1 Year Later, Barber's Murder Still a Mystery

Sunday will mark a full year since the apparent beating in broad daylight of , a beloved Bloomingdale barber and Pompton Lakes resident. 

Halat, who was 79 at the time, was found unconscious inside his own Frank's Barber Shop on Main Street with life-threatening injuries to his face and head on April 1, 2011. He died four days later at Morristown Hospital.

In the past year, both the and Passaic County Prosecutor's Office have tried to bring justice and peace to Halat's relatives and solve a crime that police said no one seemed to have witnessed. The has honored Halat with in his honor.

Meanwhile, nearly all of the businesses surrounding Frank's Barber Shop have since vacated their properties, due partly to the economy but also customers' fear over what happened on their block.

The Investigation

Passaic County Chief Assistant Prosecutor John Latoracca said his office exhausted all resources in working to determine a motive or suspect in the case. But after months of investigation, law enforcement officials have labeled the case "cold," he said.

"I'll start to call a case 'cold,' frankly, once we exhaust all viable leads," Latoracca said. "At that point... there's nothing hot to pursue, and that can happen within a matter of weeks of the incident."

Immediately following the incident, Bloomingdale police began an agressive effort to gather information and pursue leads. for two days to hand out fliers about the incident and ask motorists if they saw or heard anything.

Bloomingdale Police Chief Joe Borell was not available for comment Thursday.

"Like most cold cases, unfortunately, we need somebody to come forward and bring us information," Latoracca said.

Latoracca would not comment on how many people have been interviewed regarding the case in the past year and said, "We never (discuss) specifics in an investigation."

"All homicides remain open until they are solved," he said.

Latoracca said the Passaic County Prosecutor's Office Major Crimes Unit will still be involved, along with the Bloomingdale Police Department. Anyone wishing to come forward with information can call 973-881-4800.

Emptiness Next Door

April 1, 2011 changed the lives of Halat's family members and friends. But it also changed the lives of the business owners whose shops surrounded Halat's one year ago.

Lucky Mascott, owner of Costume Depot, said she was forced after the incident to close her shop, located only a few doors down from the barber shop. While business had been slow for the past couple of years, Mascott said it saw a steeper decline after Halat's apparent beating.

"It did go down when that happened," she said. "It threw me off. I couldn't pay the rent and I was trying to sell off the business and finally, I auctioned it off."

Mascott believes that customers stopped visiting her store out of fear.

"People were afraid to come and in my business, I was there alone. I even was afraid to go," she said.

Across the street, Owner Ed De Vito said while people came into the shop and asked about the incident right after it happened, he does not think it has been on the minds of his customers lately.

"I don't think people even talk about it anymore," he said.

"I didn't even realize it's going to be a year already."

De Vito said he is hopeful that the vacancies on both sides of Main Street are filled shortly and that he has heard that some prospective tenants have expressed interest in the storefronts on the street. He also said he feels that having businesses occupy the street will make everyone feel safer.

"When there's more people in the stores, it gives you more of a safety factor," he said.