Killer of Brooklyn boy 'has voices in his head'

The man accused of butchering an eight-year-old American boy he snatched off the street claimed he "hears voices and has hallucinations".

Levi Aron pleaded not guilty to killing Leiby Kletzky and dismembering his body before stuffing some of his remains in the refrigerator but police claim he has confessed to suffocating the boy with a towel.

The murder has shocked the Brooklyn neighbourhood of Borough Park, home to one of the world's largest communities of Orthodox Jews.

Court papers filed in 2006 claim Aron's former wife, Debby Kivel, woke to find him in bed next to her. He allegedly demanded sex or he would "kill himself".

Aron, 35, a clerk at a DIY store, appeared in court yesterday when his legal team asked for psychological tests to be carried out. He claimed that after meeting the boy on Monday he went with him to a friend's wedding before taking him home.

He killed the boy after panicking when he learned of the huge search which had been launched. "When I saw the fliers, I panicked and was afraid," he said, according to police.

Leiby may have been tied up and tried to fight off his captor before he died. Aron has denied molesting the boy but police still consider it a possibility.