Sneiderman family questions Andrea's involvement in her husband's death

ATLANTA — As the verdict was read against Hemy Neuman Thursday afternoon, there was one person absent from the courtroom: Andrea Sneiderman.

Andrea Sneiderman was banned from the DeKalb County Courthouse after prosecutors said she acted inappropriately after a friend's testimony during the trial.

Both sides argued in the trial Andrea Sneiderman played a role in the death of her husband, Rusty Sneiderman.

Channel 2 investigative reporter Jodie Fleischer sat down with Rusty's parents and brother.

Steve Sneiderman said Andrea is covered in Rusty's blood and there are not enough rabbis in the world to wash it away.

The Sneidermans spoke with Fleischer for 2½ hours about the case, and said most of all, they want everyone to know Rusty was a wonderfully devoted father.

"I knew coming down here that this was going to be horrible and it's been far worse than I ever imagined," Steve Sneiderman said.

When Steve lost his only brother he was devastated. But the pain he felt in November 2010 is just as raw now, after what he calls the ultimate betrayal by his sister-in-law, Andrea.

"It doesn't take a Ph.D. to make those kinds of connections. Your boss killed your husband. The next question is, 'Are you involved, are you having an affair?' And she was incensed, outraged that we would even suggest such a thing," Steve Sneiderman said.

More than a year after Hemy Neuman's arrest, his murder trial offered those answers. Jurors saw Andrea Sneiderman just as incensed and outraged on the witness stand.

"I thought they got her at her worst, but I've seen that temper before," Marilyn Sneiderman said.

Marilyn and her husband, Don Sneiderman, watched their daughter-in-law with anger and a little bit of surprise.

"She was combative, belligerent. I would have thought she would have been more cooperative trying to convict the guy who supposedly killed her husband, and she didn't do that. She was defensive all the time," Don Sneiderman said.

Andrea Sneiderman continued to deny the affair with her boss, Neuman, despite witness after witness to the contrary. Even now, it's hard to admit publicly.

"You felt like she was lying?" Fleischer asked Marilyn Sneiderman. She just nodded her head yes.

And the testimony that she called her father-in-law and three friends to say Rusty had been shot, before she was supposed to have known that information could only mean one thing.

"She's involved," Marilyn Sneiderman said.

"How do you know that?" Fleischer asked.

"I don't know how she sleeps at night," Marilyn Sneiderman said.

They stopped short of demanding charges for Andrea Sneiderman, but if prosecutors decide to arrest her, they support it.

"It becomes a case about what else is being lied about what else is being hidden, what else is being misdirected and those are the answers that we need," Steve Sneiderman said.

The Sneidermans call Neuman's insanity defense "silly." They think he absolutely knew what he was doing when he drove up in a rented van, in a disguise, and shot and killed Rusty in the parking lot of the Dunwoody Prep Preschool. They want to know if Andrea was in on it.

"Biblically if you want to look at this, there's five negative commandments and between the two of them, they've broken 'em all." Steve Sneiderman said.

Andrea Sneiderman's attorneys released a statement on her behalf late Thursday afternoon, which said, "Andrea is grateful for and relieved by the jury's guilty verdict and the sentence. Nothing can bring back her husband, but it is reassuring to her that, after all of the noise and distractions surrounding this case, some measure of justice has been done for Rusty.

"Rusty's family misses and mourns him every single day. But today, at least, the family can be comforted by the fact that his killer will spend the rest of his days behind bars.

"Rusty was an amazing man, and a wonderful husband and father. He is missed every day by so many. The world is worse off without him.

"This trial has been extremely difficult for Andrea and her family. They need time to grieve, and time to heal. As such, Andrea has no plans to make any further public statement at this time. We respectfully ask that the public and the media respect this decision in the interest of the entire Sneiderman family."
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