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The murder trial of Hemy Neuman is over but there still are questions in the case.

Neuman was sentenced to life without parole on March 15 after a jury found him guilty but mentally ill in the November 2010 killing of Russell Sneiderman outside a Dunwoody daycare.

What role Andrea Sneiderman, the victim’s wife and Neuman’s former GE Energy co-worker, played in the killing is the “1,000-pound pink gorilla in the corner,” said DeKalb County District Attorney Robert James during a press conference following the sentencing.

“It’s something that we have under review right now,” James told reporters. “Stay tuned.”

Even Neuman’s defense team said there is more to the story than has been proved in court.

“The object of every legal investigation is to determine the truth,” Neuman defense attorney Doug Peters said. “The entire truth in this case has not been presented.

“Hemy Neuman was as good a man as has ever walked on the face of the earth until he met and became involved with Andrea Sneiderman,” Peters said. “Mr. Neuman was ill and manipulated by Andrea Sneiderman. We are very hopeful that all of the evidence regarding her responsibility for the death of Rusty Sneiderman will also be presented in court on another day at another time.”

Peters said he believes Andrea Sneiderman, who allegedly was having an affair with Neuman, should be charged with murder in the first degree.

“She preyed upon [Neuman] and used him to commit the crime that she is responsible for,”
Peters said. Neuman’s “delusions were coupled with Andrea Sneiderman’s manipulation of him—her calculation, her teasing of him and her using him and taking advantage of the condition he was in—to get…what we contend she is responsible for.

“I believe that Andrea Sneiderman planted the seed,” Peters said. “I believe that Andrea Sneiderman primed the pump. I believe that Andrea Sneiderman stoked the fire. And I believe the evidence in this case indicates quite clearly that she knew how she wanted her husband murdered and that she manipulated Hemy to have that done.”

Steve Sneiderman, Rusty’s brother said that his family “has long suspected Andrea’s involvement with Rusty’s death” and the court proceedings only “confirmed my suspicions.”

“Andrea is covered in Rusty’s blood and there are not enough rabbis in the world to wash away those stains,” Steve Sneiderman said.

Steve Sneiderman wants to make sure everyone remembers his brother as a good person.

“He was a devoted son,” Steve Sneiderman said. “He was a wonderful brother, he was a great father. Rusty was loving. All of that love has been silenced forever. The entire community loses that positive energy.”

Sneiderman said “attempts to mischaracterize him as not providing properly for his family…are extremely hurtful and false.”

“Parties desperate to excuse their own misconduct attempted to smear my brother’s name and reputation throughout these proceedings,” Steve Sneiderman said.

“Today is the 483rd day since my brother was [killed],” Sneiderman said. “Every night we go to sleep hoping it was all a bad dream. Every morning we wake to the same nightmare.”

Sneiderman said Neuman’s “obituary is already written.”

“It reads: ‘Hemy Neuman. Convicted murderer. Period,”’Sneiderman said.

Neuman “had no right to do this,” Sneiderman said. “He had no right to anything my brother had built. He had no right to take Rusty from us.”

The jury also found Neuman guilty of possessing a firearm when he admittedly killed Sneiderman by shooting him several times after Sneiderman dropped off his child at the Dunwoody Prep daycare. Neuman pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.

Despite the jury verdict that Neuman was mentally ill at the time of the crime, James said he still believes that “there is nothing wrong with Hemy Neuman.”                                                                

“This was not a spur-of-the-moment act,” James said just before Neuman was sentenced. “This was not a passion act. This is something that he methodically planned, strategized, practiced at a gun range, took steps both on the front end and the back end to cover up his crime and the evidence of his crime, paid individuals to lie to law enforcement…and then he stalked the [victim].

“And on Nov. 10, 2010, he laid in wait in the bushes outside of the [Sneiderman] house,” James said. “When that attempt to take the victim’s life did not pan out he then went … to Plan B.”

 James called the crime “tragic and senseless.”

 “I want to thank God that justice has been served,” James said. “I want to thank God that finally after a year and a half or more this family, a good family, the Sneidermans are able to begin the process of healing.”

Neuman, who did not testify during the proceedings, read a handwritten apology before he was sentenced.

In the apology, Neuman called Rusty Sneiderman “a good man with so much ahead of him.”

“I’m so, so, so sorry for their loss,” Neuman said about Sneiderman’s family. “This is a terrible tragedy.”

Neuman said the crime was also a tragedy for his own children and family “who saw a person they loved admired and respected…arrested and ...now convicted.”

“I’m so, so, so sorry,” Neuman said. “I can’t say it enough.”