Neuman Will Make Insanity Plea

Former East Cobb resident Hemy Neuman will plead insanity in last fall's killing of Russell Sneiderman outside a Dunwoody day care center. 

Doug Peters, Neuman's attorney, conceded in an The Atlanta Journal-Constitution interview on Friday that the ex-manager of a GE Energy unit at Wildwood Parkway in East Cobb shot and killed Sneiderman on Nov. 18, 2010. 

"The issue is not what happened. The facts of this case are not in dispute," Peters said. 

In a separate interview with WSB TV, Peters said that the reason the defense is changing its plea is because he claims Neuman did not know right from wrong when he committed the murder:

"This case is not about whether or not he pulled the trigger. He is the one who did the shooting. The question is, and what is provided by Georgia law, is what was his mental capacity at the time?"

Neuman's trial is scheduled to begin on Oct. 17.

In the AJC story, Seth Kirschenbaum, an attorney representing Sneiderman's widow Andrea, said that "hopefully, the prosecution is prepared to rebut [Neuman's] insanity defense."

Esther Panitch, an attorney for Neuman's wife, Ariela Neuman, has claimed that the suspect and Andrea Sneiderman, who worked under his supervision at GE Energy, had been having an affair. 

On Friday, Panitch said Neuman's insanity plea was dubious and told 11 Alive that it would be a difficult case to make. 

"If he was allegedly insane at the time of the crime I don't know why it's taken nine-and-a-half months to file an insanity defense. I suspect there has been so much overwhelming evidence of his guilt that this might be the only thing that they feel they have."