Andrea Sneiderman was arrested Thursday morning and charged in the November 2010 murder of her husband outside a Dunwoody day care center.
The 36-year-old mother of two was taken into custody around 10:45 a.m. by Putnam County sheriff's deputies at her home on Lake Oconee and transported to the DeKalb County jail.
Sneiderman's arrest comes a little less than five months after her former boss at GE Energy, Hemy Neuman -- who acknowledged fatally shooting Rusty Sneiderman -- was found guilty but mentally ill by a DeKalb County jury. He's currently serving a term of life in prison without parole at the Diagnostic and Classification Center in Jackson.
DeKalb District Attorney Robert James outlined the charges in an early afternoon press conference. He said the grand jury took about an hour before returning a "true bill" on the charges: malice murder, attempted murder, insurance fraud, racketeering and two counts of perjury and false statements.
According to the indictment, "Neuman and Andrea Sneiderman conspired together to murder Rusty Sneiderman so that they could enjoy a life together, eliminate Neuman's debt problems and fully benefit from the assets the Sneidermans had acquired as well as the proceeds of Rusty Sneiderman's life insurance policies."
James said he was "confident in the case and evidence," and that prosecutors would use "the same formula that worked last time," referring to Neuman's conviction.
He said Andrea Sneiderman's children were not present when their mother was arrested Thursday morning.
The woman's attorneys said they had no advance knowledge of Thursday's arrest, adding they had asked James two months ago to allow them to hand their client over if charges were brought.
"We were as surprised as anyone else," said J. Tom Morgan, a former DeKalb D.A. who had hired James for the prosecutor's office.
Co-counsel John Petrey said Sneiderman "had nothing to do with [her husband's murder]. We deny each and every one of these charges," he said.
Petrey also denied his client was romantically involved with Neuman.
Neither side would comment on the evidence against Sneiderman.
Rusty Sneiderman's family released a statement expressing gratitude to James, Chief Assistant District Attorney Don Geary and investigator Mark Potter for their "relentless pursuit of the truth in this case and we will continue to support their efforts in every way through the trial. We will never stop fighting for justice for Rusty."
The indictment has a timeline of the alleged conspiracy. This includes Andrea Sneiderman's actions the day of the shooting, which is referred to in one of the false statement charges.
That day, she was contacted by an administrator at the day care, Dunwoody Prep, and told there had been "an accident" but that her son, Ian, was okay. No other information was provided to her over the phone.
She testified at Neuman's murder trial that she did not learn what happened to her husband until she arrived at Atlanta Medical Center, where Rusty Sneiderman was pronounced dead.
However, her father-in-law Don Sneiderman and close friend Shayna Citron both testified that in phone calls Andrea Sneiderman allegedly placed before she got to the hospital, the woman told them Rusty had been shot.
The indictment also alleges that eight days earlier, Andrea Sneiderman "provided Neuman with Rusty Sneiderman's schedule for the morning of November 10, 2010" along with an escape route — a hidden path near the Sneidermans' home in Dunwoody. Neuman had planned to kill Rusty at the Sneidermans' residence that day but was thwarted when his intended victim smelled a gas leak and discovered Neuman, dressed in a disguise, hiding outside his house. Rusty Sneiderman did not recognize Neuman, who fled.
On Nov. 18, according to the indictment, Andrea Sneiderman again informed Neuman of her husband's schedule. Shortly after 9 a.m. in the parking lot of Dunwoody Prep, just after Rusty Sneiderman had dropped off his son, Neuman approached the 36-year-old entreprenuer and shot him several times with a gun he had purchased on Halloween.
Following her husband's murder, Sneiderman "misled police by indicating she was not in a relationship with Neuman," according to the indictment. She later told Citron she "thought Neuman killed her husband" but did not tell police. On Dec. 30, Sneiderman allegedly told another friend, Tammy Parker, that she knew Neuman was the killer but again did not share that information with authorities.
The insurance fraud charge stems from the $2 million the widow received after her husband's death.
"We are looking forward to a vigorous and complete defense to ensure that Andrea is fully exonerated of these false accusations," Morgan said. "We are confident that, when an unbiased jury hears the facts of this case, it will be clear that Andrea is innocent."
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