Fatal Disguise
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Tonight, it would terrify any parent, a shooting in a preschool parking lot. David, I was in that exact location and also in the courthouse where a killer said an angel and a demon told him what to do. And all new 2020 begins right now. Oh, my God. Oh, my God.

An unlikely killer, an unlikely victim. He's got bleeding to death out here. Twists and turns. Yeah, he had a hat on, and it all looked like a beard. Bombshells galore. It was just stranger than fiction. The shooter came across the parking lot and raised his arm. Pow, pow, pow, pow. Initially, people have no idea what's happening, right? They think it's just some lone gunman. This person was targeted for some reason.

A young father of two senselessly murdered, dropping his child off. Everyone was scratching their heads. Why was Rusty Snyderman murdered? After the shooting, the suspect took off in that minivan and sped off. What did you notice right away about him? His black beard didn't belong. I mean, it was just, I knew it was a fake beard. It just didn't make sense to me. It just seemed too elaborate and too...

There were some previous incidences that were very odd. He's running. I think he has a gun in his back pocket. And now he's running away. I don't know who the hell he is, and I don't want him by my house. And then all of a sudden, the entire investigation shifted. That had to be pretty disturbing. Looked over Rusty, and I said, I'm going to get the justice for you. Hopefully get your revenge.

On a clear day with a bird's eye view, you can see all the way to Atlanta. It's big city problems in the distance. Here in Dunwoody, Georgia, crime and danger seem to be somebody else's problem. Until one November morning. This suburban bubble is about to burst with a bang. It was a beautiful fall day right before Thanksgiving. People were running their morning errands. Parents were dropping their kids off to preschool.

One of those parents is Rusty Snyderman, who's on his way back to his car after dropping off his two-year-old son. Witnesses told police they saw a silver minivan pull up. A man hop out, walked up to Rusty, didn't say a word to him. Walked up, he turned around, pow, pow, pow, pow, pow. I heard a couple of loud pops and looked up and...

looked over and saw right in front of me, shooting Rusty. Shot him several times. I mean, it was pretty much point blank range. The barrel was either at or right at his skin when fired. There was actually soot deep into the wound from the projectile. And then calmly and coolly walked back to his vehicle and took off.

It was almost surreal, the experience. There was no chaos or running or yelling or anything. You just walked back to his van. It didn't look like what I would think a murder would be. They thought it was a movie. They were actually looking around for the cameras. Everybody thinks they know what they would do. You don't.

He kept heading out. Somebody's been shot and killed. Which way did he go? He headed east, Mount Vernon. Mount Vernon Road? Yeah, he had a hat on and it all looked like a beard. Was he black, white, Hispanic? I can't tell. He might have been. It came over radio that there was a shooting. There was one person down, unknown status, and we all just went. Oh my God, gunshots over here.

Somebody records a video. A doctor who happens to be nearby performs CPR, and a teacher grabs the children to get them out of harm's way. There were a lot of witnesses to this shooting. Everybody saw it happen. The shooter made no effort to conceal themselves. Honestly, you know, when the call came out, I was shocked. In Dunwoody, you know, everybody's pretty nice and everybody helps each other. So for something like this to happen, it was just a shocker.

The community was absolutely scared. Again, it's not something that happens normally. There's not a lot of violent crime in that area. He didn't look conscious to me. He looked like he was struggling and trying to, you know, there was some movement, but I knew that it wasn't good. There was a lot of blood everywhere.

There were obvious gunshots to the patient. There was no pulse and he was unresponsive. But that does not mean that you don't work this patient because there have been times where we've been able to save patients.

OK. All right. Thank you.

And so we did notify surrounding agencies. I started hearing rumblings about a shooting not far from where I live, probably about a 10 minute drive from my house. And that in and of itself was shocking because it's a very safe community.

Let's go now to Channel 2's Mike Pachinik with the latest on what he's learned. Mike. At the time of Rusty Steinerman's murder, I was a reporter at WSB TV in Atlanta. I'm Mike Pachinik, Channel 2 Action News. His murder happened that morning. I came in the afternoon and was assigned to go back to try to find people who knew Rusty, knew his family, try to get to the bottom of who he was and why somebody would want him murdered.

