A legal war of words between Andrea Sneiderman and her estranged in-laws escalated Monday when the widow filed a defamation suit against her late husband's brother.
Sneiderman on Monday also filed a wrongful death suit against her former boss, Hemy Neuman, who was convicted in March of fatally shooting her husband, Rusty, outside a Dunwoody day-care facility. Today would have been Rusty Sneiderman's 38th birthday.
It's the second such suit naming Neuman. The first, filed last month by the victim's brother, Steve Sneiderman, alleges Andrea conspired to kill her spouse in November 2010. According to that suit, Andrea Sneiderman "utilized her illicit relationship with her co-conspirator [Neuman] to manipulate and influence him to murder Rusty Sneiderman."
On Monday, Andrea Sneiderman formally denied she was a co-conspirator, saying in her counterclaim that "Neuman, acting alone, killed Rusty Sneiderman." Her attorneys also filed a motion to dismiss Steve Sneiderman's suit, saying he "has no standing" to bring the action.
In the counterclaim, Andrea Sneiderman's attorneys, suing for libel, defamation, slander and intentional infliction of emotional distress, say "it is profoundly unfair, inappropriate and a violation of Georgia law for Steven Sneiderman to publicly accuse Andrea Sneiderman of being a co-conspirator to murder while simultaneously calling for investigations, and filing a lawsuit, to determine whether or not the accusations that he has publicly made against her are true."
The counterclaim points to several public statements made by Steve Sneiderman questioning his sister-in-law's involvement in the murder, including his charge that "Andrea [is] covered in Rusty’s blood, and there are not enough rabbis in the world to wash away those stains."
Andrea Sneiderman's lawyers, J. Tom Morgan and Doug Chalmers, declined comment Monday. Bill Ballard, representing Steve Sneiderman, also declined comment except to say his client "would continue to file his responses in court in his pursuit of justice for his brother."
Sneiderman's suspicions about his sister-in-law followed weeks of damning testimony in the Neuman trial aimed at refuting Andrea's assertion that she was not romantically involved with the former GE engineer. Neuman's defense team claimed she manipulated their client into killing Rusty Sneiderman.
And in his closing argument, DeKalb County District Attorney Robert James implied that the victim's widow acted as Neuman's co-conspirator. On the day after securing a guilty verdict against Neuman, James told the AJC he believed she had lied on the stand and was covering up for her boss.
Much of the speculation about Andrea's alleged involvement followed her testimony that she did not learn her husband had been shot until she arrived at Atlanta Medical Center. Later, the widow's former best friend Shayna Citron and father-in-law Don Sneiderman both testified that Andrea called and told them Rusty had been shot -- before she had arrived at the hospital.
The wrongful death suit filed by Steve Sneiderman alleges Andrea "knew that her co-conspirator intended to kill Rusty Sneiderman." The suit also alleges she "actively and knowingly participated in the murder and the planning of the murder."
Meanwhile, James has yet to say whether he will charge Andrea Sneiderman. In April, a DeKalb County grand jury subpoenaed Channel 2 Action News for the entirety of Andrea's testimony given during Neuman's trial, leading many to believe an indictment was imminent.
"This is an ongoing investigation," said DeKalb D.A. spokesman Erik Burton, who declined further comment.
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