Dunwoody daycare shooting trial | Day 2 brings more focus on widow

By Christian Boone

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

For the second straight day, the focus of  the Hemy Neuman murder trial was less on the crime itself than on the relationship between the defendant and the victim's widow.

On Wednesday morning, the victim's widow, Andrea Sneiderman, faced a tough cross-examination from defense lawyer Bob Rubin regarding her relationship with the defendant, her former boss at GE Energy.

Rubin’s line of questioning often mirrored that of prosecutor Don Geary, who questioned Sneiderman for nearly three hours Tuesday.

Only Hemy Neuman faces charges in connection to the November 2010 slaying of Rusty Sneiderman. Neuman has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.

Yet for much of the trial’s first two days, Andrea Sneiderman’s actions have been the focus of both the prosecution and defense.

Specifically, both sides have asked why, on Dec. 30, 2010, Andrea Sneiderman told a close friend she was convinced Neuman had killed her husband but waited nearly a week to tell Dunwoody police.

Andrea Sneiderman said she did not do so because she feared Neuman was monitoring her emails. However, on Jan. 4, 2011, when she next met with police, she made no mention of Neuman.

Instead, prosecutor Geary said, “You took them down a rabbit hole. Why were you protecting the defendant?”

“Have you seen what’s happened to my life?” Sneiderman responded.

“Have you seen what happened to Rusty’s life,” Geary retorted.

Sneiderman was then dismissed from the stand Wednesday after roughly six hours of questioning over two days.

Earlier she had been asked to square her denials of an illicit relationship with Neuman with emails she had sent to the defendant, including one where she discussed a betrayal to her family.

That “betrayal,” she testified in court, referred to her holding hands with Neuman after her then-supervisor first professed his love.

But, according to a witness at a Greenville, S.C. nightclub where the two were spotted in late October 2010 -- less than a month before Rusty Sneiderman’s murder – Andrea Sneiderman was very affectionate toward the defendant, at one point kissing him on the lips.

“They looked like a couple, groping, touching each other,” said waitress Christine Olivera, was was called by the prosecution. “I know, because I kind of turned away.”

Olivera testified they left the club appearing “very happy.”

Earlier Wednesday, Sneiderman testified the Greenville trip marked the end of their friendship because Neuman “didn’t know boundaries.”

Melanie White, a friend of the defendant, corroborated that portion of Sneiderman’s testimony, testifying Neuman had told her Sneiderman broke things off after Greenville. However, Neuman also told her he was intimate with Sneiderman while in South Carolina.

“She gave in,” White said, recalling Neuman’s words. “I believe he meant they had intercourse.”

Other friends of Neuman testified that he claimed he had been intimate with Sneiderman before the Greenville trip.

On Tuesday, Sneiderman told the court she had “no choice” but to put up with the unwanted advances from Neuman for the sake of her job and career. She later testified she shied away from Neuman when possible.

Following up on Wednesday, Rubin, referring to a business trip to England the two took. He asked: "Going to a castle [together], is that your definition of 'shying away?’"

“It is,” Sneiderman replied.

This trip came after Neuman asked her to marry him. He also, in an email, told Sneiderman he wouldn’t accompany her to the U.K. unless she felt he was needed.

“You had the option of telling Hemy Neuman not to go to England,” Rubin said.

She said she felt he should be there, “for work reasons,” Sneiderman said.

The focus returned to the defendant at day’s end, with prosecutors calling the man who sold Neuman the gun.

Jan DaSilva said he sold Neuman the .40- caliber handgun for $375 in October. In late November, DaSilva testified, Neuman contacted him again, saying there had been a problem – but not with the weapon.

“Don’t ever have a mistress,” DaSilva said, quoting Neuman. “Because of [that], I have a problem with my family.”

Neuman said there had been an “altercation” and he had to get rid of the gun, tossing it into Lake Lanier. Neuman then asked the witness to fabricate a story in case anyone asked how they knew each other, DaSilva testified.

Testimony resumes Thursday morning.