Dunwoody day care killing | Suspect, arrest an unlikely development

And this, too: He worked with Sneiderman’s wife.

The news spread quickly, as bad news invariably does, and affirmed that murder can occur anywhere — even in Dunwoody, leafy and clean. Sneiderman’s killing is the fourth Dunwoody has experienced since the town’s 2008 incorporation, and clearly the most high-profile to date.

On Friday, the DeKalb County District Attorney’s office, which began handling inquiries about the case following Neuman’s arrest, said the investigation remained open. A spokesman for the office declined to say what, if anything, the DA has discovered since Neuman’s arrest.

Neuman, meantime, remains without bond in the DeKalb County Jail, while questions about the crime linger:

Why would someone want to kill a man who was active in charitable causes, who had no apparent enemies?

What was the relationship, if any, between the suspect and the slain man’s wife?

Are police planning any more arrests?

A ‘cold’ killing

Sneiderman’s life ended on a bright morning that carried the chill of a changing season. He died in an ambulance hurtling toward Grady Hospital from Dunwoody Prep, a pre-school his 2-year-old son attended.

Surveillance cameras at the school recorded the crime: a bearded man, dressed in a hoodie, approached Sneiderman in the parking lot. The killer was methodical, firing several times. Sneiderman fell. Police think he may never have seen his assailant. The man climbed into a silver minivan and drove away.

Whoever killed Sneiderman, police said, didn’t choose his victim at random; Sneiderman was his quarry. They called the killing “cold.” The shooting was so flawless that some speculated a professional must have pulled the trigger. As of Friday, police had not found the weapon.

Based on eyewitness accounts, police created an image of the killer: a swarthy-looking man, his beard a dark smear. Newspapers, TV stations and bloggers snatched it up. In an age of digital communications, Sneiderman’s death was Tweeted and discussed on Facebook. People saw two faces — a smiling man in glasses, killed in a spectacular fashion, and the heavy-lidded face of the man who did it.

Trying to make sense

If anyone was ever a candidate not to be killed in a parking lot, Sneiderman was that man. Friends described a graduate of Indiana University who married his college girlfriend, a hard-working certified public accountant, active in medical charities. The Sneidermans moved from the Midwest to Cambridge, Mass., where Sneiderman got his MBA. About a decade ago, they came to Georgia, settling in Dunwoody. They had two kids.

If Sneiderman was guilty of anything, it would seem, it was ambition: An entrepreneur, he’d founded at least three start-ups since 2008, according to records from the Georgia secretary of state’s office.

His brother, Steve Sneiderman, on Nov. 22 spoke for his family when he announced a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of Rusty Sneiderman’s killer.

“I can’t fathom for a moment what would drive someone to do this, “ said the younger brother, his voice quavering. “Our family has lost its brightest light, and we don’t know why.”

Andrea Sneiderman has remained publicly silent. The couple’s close friends have been just as quiet.

On Thursday, the family had planned a public appearance at a candlelight vigil designed in part to reignite media interest in a case that seemed to be going cold.

Neuman’s arrest changed that.

‘A straight up guy’

He was methodical and romantic, a smart guy. When his classmates finished their education in Israel and prepared to enter that country’s army, Hemy Neuman chose, instead, to head to the United States to further his education.

So says Eric Rosenblatt, who attended school with Neuman 30 years ago when they were students at the Hadassim school near Tel Aviv. Rosenblatt, who now lives in New York, recently learned about Neuman’s arrest. He called him “an excellent person.”

In an interview late last week, Rosenblatt recalled a young man with a purpose. “Hemy was always very meticulous,” Rosenblatt said. “He planned ahead, he knew what he wanted in life and was always very organized.”

When Rosenblatt got drafted after finishing school, Neuman took another route: He enrolled at Georgia tech, studying to become an aeronautical engineer, and graduated from there in 1984.

Rosenblatt also remembered a man with a romantic side. “He stood out in that he would buy flowers for a girl that he liked,” said Rosenblatt. “He would send her gifts.”

That image, he said, hardly squares with the photos of a man in a jumpsuit in a DeKalb courtroom facing a charge of murder.

“He’s always been a great guy and I’m sure he was a great husband. And I know he was a great father,” he said. “As far as character, Hemy is a straight up guy. He was the best everybody wants to be, really.”

Motive still unclear

Police have not said what the motive for the killing might have been. Nor have they said much about Neuman, a father of three.

Police said he had no previous criminal history. Public records show that Neuman previously lived in Florida and has a home in East Hampton, an east Cobb subdivision where well-tended streets wind past homes that cost $500,000 or more. It’s a place where residents decline to discuss their arrested neighbor.

Police also said Neuman lived in Buckhead, apparently moving there recently, but there are no records of his having an address there.

Yet a few additional facts emerge about Neuman, all his own doing. A Facebook account, shut down since his arrest, depicted a proud dad, his arms wrapped around a trio of children. He had a soft spot for animals, too: He posted a photo of the family dog, Peanut, on his page.

On the last day of the year, Neuman made a final post:

“Hope everyone has a great 2011! Happy New Year!”

By the fourth day of that new year, he was behind bars.

Staff writer Katie Leslie contributed to this report.