Murder conviction upheld for man who killed father outside Dunwoody daycare

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — The Georgia Supreme Court has denied the request for another trial for a metro Atlanta man who murdered a Dunwoody father outside of a daycare.

The court unanimously made the decision to uphold a 2016 murder conviction for Hemy Neuman, according to a ruling released Monday.

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Neuman shot and killed Rusty Sneiderman moments after the entrepreneur dropped his son off to Dunwoody Prep Preschool on Nov. 18, 2010. Neuman claimed he was insane at the time of the shooting.

However, prosecutors said the real motive was an affair with Rusty’s widow Andrea Sneiderman. Andrea Sneiderman worked for Neuman and denied the affair. She was later convicted on perjury and false statement charges.

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In a 2012 trial, jurors found Neuman guilty but mentally ill and a judge sentenced him to life in prison with no chance of parole for the murder charge, plus five years for a firearm charge.

The Georgia Supreme Court reversed his conviction in 2015, ruling that the State had improper access to privileged notes and records of Neuman’s mental health experts while preparing for the case.

Another jury found Neuman guilty of malice murder in the 2016 retrial and he was once again sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.

Neuman appealed again to the Georgia Supreme Court to overturn that conviction and a virtual hearing was held in September.

Neuman’s attorney argued information prosecutors obtained about a defense expert prior to his first trial tainted the case and should be grounds to overturn his second conviction. The defense also claimed the first jury’s verdict of guilty but mentally ill barred the second jury from reaching a guilty verdict without the condition that he be found mentally ill.

In Monday’s ruling, Georgia Supreme Court said the Justices considered each argument and found no errors in the retrial’s ruling. The 34-page opinion can be read on the court’s website.

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