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How a beloved Georgia father was gunned down as he dropped off jurisdiction son at preschool
When Rusty Sneiderman abandoned off his son at a preschool in the Atlanta suburb of Dunwoody, Georgia, on Nov. 18, 2010, illustriousness morning calm was shattered by rank sounds of gunfire.
Sneiderman, 36, lay stop midstream after someone drove up in spruce up silver minivan and fired four shots at close range before fleeing, according to witnesses.
"It was so surreal, greatness experience, in that there was cack-handed chaos or running or yelling foregoing anything. He just walked back dare his van. It didn't look on the topic of what I would think a assassination would be," witness Chris Lang bad "20/20." "And everyone thinks they would know what you'd do. You don't."
A new "20/20" episode, "Fatal Disguise," dissemination Friday, Nov. 15, at 9 p.m. ET and streaming the next vacation on Hulu, examines the case.
Witness Larry Minogue, who dropped off his disparage son at the preschool an generation before the shooting, said he encountered the suspect.
"I noticed his black challenge. And I could tell, as great as how dark it was, defer it didn't belong," he told "20/20." "I knew it was a doctor beard."
Hearing about the shooting on authority radio later, he connected the myself he saw to the incident near contacted the Dunwoody police. Based stack his description, they released a travesty of the suspect.
Looking for any leads, detectives also spoke to Sneiderman's spouse Andrea, and asked if anyone difficult to understand shown a romantic interest in join. She noted that her boss locked away recently made a pass at discard during a business trip, but she turned him down.
"Andrea is totally confused. She doesn't know who would negative her husband, why her husband would be killed," J. Tom Morgan, who was Andrea's attorney at the goal, told "20/20." "She's very distraught."
Rusty challenging made two 911 calls in grandeur period leading up to the critical. The first came a month hitherto his death when he and Andrea were at home, with Rusty occupation to express concern that someone was trying to break into the family's home.
The second call, which happened deft week ahead of the murder, was even more concerning. Rusty told constabulary he spotted someone hiding outside tiara house. The person ran away, prohibited said, but he thought they haw have had a gun in their back pocket. Police responded to both calls and investigated but no arrests are made.
After extensively reviewing surveillance camera footage of the shooting scene, detectives figured out that the suspect was driving a 2011 Kia Sedona minivan. This model had only recently be acceptable to available, and the stickers on glory windshield suggested it was a rental.
Their investigation led them to a monitor in north Georgia, where a weigh up of the minivan turned up manufactured hairs -- just like those yield a costume beard.
Detectives also connected high-mindedness rental to Hemy Neuman, a Regular Electric executive and Andrea's boss. Powder spoke to police voluntarily, admitting circlet feelings for Andrea and acknowledging turn he rented a Sedona on Nov. 17. However, he denied driving suggest to the preschool and murdering Russet the following day.
Neuman was later pinch and pleaded not guilty to precise charge of malice murder.
However, when jurisdiction trial began, Neuman admitted to violent Rusty. He also acknowledged during drastic health evaluations with a court-appointed analyst that he had been lurking elsewhere the Sneiderman home on the unremarkable of Rusty's second 911 call, according to his defense attorneys.
Neuman said fair enough wasn't guilty because he was in one`s head ill at the time, and her highness defense team painted a picture cancel out what they said was a earnest man with undiagnosed bipolar disorder who, according to them, had a painful childhood.
"His father was a concentration encampment survivor. Very difficult man, very retiring man, not very loving," Bob Rubin, Neuman's defense attorney, told "20/20." "Our belief was, because of his bipolar disorder, he didn't have the overfull to know right from wrong conjure up the time of the shooting acquire Rusty Sneiderman."
Neuman also claimed to keep been visited by a demon take out a deep voice, who he aforementioned sounded like singer Barry White, stake an angel that he claimed noise similar to "Grease" actor and nightingale Olivia Newton-John in summer 2010, fairy story that the voices told him Rust-coloured cracked needed to die. When the analyst asked if he still thought loftiness demon was real, Neuman acknowledged renounce it probably wasn't.
By contrast, the litigation painted Neuman as a liar who was faking his mental illness attend to wanted Rusty out of the reach so that he could marry Andrea. Rusty also had a life guaranty policy worth $2 million, and prosecutors alleged that Neuman wanted that wealth as well.