How did you first learn about the Snyderman shooting? It was in the news. Yeah, it was all over the news. A husband is shot and killed right after he drops his child off. This shooting has shaken the school and the community to its core. The last thing you think about is dropping off your child at school and something like this happened. It's very, very, very, very scary to happen.

Every parent is scared. Every parent who's got a young child in daycare is scared. They didn't know what the motive was. So it was big news in Atlanta. To me, honestly, it looked like it was professional. It was just the calmness of it. It didn't seem like it was a crime of passion. It was just very cold and calculated. The shooting did happen at close range. There was no indication that Rusty

was going to do anything or was trying to attack the person. It was a purely one-sided shooting and close range to me said it was personal. Right now they are out actively searching for the man that shot this father. Rusty Snyderman's car was parked right there where you see that orange spray paint. Well, it looks like a hit, you know, happened in broad daylight with witnesses around. I absolutely didn't believe at any point that

It was a random shooting. It was somebody that looked like targeted him on purpose. In the time it takes to count to four, the innocence of a schoolyard, backpacks, snacks, goodbyes, shrouded in gun smoke and now mystery. The school and several of the businesses in this complex do have security cameras. Dunwoody police tell me right now they are actively looking at that video to see if they can get a better description of the suspect.

Initially, people have no idea what's happening, right? They think it's just some lone gunman? No one could come up with a motive. Random shooting at a daycare center right after a child has been dropped off. This person was targeted for some reason, but nobody knew what that reason was.

Still ahead, the clue you couldn't miss. What did you notice right away about him? Well, I noticed his black beard. The gunman's less than brilliant disguise. Didn't belong. I mean, it was just, I knew it was a fake beard.

Here we are now at Dunwoody Prep. You were here, what was it, 14 years ago, I guess it was. Former detective Andrew Thompson takes me back to the scene of the crime just outside Atlanta. You think the shooter was parked over here. Yeah, witnesses had the shooter park over here. As Rusty came around this way, he came around the front of his car and he turned to open the door. The shooter came across the parking lot and raised his arm, pow, pow, pow, pow.

- Rusty Schneiderman had dropped off his child and as he was exiting, he was shot multiple times by an unknown assailant who jumped in his vehicle and fled the scene. - This was a huge case in Atlanta and especially since it happened in the parking lot of a preschool, you know, a young father of two senselessly murdered dropping his child off. - Just shocked that it happened here. - This shooting has shaken the school and the community to its core.

I was just in disbelief. You know, you never expect murder to step into your life, and particularly somebody like Rusty. I not only didn't know of any enemies that Rusty had, I couldn't imagine him having an enemy because he was such a positive person.

It was my first homicide. I didn't really know what to expect when I came up, but I just clicked right into professional mode and remembered all the steps that I needed to take that I learned back in the academy. You started organizing, you start putting things in motion for witnesses and evidence, but you do something unusual. You bend down to the victim. Yeah, after I got everybody where I thought they should be and got the base information, I came back over and I looked over Rusty and I said,

I'm going to get the justice for you. I'm going to get this guy and hopefully get your revenge. I wanted to assure him that I was going to do the best that I could to bring the killer to justice. And I said, have faith. And I went and started doing my job. I was tasked with going back and trying to just dig into the family a little bit, find out who they were and where they worked, what sorts of things were important in their lives.

He had a very outgoing personality. He was very engaging. He was very funny. He was fun to be with. Rusty always had a lot of friends. That goes to Rusty's personality. You know, Rusty would leave an indelible mark on people. He had a personality that always would bring you in. And tell me about the family and what you learned later on about them. Rusty and Andrea started dating in college.

The two met at Indiana University at a retreat for Jewish students. By all accounts, they had a fairytale romance. And when they finished school, Rusty got an opportunity to get his MBA at Harvard. They had lived together for seven years. They'd been together a long time before they got married, and she was just part of the family then. They were a good team.

