Kriti Mehrotra
It was on the morning of November 18, 2010, that the entire affluent community of Dunwoody, Georgia, was left baffled to the core as Russell “Rusty” Sneiderman was horrifically gunned down. The 36-year-old happily married father of two seemingly had no enemies, as carefully chronicled in ABC’s ’20/20: Fatal Disguise,’ yet he was shot execution-style right outside his son’s preschool. It thus took the authorities a little while to officially ascertain precisely what had transpired and why, but they were able to bring this matter to a satisfactory close with a conviction in mid-2012.
Russell “Rusty” Sneiderman Was Shot Outside His Son’s Dunwoody Preschool
Born on June 18, 1974, in Cleveland, Ohio, to Marilyn and Donald Sneiderman as one of their two sons, Rusty reportedly grew up in an incredibly happy, loving, as well as tight-knit household. He and his brother, Steve, had unwavering support at every step of the way in life. It enabled the former to not just graduate from Indiana University with a Bachelor’s but also pursue an MBA from Harvard Business School. By this point, he had already tied the knot with his college sweetheart Andrea Greenberg, with whom he proudly welcomed two kids before opportunities ultimately led them to Atlanta, Georgia.
The truth is the Sneidermans gradually became a pillar of their society as active members, philanthropists, and synagogue followers, which is why the news of Rusty’s death left them scared. No one could ever even imagine anyone wanting to hurt this successful entrepreneur, so his being shot by a masked man immediately after he had dropped off his son at preschool was just baffling. Rusty was rushed to the hospital, but he succumbed to the numerous bullet wounds he had endured hours later – so, of course, his manner of death was determined as a clear-cut homicide.
Russell “Rusty” Sneiderman’s Killing Was Witnessed by Multiple People
According to witnesses, Rusty was returning to his vehicle upon dropping off his son at Dunwoody Prep Preschool at 5493 Chamblee Dunwoody Road at 9:10 when a masked stranger walked up. Then, without saying a word, they opened fire from behind and shot several rounds before quickly escaping the scene in their silver Kia Sedona minivan, only for it to soon turn out to be a rental. Witnesses also told local officials this 5’10″/5’11” shooter was wearing a hoodie as well as a ski mask, yet they were certain he had a very dark beard that was probably a disguise of some type.
Investigators even recovered four shell casings from the scene and surveillance footage, all the while taking a closer look into Rusty’s life in the hopes of finding possible concrete leads. That’s when they learned he was truly a model husband, but his wife, 35-year-old Andrea, had allegedly recently had an encounter that had left both her and her husband really uncomfortable. As per her statements, her boss, Hemy Neuman, a high-ranking executive at General Electric Energy, had “hit on her” despite being a married father himself, only for her to “quickly shut it down” for good.
At around the same time, detectives also uncovered Rusty had some bad blood with a former employer owing to him suddenly leaving after having found alleged issues in their inner workings. However, this was all a dead end as the owners of this learning center for children that sold franchises had alibis, and even the $10,000 reward offered by Rusty’s family was not garnering tips. Thankfully, though, officials were soon able to view the surveillance footage from the preschool’s parking lot, which confirmed he was targeted as the shooter was very determined in his actions.
The Boss of Rusty’s Wife Andrea Was Responsible For His Death
Moreover, the footage also led investigators directly to the place that had rented out the silver minivan, just for their records to reveal it was rented out by Hemy Neuman. As if that’s not enough, they learned it was taken the day before the murder and returned mere hours after it was all over on November 18, 2010, driving them to process it for fingerprints and DNA. They were even able to collect fibers that appeared to be from a fake beard, so corporate scientist Hemy was officially brought in for questioning while his albi of being at work was also examined.
Hemy actually conceded that although he was friends with Andrea, he was attracted to her too and interested in taking things further, only to go very quiet when directly asked if he had killed Rusty. He didn’t confess per se, yet he was still arrested on the charge of murder owing to his silence, the getaway vehicle, and General Electric Energy’s surveillance footage showing him with the minivan on the day in question. Then, in the search of his phone records for potential further evidence, detectives found out he had bought a 40-caliber gun on October 31, whose bullets matched the ones at the scene.
Things also became a lot clearer in the eyes of the law once they discovered that Andrea hadn’t entirely been truthful, as she had taken a few close business trips with her boss shortly before. According to witnesses, she and Hemy had even gone to a restaurant together where the energy between them seemed more than platonic, and they were even in constant contact on their phones. However, as per records, all interactions between them completely halted following the murder, making officials believe they were likely involved in an illicit affair until the ominously fateful day.
Hemy Neuman and Andrea Sneiderman Were Both Convicted on Different Charges
When Hemy ultimately stood trial on the charge against him in February 2012, his team actually expressed that while he had pulled the trigger on Rusty, he was innocent on the grounds of insanity. His entire defense was that he was not in his right mind in 2010 as his attraction towards Andrea had turned into an obsession, which she took advantage of so as to influence him to kill her husband. However, the prosecutor’s case was a lot stronger, resulting in the jury finding him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt but mentally ill on March 15, 2012, and he was later sentenced to life in prison.
Nevertheless, the case was far from over, as Andrea was arrested in August 2012 for murder, hindering an investigation, and lying under oath for maintaining she had refused her boss’ advances. The charge of murder was later dropped owing to a lack of evidence, yet she was found guilty of the other two around a year later and sentenced to five years with credit for time served. As for Hemy, partly because of her conviction, he was awarded a retrial a short while later, yet it yielded the same result as before in August 2016, meaning the 53-year-old was sentenced to life in prison upon being found guilty.
Read More: Andrea Sneiderman: Where is Rusty Sneiderman’s Wife Now?
