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Andrea Sneiderman's friend tearfully recalls day of murder

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Andrea Sneiderman's best friend continued her testimony on Friday morning, breaking down into tears when asked about the day Rusty Sneiderman was murdered.

Shayna Citron fought back tears several times as the perjury trial entered its fifth day.

She answered questions about the state of the Sneidermans' marriage, describing child birthday parties and the interactions between the couple.

Citron told prosecutor Kellie Hill she met with Sneiderman near her office about two months before the murder.

"The main thing I remember about that conversation is she was telling me about a fight she and Rusty had just had," Citron said.  "She said she was extremely upset because it had been in front of the children."

"She said that Rusty said 'all of this time away from the family. You're a terrible mother for being away from the family and missing all of these things that are going on with the children,'" Citron said, choking back tears.

"She said they hadn't spoken for a week," Citron said before breaking down into tears.

Hill then moved on to the day of Sneiderman's murder.

"I will never forget the day of the murder," Citron said, again choking back tears.

"Andrea called me. I was on the way to a spa, an exercise class," Citron said. "She knew I was out of town so if she was calling me it was for a reason."

"Andrea was screaming into the phone. She said 'Shayna! Shayna! Rusty's been shot. I don't know if he's alive or dead," Citron said.

Hill then asked Citron if she was sure that Sneiderman was shot, which Citron verified.

"After she said he was on the way to the hospital she said, 'I need you,'" Citron added.

Citron also told Hill she was certain that it was the boss who shot Rusty Sneiderman, meaning Hemy Neuman, and she urged Andrea Sneiderman to tell the police.

On Thursday, Citron testified that Sneiderman denied having an affair with Neuman, but she didn't believe her.

Late Friday afternoon, jurors watched video of the interview police conducted with Sneiderman right after her boss had been arrested for murdering her husband.

Detectives now say she deliberately misled them, even after a friend told her to tell them her suspicions.

"I have to have the truth, nothing but the truth, all of it," Deputy Chief David Sides said to Sneiderman while sitting across the table from her in the Dunwoody Police interview room.

"What do you think he told us?" Sides asked Sneiderman.

"Uh, I'm sure he told you he thought I was in love with him, or something along those lines; he's crazy. I don't know, I don't know what he told you. That he was in love with me? That he was infatuated? That he stalked me?" Sneiderman responded on the video.

Andrea Sneiderman is now charged with concealing facts, making false statements, and hindering Hemy Neuman's arrest.

She did give police Neuman's name the day after the murder, but detectives say she downplayed him as a suspect. Prosecutors asked Sides what Sneiderman was telling police up until the day before Neuman's arrest.

"What if anything did she tell you about Hemy Neuman being in love with her?" asked District Attorney Robert James.

"Nothing," replied Sides.

"What if anything did she tell you about about Hemy Neuman wanting to marry her?" asked James.

"Nothing," replied Sides.

"What if anything did she tell you about Hemy Neuman being crazy?" asked James.

"Nothing," replied Sides.

"What if anything did she tell you about being stalked by Hemy Neuman?" asked James.

"Nothing," replied Sides.

A former friend told the jury that Andrea Sneiderman confided in her about romantic advances Neuman made, that Andrea saw Neuman's eyes when she looked at the composite sketch, and that Andrea called to warn him she'd given police his name, even asking him if he was the killer.

"I told her that she needed to tell the police, and she said to me, 'I'm afraid of what that would mean for my family,'" Shayna Citron told the jury.

The defense team questioned Citron about why she didn't tell police her suspicions until after Hemy Neuman's arrest.

"Andrea came out with a public statement about being shocked that it could be Hemy, and I thought to myself how in the world could she be shocked when I told her to tell the police about her boss. I then thought back to all the things that we had talked about," said Citron.

Prosecutors played a video recording of Andrea Sneiderman during Neuman's murder trial, explaining why she never told police she suspected him.

"It was unfathomable to me, and was unfathomable to me until January 4th when he was arrested," said Sneiderman in the video.

The deputy chief testified that if Andrea Sneiderman had ever told police Neuman proposed marriage to her, they would have immediately gone to question him about Rusty Sneiderman's murder.

"We'd have gone to find him right then," testified Sides.

In emotionally trying testimony, Andrea Sneiderman's mother, Bonnie Greenberg, recounted the day Rusty Sneiderman was murdered. She corroborated her daughter's story, saying they didn't learn Rusty had been shot until they arrived at Atlanta Medical Center.

"We were all in shock. We didn't know what happened," said Greenberg.

But prosecutors presented other witnesses who stated Andrea called or texted them long before she reached the hospital and said Rusty had been shot.

"She said 'Shayna, Shayna, Rusty's been shot. I don't know if he's alive or dead. We're on our way to the hospital,'" testified Citron.

Sneiderman is accused of lying about that on the stand during the Neuman trial, and lying to police about her alleged affair with Neuman.

Prosecutors put witnesses on the stand who testified Sneiderman's marriage appeared to be falling apart. But in more emotional testimony, her mother told jurors that was not the case.

"Did they appear to be in love?" asked defense attorney Tom Clegg.

"Yes," replied Greenberg.

"Was there ever a time until the death of Rusty Sneiderman on November 18th, 2010, where you ever changed that impression that they appeared in love?" asked Clegg.

"Never," replied Greenberg.

Prosecutors initially charged Andrea Sneiderman with helping to plan her husband's murder, but dropped the murder
charges just before jury selection.

She faces 13 counts, all of which stem from alleged lies she told police during the investigation and sworn testimony she gave in court during Neuman's murder trial. Neuman is serving a life sentence for Rusty Sneiderman's murder.

Testimony will continue Monday morning.

Channel 2 Action News has two reporters covering this trial. Follow Jodie Fleischer and Richard Elliot on Twitter for updates.