Aron's mental exam results may come today

A Brooklyn grand jury as early as Monday could indict the man who police said last week murdered and dismembered an 8-year-old boy he met in a chance encounter on the street, law enforcement officials and attorneys involved in the case said.

Levi Aron, 35, remained in protective custody and on suicide watch in a special psychiatric wing of Bellevue Hospital Center over the weekend, said Gerard Marrone, one of his defense attorneys. Aron is at the hospital to undergo a court-ordered mental exam to see whether he is psychologically fit to stand trial in the brutal slaying and butchering of Leiby Kletzky, Marrone said Friday.

Marrone said the results of the examination could be made known to the defense as early as Monday or Tuesday. Ultimately, a Brooklyn Supreme Court judge will use the exam results to decide whether Aron understands the nature of the charges against him and can participate in his defense.

Aron has been charged in a criminal complaint with murder and kidnapping. The court may hold one hearing on his psychological status, something that legal experts said is not unusual.

Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes said Aron could have been indicted before the end of last week. But a law enforcement source said Friday that prosecutors were taking their time over the weekend to prepare the high-profile case to avoid any unexpected problems such as those that have dogged the unrelated sex-assault case in Manhattan facing French politician Dominique Strauss-Kahn, whose accuser was discovered to have credibility problems.

Hynes said last week, "I've directed the assistants to promptly present the case to the Kings County grand jury and to ask the jury to consider the maximum charges permitted by law."

Aron was arrested by police early Wednesday after an intense search over two days for the youngster who apparently got lost while on his way home from a Borough Park day camp.