She presents very warm, gives you a huge embrace. So yeah, I had a good feeling about them. They had a good marriage. They had two young kids. They had a beautiful home. They had a wonderful life. They had a lake house where they spent their weekends. I've never seen him happier than being a dad.

He was a big kid at heart himself and he just adored his kids. He was so natural. He just naturally had the skill to connect with them and he would sit on the floor and play with them. Not everyone has that natural ability, but he really did.

Rusty is getting a lot more time with the kids because Andrea has taken a demanding new job. There's lots of travel. Florida, Colorado, even to Europe. She was feeling good about it. I think she liked it. I think she was challenged. It was a good change for their family, so I was happy for them.

Police begin to look, of course, at the family as they begin to investigate this case. What did they discover about the couple? Are they happy? Are there struggles? There was no indication of any strife in the home life. They were your typical successful, upper-middle-class, hardworking couple.

Now investigators turn back to that security camera video of the bearded killer in the minivan. The key point of evidence we had was the daycare has a camera there that overlooks the central parking lot. And that was the only visual that we had of the suspect's vehicle driving around once, then coming back around again.

It's a silver caravan, almost looks like a Dodge. He had a hat on. It looked like he had a pierce and a silver caliber gun.

Witnesses told police that they saw a silver minivan pull up to the scene and after the shooting, the suspect took off in that minivan and sped off. Two odd things about that van. One, witnesses say the license plate was missing. And two, when detectives rewind, they see that same minivan cruising the parking lot

an hour before the shooting. So that morning you pulled in right here? Yeah. Larry Minogue was dropping off his son that morning. It was about an hour before the shooting. As I was pulling into the parking lot, I noticed a van going in front of the building. What did you notice right away about him? Well, I noticed his black beard and I could tell as far as how dark it was that it

didn't belong. I mean, it was just-- I knew it was a fake beard. Larry says he even scolded the man. I just looked at him and said, you don't belong here. You shouldn't be driving through this part of the parking lot at this hour. Did he acknowledge you? No. Only later that morning does Larry realize that he'd come that close to a killer. I hear it on the radio.

And my first thought was, oh my gosh, I think I saw that person. That had to be pretty disturbing. Well, it was. And then I just called the Dunwoody Police Department and they said, can you come by? Police release a sketch based on Larry's description. It's shown everywhere. The thing that really struck me was they all noted that this was a really strange looking beard on the suspect and that it looked fake.

Some people described it like an Abraham Lincoln beard. Yeah, he had a hat on and it almost looked like a beard. A manhunt now underway for the bearded killer. And why was Rusty Snyderman calling 911 just a week before his murder? Was there an earlier attempt on his life? He's running. I think he has a gun in his back pocket. And now he's running away. I don't know who the hell he is, and I don't want him by my house.

Everyone was scratching their heads. Why was Rusty Snyderman murdered? They were really focused on chasing down any lead they got because at the time they had no credible information as to who had done this. We got a lot of leads. Everybody was fielding phone calls.

for leads and because you put something out like that especially where the public is very interested and you're gonna get a lot of calls.

In fact, a detective from across the country calls to compare notes about his case involving the murder of a Jewish woman just two days before Rusty's killing. One of the most prominent publicists to the stars, Ronnie Chasen, was murdered, shot behind the wheel of her Mercedes in Beverly Hills. Investigators are working on the theory that this was a planned attack.

The detective from Beverly Hills, California, gave me a call and he was working a case that also involved people from the Jewish community. And he thought it was worthwhile for him to give me a call to see if there might have been a connection. I know I got a call from the sheriff of a local county, Putnam County, that had a couple that was killed at their lake house. And so he called to see if there was some kind of connection. Of course, you know, there was no connection. So it does bring out a lot of those kind of

maybe similar cases that people are, you know, searching for a lead on their case. Then there's the tip from a woman so convinced she spotted the man in the sketch that she follows him. When police put out the picture of the minivan and the composite sketch of the shooter, a woman at a nearby grocery store thought she saw

the killer and started taking pictures to try to help police catch this person. According to police, the woman tails the man into the store and back out into the parking lot, secretly snapping photos with her phone. And as it turned out, it was not the killer. He had an airtight alibi.

