Ruthann Aron (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Greenzweig; born October 24, 1942), now known as Ruth Ann Green, is an American

felon A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "''félonie''") to describe an offense that ...

, former

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

, and former real estate developer who ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination in the 1994 United States Senate election in Maryland. She was arrested in 1997 for hiring a

hitman Contract killing (also known as murder-for-hire) is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or people. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of compensation, moneta ...

to murder her ex-husband, Barry Aron.

Career

Ruthann Aron was born Ruthann Greenzweig in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. After graduating from

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

, she moved to

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

with her husband and two young children, acquired a law degree at

Catholic University Catholic higher education includes universities, colleges, and other institutions of higher education privately run by the Catholic Church, typically by religious institutes. Those tied to the Holy See are specifically called pontifical univers ...

and became a real estate developer. Aron completed several big deals and became a member of the Montgomery County Planning Board. In 1994, she lost Maryland's Republican

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

nomination to former

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

Senator

Bill Brock William Emerson Brock III (November 23, 1930 – March 25, 2021) was an American politician from the state of Tennessee. A member of Republican Party, he served in both chambers of the United States Congress. He was a member of the U.S. House ...

, who was in turn defeated by the Democratic, incumbent

Paul Sarbanes Paul Spyros Sarbanes (; February 3, 1933 – December 6, 2020) was an American politician and attorney from Maryland. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served in both chambers of the United States Congr ...

. After the general election, Aron sued Brock for

slander Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making wikt:asserti ...

based on comments he had made implying that she had been criminally convicted of

fraud In law, fraud is intent (law), intentional deception to deprive a victim of a legal right or to gain from a victim unlawfully or unfairly. Fraud can violate Civil law (common law), civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrato ...

during her business career. In reality, juries had ruled against Aron in two

civil lawsuits A lawsuit is a proceeding by one or more parties (the plaintiff or claimant) against one or more parties (the defendant) in a civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. T ...

in which former business partners accused her of fraud or other offenses. A federal judge overturned one of the verdicts, and Aron

settled A settler or a colonist is a person who establishes or joins a permanent presence that is separate to existing communities. The entity that a settler establishes is a settlement. A settler is called a pioneer if they are among the first settli ...

both suits out of court after she agreed to pay about $175,000 in each case. At the slander trial, Aron cited Brock's use of the term "convicted" for verdicts that had come in civil court. The lawyer Arthur G. Kahn, who had prosecuted one of the fraud cases, testified against Aron at the February 1996 trial, which Aron lost. Nonetheless, it was the first time that a losing federal candidate got the winner to court over words spoken in a campaign.

Contract killings

Aron was arrested in June 1997 for trying to hire a

. She had approached William "Billy" Mossberg, a local landfill owner, who immediately went to the police. Secretly working with investigators, Mossberg met with Aron and agreed to murder her husband and Kahn. At the time of her arrest, Aron was planning to run as a Democrat for an at-large seat on the Montgomery County Council. She was removed from the Planning Board two months after her arrest. In Aron's first trial, she used nine expert witnesses to argue that a

brain injury Brain injury (BI) is the destruction or degeneration of brain cells. Brain injuries occur due to a wide range of internal and external factors. In general, brain damage refers to significant, undiscriminating trauma-induced damage. A common ...

and

childhood abuse Child abuse (also called child endangerment or child maltreatment) is physical, sexual, emotional and/or psychological maltreatment or neglect of a child, especially by a parent or a caregiver. Child abuse may include any act or failure to a ...

had rendered her incapable of realizing that what she was doing was illegal. She was diagnosed as having

borderline personality disorder Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a personality disorder characterized by a pervasive, long-term pattern of significant interpersonal relationship instability, an acute fear of Abandonment (emotional), abandonment, and intense emotiona ...

by multiple

psychiatrists A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry. Psychiatrists are physicians who evaluate patients to determine whether their symptoms are the result of a physical illness, a combination of physical and mental ailments or strictly ...

. One juror held out on her behalf, and a

mistrial In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, ...

was declared. In July 1998, Aron pleaded no contest, and in November 1998, she was sentenced to two consecutive 18-month prison sentences.

Aftermath

Aron's son, Joshua, was an employee at Cantor Fitzgerald's offices at the World Trade Center and was killed in the

9/11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

. Her daughter, Dana Aron Weiner, is a psychologist who works at

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. At Aron's trial, Weiner pleaded for

clemency A pardon is a government decision to allow a person to be relieved of some or all of the legal consequences resulting from a criminal conviction. A pardon may be granted before or after conviction for the crime, depending on the laws of the j ...

on her mother's behalf. Aron was still living in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

as of September 2011. In 2004, Aron's case was profiled on the Oxygen Network series '' Snapped'', which profiles female criminals, and also on the

truTV TruTV (stylized as truTV) is an American basic cable Television channel, channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The channel primarily broadcasts reruns of Television comedy, comedy, Reality television, docusoaps and reality shows, with a rec ...

series '' Dominick Dunne's Power, Privilege, and Justice''. In 2006, her case was profiled in an episode of A&E's '' City Confidential''.

Personal life

It was reported in May 2016 that Aron was going by the name Ruth Ann Green and living in Montgomery County, Maryland, and in Palm Beach,

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. She has

self-published Self-publishing is an author-driven publication of any media without the involvement of a third-party publisher. Since the advent of the internet, self-published usually depends upon digital platforms and print-on-demand technology, ranging fr ...

an autobiography claiming her innocence on the charges on which she was convicted.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aron, Ruthann 1942 births 20th-century American women politicians Candidates in the 1994 United States elections Cornell University alumni Maryland Democrats Maryland politicians convicted of crimes Maryland Republicans People convicted of soliciting murder People from Montgomery County, Maryland People with borderline personality disorder Politicians from Brooklyn Wealth in the United States Women in Maryland politics Living people 21st-century American women politicians