Alleged Would-Be Killer of Boesky Freed, Rearrested

Federal authorities arrested a major Wall Street stock trader Tuesday after a state judge ordered the man released on his own recognizance on charges he tried to shoot financier Ivan F. Boesky.

Superior Court Judge Alvin Y. Milberg agreed to release John A. Mulheren Jr. but did not consent to conditions that would allow the millionaire trader to be transferred to a hospital for treatment of manic-depression.

Mulheren remained in the Monmouth County Jail during the hearing and was arrested immediately afterward by four U.S. marshals, flanked by an investigator from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan and a federal attorney from New Jersey, authorities said.

U.S. Magistrate John C. Manna in Fort Monmouth later ordered Mulheren held in a federal prison in New York City until a bail hearing Friday on two charges of attempting to tamper with a federal witness.

Found With Army Fatigues

Mulheren, 38, of Rumson, had been jailed in lieu of $17,500 bail on two weapons charges--possession of a rifle for an unlawful purpose and unlawful possession of a rifle--that carry a total maximum of 15 years in prison.

Authorities said Mulheren was arrested Feb. 18 after he pulled out of his riverfront estate with an assault rifle and Army fatigues in the back seat of his car after police had confiscated three other weapons from him.

He intended to shoot Boesky, 50, of New York, and Boesky’s former chief stock trader, Michael Davidoff, 43, of Manalapan Township, according to the state’s complaint.

At the federal hearing, defense attorney Peter Bennett asked Manna to set bail and not to delay the hearing, saying Mulheren was on a “manic crash” when he was arrested but now was back on medication.

Hearing on Friday

Terrence Flynn, an assistant U.S. attorney in Newark, asked for the delay, saying he needed more time to prepare his case.

Mulheren was transferred after the two-hour hearing to the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City, where he will stay until the Friday bail hearing before Manna.

Boesky, once a close friend of Mulheren’s, and Davidoff pleaded guilty last year to a single count of securities fraud and have cooperated with the government’s continuing investigation.

Boesky paid a fine of $100 million to the Securities and Exchange Commission to settle civil charges of insider trading, and will begin serving a three-year prison term March 24. Davidoff faces a five-year term when sentenced.