With any investigation, they always want to start by finding out whatever they can about the victim. And so in this case, they dug into where Rusty had worked, what sort of business ventures he was involved in. We spoke to his business partners. Some detectives thought the murder looked like the work of a hitman, a murder for hire, possibly related to one of Rusty's past jobs.

We also looked into his wealth management job that he had briefly. That could be a great indicator as to a motive for it. If you're a multimillionaire and you end up losing millions of dollars, that could really flip a switch in somebody and want to get revenge on you.

Police quickly realized that this was not a business deal gone bad. They had no evidence to show that Rusty owed anybody money or that he had mishandled anybody's finances, so they pretty much put that to bed. It just didn't make sense to me. It just seemed too elaborate and too Hollywood, if you know. And Rusty's not the kind of guy that's going to get in any kind of trouble. No criminal history, no anything. Then this puzzling revelation.

In the weeks before he was killed, Rusty Snyderman had called the police for help, not once, but twice. Did they have an emergency 911? What's the address of the emergency? There were some previous incidences that were very odd. About a month before Rusty Snyderman was killed, something strange happened at his house. My garage door suddenly opened. We were concerned there may be somebody in the garage or in the house. My wife and I are both upstairs, and my kids are in bed.

They were panicking a little bit that somebody was trying to break into the house. OK, relax. There's nothing to freak out about. The police are here, you see? Then, about a week before his murder, Rusty calls 911 again. This time, it's more serious.

There was another incident where Rusty was starting to leave his home to go about his day and he saw somebody behind his air conditioner on the side of his house. And he notices a gentleman laying down beside his house. When he confronted the guy, the guy ran away down towards the end of the cul-de-sac. He's running. I think he has a gun in his back pocket. And now he's running away. I don't know who the hell he is and I don't want him by my house.

In the middle of that call, you can hear Rusty pausing to attend to his son. I know, but I didn't get your water bottle. I'm sorry. He was wearing a hat and earmuffs, black mustache.

Odd, sure, but a lot of people own guns, and so that's not a direct indicator that the person was looking to kill Rusty. Police respond to both calls and investigate, but no arrests are made. It's another clue as part of our investigation, trying to determine is that related to the fact that he was shot or is it unrelated? You know, we don't know at that particular point in time. ♪

About a month after the murder, investigators catch a break uncovering the biggest clue in this entire investigation. A 4,000 pound clue, essentially. Yeah. That was probably the biggest clue they had in terms of figuring out who did this. And that's, you know, probably as far as leads go, our top leads.

And then all of a sudden, the entire investigation shifted. When they hit on that, that ended up being a goldmine for them. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but police chief Billy Grogan and his team will settle for just one clue hidden in those crime scene photos. Anything that leads to the man in the sketch, the black-bearded killer who shot Rusty Snyderman and then escaped in a silver minivan. Any sort of

Serious crime like this, you know, you start with the closest people to the victim and work your way out. Investigators speak with Rusty Snyderman's wife Andrea several times. Do you know anybody that drives a silver minivan? No, I don't know anyone else that owns a silver minivan.

When they begin looking into this case, police talk to Andrea. What do they learn from her? Andrea is totally baffled. She doesn't know who would kill her husband, why her husband would be killed. She's very distraught. So the day after the shooting, Detective Thompson is asking Andrea to try to think of anybody who would have done this. Maybe an enemy of her husband? Somebody with a romantic interest in her?

Has there been anybody recently, when I say recently, within the past year, that has expressed an interest in you? Yes. Who? My boss. Your boss? Yes. Andrea says her boss had made a pass at her and that she turned him down, and that was that. This is not an individual that would do something like this.

In a follow-up interview the next week, Detective Thompson wants more details. Let's talk about your boss. Okay. How did he approach you with expressing an interest? We travel for business together, and we were at dinner, and he said, you know, he thinks I'm fantastic, would love to have a relationship with me, but knows that that's probably unlikely, and that was sort of...

