Of all possible destinations, Levi Aron chose to spend the Fourth of July weekend in the same Florida city as the Casey Anthony trial just as it was reaching its shattering conclusion.
His second ex-wife later asked herself if Aron intended to attend the child murder trial in Orlando that had the whole country riveted.
"That made me wonder also if he was trying to be in the courtroom," the ex-wife, Debbie Kivel, said yesterday.
Aron may not have watched television as a child, but he sure did as an adult, and he had surely seen some of the coverage.
And with the jury beginning its deliberations, it would have been hard not to overhear conversations about the nightmare case in which a young woman was charged with smothering her own child and dumping the body.
But instead of heading for the trial of the accused child killer who had become the American Monster, Aron made what now seems an even creepier choice. He headed for Orlando's usual big draw, the capitol of childhood, Walt Disney World. He told his ex-wife on the phone that he had gone to live out a dream and audition for "American Idol."
"That was a big dream of his," the ex-wife said. "He told me they raised the age so you could be older and still compete."
The age limit of 28 is, in fact, unchanged, and the show held no auditions in Orlando that weekend. The 34-year-old Aron was almost certainly speaking of Disney World's year-round "America Idol Experience" attraction.
Anyone over 14 is eligible to audition for the make-believe reality show and maybe even perform onstage. The ones who receive the most audience votes at each night's finale get a Dream Ticket that affords a chance to audition for the real show.
Only, there is a hitch. A winner can only use a Dream Ticket if he is no older than the show's maximum age limit, which is not expected to change.
Not that it really mattered, for Aron does not seem to have made it anywhere near a Dream Ticket. He told his ex-wife on the phone that he had auditioned for the real "American Idol," but in the next moment, he seemed unable to lie even to himself.
"Oh, I'm just kidding," he said, according to her recollection.
As I figure it, Aron could only have felt all the more a loser as he strode back through the crowds of kids at America's childhood capital, only more possessed by urges that would soon prove so horrific.
Even at Disney World, there must have been a buzz about the nearby trial. If audiences had voted for the winner of the American Monster title, it surely would have been Casey Anthony.
Aron returned to Brooklyn just as the jury was reaching its verdict. No matter how crazy he may or may not be, he could only have been surprised when Anthony was found not guilty. One juror who gave a televised interview was rewarded with a trip to Disney World.
Six days after the verdict, Aron chanced to spot 8-year-old Leiby Kletzky looking lost on a Brooklyn street. Aron has told police he later smothered the child and then disposed of the body.
A major difference from the Anthony case was that Aron had no handy place for an unmarked grave. He chose to dismember his victim and place him in a suitcase that he then deposited in a Dumpster. He kept the feet in his freezer for reasons that may remain unclear.
That ghoulishness and the surveillance camera footage of little Leiby waiting trustingly combine to make Aron the undisputed American Monster.
Investigators note that the case turned on numerous chance events. It may well be only another of Evil's coincidences that Aron made his trip to Orlando just as the Anthony case was going to the jury.
Anthony was released from jail last night just past midnight. Let's just make sure the other monster never, ever walks free.
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