DEKALB COUNTY, Ga.,None — For the first time since his arrest in January, a murder suspect accused of having an affair with the victim's wife came face to face with his own wife inside a DeKalb County courtroom Wednesday.
Hemy Neuman's defense attorneys are challenging search warrants in the slaying of Rusty Sneiderman, in the hopes of convincing the judge to exclude evidence in the case.
Sneiderman was shot and killed in the parking lot of his son's preschool, Dunwoody Prep, last November. Neuman was charged with murder. Court records allege Sneiderman's wife, Andrea, was having an affair with Neuman, her direct supervisor at GE Energy.
On Wednesday morning, Dunwoody police Officer Curtis Clifton testified that Neuman's wife, Ariela, allowed officers to search their Cobb County home.
"We told her what we wanted to do. She gave us consent to search any areas of the home we wanted to. We told her we appreciated it, but we were going to wait until the search warrant was signed," said Clifton.
Prosecutors said the search warrant is irrelevant because of his wife's permission.
Neuman appeared to be surprised as prosecutors called his wife to the stand. She testified that officers took the home computer and two storage drives from the home, even though her husband was no longer living there full time. The couple became legally separated earlier this year.
"It was from October that he left," testified Arelia Neuman.
She said Hemy Neuman still had a key and frequently returned to the home. The search occurred on Jan. 4, the day Neuman was arrested.
Defense attorneys are also challenging the admissibility of Neuman's statements to police when he was questioned that day. Officers waited until more than an hour into the interview to read Neuman his Miranda rights.
Judge Gregory Adams has yet to rule on any of the motions. Channel 2's Jodie Fleischer will have complete coverage of the hearing on Channel 2 Action News.