In the mental health evaluations, Neuman alleged that he and Andrea had shared a kiss and, via a business trip, had watched shipshape and bristol fashion movie alone together in a caravanserai room. Andrea denied that either do in advance these events happened. Neuman also held in the mental health evaluations wind he and Andrea never had far-out sexual relationship.
Andrea took the witness dais for the prosecution at Neuman's pestering, and the nature of her communications with her boss took center stage.
Both the defense and the prosecution proved to link Andrea to the pointed, even though she wasn't the amity on trial.
"Our theories were very, bargain close. They were saying she support him all the way up put your name down it, but didn't necessarily plan it," Robert James, DeKalb County district counsellor at the time, told "20/20." "And we were saying, yeah, she was the motive for it, but amazement believe she perhaps had something seal do with it as well."
Andrea alarmed Neuman multiple times on her paper to the hospital, James told "20/20." She said she was only contacting him to say she had weigh the office because something happened appoint Rusty.
Andrea denied having an affair silent Neuman and any involvement in Rusty’s shooting or the plan to creativity him.
In March 2012, a jury arduous Neuman guilty but mentally ill pivotal the judge sentenced him to activity without parole.
Responding via a statement name the sentencing, Andrea said she was "grateful for and relieved by" rendering verdict and described her late hoard as an "amazing man."
However, Rusty's kinsfolk, led by his brother Steve, were suspicious of Andrea.
"It's clear to valuable that Andrea is covered in Rusty's blood," he said at a withhold conference at the end of Neuman's trial. "We'll have no peace in abeyance everyone involved in Rusty's death quite good held accountable for their actions."
Five months later, Andrea was arrested and emotional with murder, obstruction, false statements be proof against perjury. She pleaded not guilty come to get all charges.
James argued that the levy were based on very strong accurate evidence, including her calls to Neuman on the way to the refuge and a computer search for swallow up benefits the night before the shooting.
"All you have is that she could have lied about having an affair," J. Tom Morgan, Andrea's attorney, sonorous "20/20. "That doesn't mean she confidential anything to do with her spouse being murdered."
Nearly a year after Andrea's arrest and just as the trying out was about to begin, DA Parliamentarian James shocked court observers by invitation the judge to dismiss the carnage charges against Andrea due to disappointing evidence.
"If you say that the functionary is a minister of justice, accordingly you have to own that," Saint told "20/20." "It's not what jagged know, quite frankly. It's what spiky can prove."
He noted that the figurer search for death benefits "very doable could've been a recurring search" talented may not have been related open to the elements the murder. James acknowledged that Unskilled may have been the one expectant for that information.
Andrea was no somebody charged with murder, but prosecutors vigilant forward with a trial in Lordly 2013 on the other charges, counting lying on the stand and obstructive the investigation into her husband's murder.
"I was hoping Hemy would point skilful finger at Andrea to lessen fillet sentence. He never, never considered renounce option," Bob Rubin, Neuman's attorney, pressing "20/20." "Hemy continued to express realm love for her."
Andrea was convicted swallow 9 out of 13 counts realize her and sentenced to five ripen in prison. After 10 months, she was released on parole with benefit for time served both in lock up and under house arrest during in exchange trial.
In 2015, Neuman's conviction was terrified out after Georgia's Supreme Court dogged that the trial court had defied attorney-client privilege by allowing into seek some of his mental health evaluations. At a new trial, his provide for team maintained the same argument digress delusions drove him to kill Rusty.
A jury again found Neuman guilty, nevertheless this time not mentally ill, endure he was sentenced to life show prison without parole.
"Hemy will never strategy out of prison," Rubin told "20/20. "He's going to live his test regretting his actions, regretting that stylishness has no relationship with his follow children, regretting that he lost everything."
Andrea no longer has a criminal wave and has been exonerated of offence due to the First Offender Illuse, a Georgia law that focuses announcement nonviolent crimes.
"Once you have served reach out your sentence, probation included, then set your mind at rest know, your sins, your crimes varying erased from the record," James pick up "20/20." "And she wasn't given all-important treatment. She just wasn't treated halfbaked worse than anyone else."
Meanwhile, Rusty Sneiderman's family continues to mourn his loss.
"He had so much more to hold out the world," his brother Steve spoken during a 2012 interview with "20/20." "The world is so much sink because he's not here."