Neuman Found Guilty But Mentally Ill

Updated: 4:15 p.m. 

Former East Cobb resident Hemy Neuman has been found guilty but mentally ill by a DeKalb County jury Thursday in the murder of Russell "Rusty" Sneiderman. 

He was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole by Judge Gregory Adams, who also issued a five-year sentence for Neuman's conviction on a weapons charge. 

Neuman, , showed no emotion as the verdict was read. The jury forewoman's voice cracked a bit as she read that Neuman was "guilty beyond a reasonable doubt but mentally ill."

According to the terms of the verdict, Neuman will return to prison but will receive treatment for his mental illness. Doug Peters, Neuman's lead attorney, said he will appeal the verdict. 

What do you think of the verdict and the sentence in the Hemy Neuman trial? Please tell us in the comments. 

In brief and occasionally tearful remarks before his sentencing, Neuman apologized repeatedly, saying he was "so so so sorry" for the Sneiderman family's loss. 

"I can't say it enough. I'm sorry from the deepest part of me your honor."

Neuman called the shooting "a big mistake" and, pausing for a few moments while fighting back emotion, referred to both families, including Sneiderman's two small children and Neuman's three college-age children, and declared that "everybody lost."

Neuman's mother, Rebecca Cohen, told the court that he has "been a good son" but made a mistake and asked for the court "to have mercy on him" and offer him the possibility of parole.

Neuman admits he killed Rusty Sneiderman outside the Dunwoody Prep day care in November 2010. Neuman supervised Sneiderman's wife Andrea at a GE Energy engineering unit at the Wildwood office complex in East Cobb. 

In issuing the sentence, Adams said the killing appeared to have been "a planned execution" and noted that Neuman also was in attendance at Sneiderman's funeral. 

Steven Sneiderman, the slain man's brother, delivered a powerful victim impact statement on behalf of the Sneiderman family, urging Adams to sentence Neuman to life without parole.

"Why did Rusty have to die, to satisfy him?

"Your honor, our lives have been shattered, and there's nothing that this court can do to ever make us whole again. 

"Today the pain of that void is almost unbearable."

During the trial Andrea Sneiderman denied she and Neuman . She was barred from the courtroom after the testimony for interacting with other witnesses.

Peters continued to assert the affair during his pre-sentencing remarks and asked that his client receive the possibility of parole.

Andrea Sneiderman, who has not been charged in the case, was not in the courtroom Thursday. 

The jury was given three options when deliberations began on Tuesday: Guilty, not guilty by reason of insanity or guilty but mentally ill. 

The prosecution denied mental illness claims by Neuman's lawyers; so did Neuman's estranged wife, Ariela, who told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that she has "no mercy" for her husband. But she also had harsh words for Andrea Sneiderman:

"I know who destroyed him. He was a puppet."

Patch will continue to update this story; for full trial coverage please visit Dunwoody Patch.