By Shayna Jacobs
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN SUPREME COURT — Murderer William Hill could have simply asked the elderly man he killed during an elevator robbery for charity, he didn't have to end his life, the victim's son said Monday at Hill's sentencing.
Hill, 28, was sentenced to 25-years-to-life in prison Monday for throwing a fatal punch in 2006 at beloved Washington Heights resident Jacob Gerstle, 81.
"My father was the type of fellow who would not only have given him money but would have invited him up to his apartment and offered him something to eat, something to drink," Leon Gerstle said.
Family, friends and members of Gerstle's upper Manhattan Orthodox Jewish community turned out for the hearing to remember the selfless and compassionate man.
The frail Jacob Gerstle, a known "mensch" who friends said fled Nazi Germany before World War II, raised money to send children from his community to summer camp, helped families pay their electric bills and even purchased an air conditioner for a family with six children during a sweltering summer, his son said.
Gerstle also opened a food pantry and left dollar bills and food for a homeless person who spent winter nights in the "mensch's" unlocked parked car, Leon Gerstle said.
Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Bruce Allen sentenced Hill to 25 years to life in prison for second degree murder.
"I've tried dozens of murder cases and this is one of the most brutal crimes I've had to sit and hear about," Allen said. "To attack a frail, elderly man in an elevator is every citizen's nightmare."
The judge also remarked on the religious affiliations of the victim and defendant.
Hill's conviction came in January after his second trial on the murder charges. His first trial resulted in a hung jury.
Several dozen friends and relatives of Jacob Gerstle were present for the sentencing. Some read passages from Hebrew scriptures before the proceeding.
"We're standing here to say what an incredible person he was," said Denise Helmreich, who'd known Gerstle since the 1950s. "And what he did for the community."