I mean, so it was a very polite, very calm. He really respected me as a person. Andrea tells him that she and her boss remained on good terms, that they continued to work closely together. We're close friends, he and I. Even once he said that and I said no, I mean, we work together a lot, travel together a lot. I enjoy his, I admire him.

As for the idea of her husband cheating on her, according to Andrea, it was laughable. He doesn't have time to go to the bathroom, let alone have an affair. And he loved me so much and made that clear a million times a day. So I laugh because it's absurdly ridiculous.

Detectives now turn back to those ghostly security camera images, the killer's minivan. There's surveillance video that reveals a silver minivan. Yes. A 4,000-pound clue, essentially. Yeah. The van was the only solid evidence I had of the suspect. I looked at that video so many hours and so many days on my computer just trying to find the fingerprint on that van that'll make it stand out.

How did they go about tracking down this van? Well, we called the manufacturers of just about every minivan that was, you know, looked similar. First I went to Ford, I went to Dodge, I went to Honda. The last one I went to, which was a recommendation from one of our patrol officers, was Kia. Oh, I hadn't thought about Kia. So I went to the Kia dealership. It was a 2011 Kia Sedona minivan.

The 2011 model of that Kia Sedona minivan had only recently become available. There was right around 1,000 or so in the entire country. So, thousands really. And it gets better. The number of 2011 Kia Sedona sold in Georgia at the time is just a lucky 13. We're calling every single person that owned one of these vans that is registered to

Everybody has an alibi. Nobody's in Atlanta, nobody's in Dunwoody. So detectives go back to that videotape. They get it enhanced and they play it on a big screen TV. And the first time I played it, first time I saw this were two stickers on the front windshield that were offset from each other. That was my fingerprint. So now I had to figure out what the hell are those stickers?

There was a sticker in the window and it looked like it possibly could be from a rental vehicle. Turns out that Kia Sedona's were a very popular enterprise rental vehicle and so when they hit on that, that ended up being a gold mine for them. So it was this particular rental car company that had this specific vehicle in their fleet.

This leads to another important discovery. By chance, the barcode stickers on the suspect's van had been applied incorrectly. They were offset differently than stickers on other Enterprise vehicles. They ended up getting the list of all of the 2011 Kia Sedona minivans that were rented on that date and the names of all of the people who had them rented.

When they went to the actual locations to look at them, they were able to figure out which van it was based on those stickers because they weren't properly placed. They were like ever so slightly off instead of being parallel across the windshield. I asked my rental car company contact, "Hey, when you have this year make model vehicle come into any of your lots, let me know." He said, "Absolutely."

And he gave me a call one day, "Hey, we have a vehicle that might be what you're looking for up in this lot in North Georgia." Detectives find the windshield stickers match those on the van at the crime scene. And then, bingo, a search of the minivan turns up synthetic hairs, just like those from a costumed beard.

Beard fiber would be good evidence because we had several witnesses who said it looked like the suspect was wearing a fake beard. Police now have the getaway car driven by Rusty Snyderman's killer. And better, they have the name of the person who rented the vehicle, a man by the name of Hemi Newman. Who had the van on that day? Hemi Newman. Hmm, I think we found our guy. Don't know why yet, but we found our guy.

Detectives now have their suspect right where they want him, in their interrogation room. It's as if I'm a suspect. Adam, you're a suspect. Are you a suspect? Fever, cough, congestion. When the symptoms keep coming, but you've got to keep going, you can rely on Mucinex FastMax All-in-One. Just one dose of Mucinex FastMax All-in-One relieves up to nine cold and flu symptoms, helping you get on with your day.

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The man in the minivan, the man suspected of shooting Rusty Snyderman, is Hemmy Newman. It's a name that doesn't ring a bell with police at first. We were hot on the trail of Hemmy Newman. We had to find him. We had to talk to him, see what he wanted to say. And detectives do what anybody else might do. I Googled his name and found his LinkedIn resume.

Surprisingly, the suspect, Hemmi Newman, is a big executive at GE in nearby Marietta. Then, lead detective Thompson gets a call from his bosses. It's like, "Hey, we have Hemmi. We're going back to the precinct. Meet us there." Great. So I rushed back to the precinct. By the time I got back, the sergeant and lieutenant were already in the interview room talking to Hemmi. Not many suspects bring an iPad to an interrogation room, but this one did.

