to the bridge.

Handing Klinghoffer's passport to Captain De Rosa, he raised a finger and said "boom, boom."

Molqi ordered De Rosa to tell the Syrians that a passenger had been killed and that they were prepared to kill another.

In 1985, Klinghoffer (then 69, retired, and in a wheelchair) was on a cruise on the Achille Lauro with his wife Marilyn to celebrate their 36th wedding anniversary.

On October 7, four hijackers from the Palestine Liberation Front (PLF) took control of the liner off Egypt as it was sailing from Alexandria to Port Said, Egypt.