What Andrea Sneiderman knew about the death of her husband, Rusty, and when she knew it remained the focus of testimony on Day Three of the Dunwoody widow’s perjury trial.
The police detective who comforted Sneiderman when she arrived at the crime scene — the parking lot of the Dunwoody Prep day care — testified Wednesday that he did not tell her Rusty had been shot.
“There was no way I was going to tell someone they lost a loved one in a parking lot,” Dunwoody police Detective Jesus Maldonado testified.
Rusty Sneiderman had already been transported from Dunwoody Prep by ambulance when his wife arrived, Maldonado testified. And it was “not obvious” from the scene what had occurred, he said.
Andrea Sneiderman, 37, faces 13 felony counts, including perjury, making false statements to police and hindering the apprehension of a criminal. All of the charges grow out of a police investigation into the fatal shooting on Nov. 18, 2010, outside Dunwoody Prep.
Andrea Sneiderman’s boss, Hemy Neuman, was convicted of the shooting last year and sentenced to life in prison. Prosecutors allege that the two had had an affair.
Sneiderman has denied any involvement in her husband’s death and has said, through her attorneys, that she was not romantically involved with Neuman.
Defense attorney Tom Clegg said in his opening statement that there was “no doubt” that his client learned her husband had been shot while she was at the day care facility.
Following a lunch recess Wednesday, prosecutors shifted focus to charges she hindered the investigation by withholding evidence about her relationship with Neuman.
According to the lead detective on the case, Sneiderman told police “absolutely nothing to emphasize there was anything inappropriate with Hemy.” Because of that, Dunwoody police Detective Andy Thompson said, police didn’t pursue Neuman as a suspect.
Clegg questioned Thompson’s police work during his cross-examination, noting that it was his first homicide investigation. Thompson will return to the stand Thursday morning.
Sneiderman’s attorneys repeated that it was their client who first told police about her boss’ advances. They say she had no way of knowing Neuman would shoot her husband.
On Tuesday, Rusty’s father, Don Sneiderman, said his daughter-in-law called and told him about the shooting before she arrived at Dunwoody Prep.
“There are some calls you never forget,” he said.
Andrea Sneiderman testified at Neuman’s trial that she “didn’t know what happened to Rusty until I got to the emergency room. No one told me what happened to Rusty.”
Her former best friend, Shayna Citron, is expected to take the stand Thursday. She previously testified that Sneiderman told her over the phone about the shooting as she drove to the hospital.
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