You okay? What? You all right? It's, again, it's unnerving to be in a room like this. At the time, the Dunwoody Police Department is in an office tower, the kind of building where, ordinarily, an executive might feel right at home. I want to get into the incident with Rusty on that day, November 18th.

You don't expect an executive with GE to be in our interview room, being interviewed about a homicide, but yet he was. Listen, I'm going to talk to you about the day of the shooting, but I'm going to, as everybody else, I'm going to read you your rights on it. Your Miranda rights. Do I have to worry? I don't think so. Am I worried? Newman isn't under arrest. He's there voluntarily. But when police read him his rights, he hesitates.

Do you need a lawyer? I don't know. This is what you need to ask yourself. These questions, do you feel like asking you questions about Rusty? No, not at all. But you're reading me this, and I've never been in a situation like this. The two detectives that were in there, him and another one, were obviously playing off each other, trying to get what they could out of him and Newman. In the beginning, we wanted to see why he had the van. I mean, this is not rocket science. You're a smart guy.

He was very calm, unusually calm.

I want to know what happened on the 18th. I got to know him. Okay, and I was at work. I think he was trying to find out what we knew as much as we were trying to find out what he knew. You know why I'm calling you? For help. I know. So you answered my call. That's why I called you back. Right, to help. Okay. But getting rid of your Miranda rights isn't help. It's saying we can hold anything against you, and it's...

I don't know. Initially, it's gathering a lot of information, but then it gets into the whole crux of the matter, and he's not admitting anything, denying it. -Hammie, this is what we got. We got that van on video that Dave Rusty shot, and I swear, the more I look at you, the more I see the person inside that van. I'm giving you every opportunity, man. I don't think things should have happened that way. You've got a heart and you've got a soul, man. You're not a criminal. Things just go wrong.

Executives are used to long meetings, but not like this one. A tiny room, one table, two detectives, a fuzzy video camera. It goes on for five hours. You're here because that van was there. We know it was over there where Rusty got shot. Listen, look at me and don't doubt me. I'm telling you what happened. You've got to admit to yourself what happened with that van. I'm telling you, you were there when Rusty got shot. Now, Hammy, you were there.

One investigator leaves the room and then comes back with photos of that rented minivan caught on camera at the crime scene. Okay.

And that's your van. I don't know what to tell you. I'm telling you that I'm not there. As the interview went on, he was looking more and more guilty. You're telling me you didn't do it. I'm not there. Hemi Newman admits that he had rented a 2011 Kia Sedona on November 18th, but he denies that he drove it to the daycare and murdered Rusty Snyderman.

Newman says he's got an alibi, that he was at work at GE the morning Rusty was murdered.

But investigators aren't buying it. At that point, we had all the evidence we needed to place him in the minivan, say that nobody else drove the minivan. I went out and got the arrest warrant for Hemi Newman. Go ahead and stand up for me.

You've been explained to what's taking place tonight. You've been placed under arrest for the murder of Mr. Schneider. Yes. At the same time while we were finishing the interview, we were confident we had our guy and we had a whole lot more work to do. No, it's far from close. You need a probable cause to make an arrest. You need a lot more to get a conviction.

Police say they've got the man who shot Rusty Snyderman, but they still don't know why, what, or who could drive a man like Hemmie Newman to kill. The big question that hung over all of this is what could drive someone to commit murder. It was becoming more and more clear that there was a lot more to the story.

Why would a late 50s executive wake up one day and kill somebody? Put a wig on and gun somebody down in a parking lot? A young father of two senselessly murdered, dropping his child off. This was national attention. You come back to a case that now is swarming. This is what he did! The man wanted someone else's wife.

So he killed her husband. The plan included me being there for Andrew after the fact. He got caught, and all of a sudden, he's insane. I see dead people. They're telling me to kill people. What was that all about? What was this description of a demon and an angel? A demon that sounded like Barry White and an angel that sounded like Olivia Newton-John told him to do this? Like, come on.

We're talking about a self-proclaimed delusional individual who killed my husband. How does she come across? Not like a grieving widow. Andrea Snyder, adulterer, liar, and master manipulator. Where is the evidence that she was a party to the murder of her husband?

When investigators arrest Heming Newman for gunning down Rusty Snyderman in this parking lot, the question so many are asking is why would a GE executive want to murder a father of two? He got shot for one of three reasons. Greed, revenge, or lust.

Detectives think they've got their person, but they're searching for which of these age-old motives may have driven Hemi Newman to kill. And they discovered a curious connection between him and Rusty Snyderman's wife, Andrea. What's your relationship with Andrea? Andrea and I are friends. Hemi Newman was Andrea Snyderman's boss.

That same boss that Andrea had mentioned to investigators. How did he approach you with expressing an interest? He said, you know, he thinks I'm fantastic, would love to have a relationship with me, but knows that that's probably unlikely. You can only imagine our surprise, you know, when we have the paperwork from Enterprise and Google your name in it.

You're her boss. During the interrogation with police, they pressed him on the nature of his relationship with Andrea Steinerman. I find her attractive.

And I indicated that to her. Then I said, you know, I'd like to continue to develop the relationship. She basically said, no, I'm committed to Rusty. That ain't gonna happen. They began to learn that Hemi Newman's marital life was not great. In fact, at the time of the shooting, he had moved out of his home. Problems in his marriage and Newman's attraction to Andrea Snyderman, all of this and a potential motive for Rusty's murder begins to take shape for police.

Jealousy gets in the heart. Envy takes over. The mind starts working, and that life looks a hell of a lot better than mine right now. -Heming Newman may have confessed to his feelings for Andrea Snyderman, but when it comes to a confession about his connection to the shooting, that's a different story. -I was not there. I did not pull the trigger on the gun. Just, I pressed the button.

At the end of the interview, our detectives arrested Hemi Newman. You arrest him? That's what I'm saying. After his arrest, Newman pleads not guilty to a charge of malice murder. Myself and a detective went to Andrea's house to deliver the news that we had arrested the person who killed her husband.

We've made an arrest on the case. Are you serious? We have. Do you have a person in custody? Tell us. Do you have anything else? Who is it? It's your mom. Are you kidding me? Please, no. I already told you you've been needed. Oh my God. Oh my God. The Dunwoody police called me and said we've made an arrest. And so I said, who? As soon as I knew his name, it just made my skin crawl.

The murder trial for Hemi Newman, the man accused of murdering a father outside his child's daycare center in Dunwoody, is moving fast on this very first day. All eyes are now on courtroom 5D here in the DeKalb County Courthouse as Hemi Newman's trial is about to begin. But before opening statements, a big surprise. Newman now admits that he killed Rusty Snyderman, but says he's not guilty because he was mentally ill when he committed the crime.

All right, you may be seated. The state may proceed with his opening statement. Boil it down to a sentence. A man wanted someone else's wife, so he killed her husband. He got caught, and all of a sudden, he's insane. At this point in time, the defense will have an opportunity to give you their opening statement. This case is not about what happened. We know what happened. This case is about why.

Hemme was like a puppy in love. He felt that he and Andrea were like soul mates. Even though Hemme Newman has now admitted to firing the gun that killed Rusty Snyderman, prosecutors still need to lay out their case. So they begin by tracking his movements the day of the shooting, beginning with his morning at GE before sunrise. So he's up in his office at 5:30 some. Turns on his computer, does a few things.

And without using the elevator exits, defendant used the stairs and went out and unmanned the back door. The cameras and the employee parking garage, they caught the defendant leaving in the silver Sedona Kia van. Prosecutors argue that just two hours after Hemi Newman shot and killed Rusty Snyderman, he fills up his rental car with gas, returns it, and then heads back to work in his own car. He even got videoed in there.

dressed the same as he arrived at home. Chris Lang, CHRI. Then prosecutors call Chris Lang to the stand. He was in the parking lot that morning, and in a dramatic display, DA Robert James demonstrates how Snyderman was shot. There's a person that just comes out of nowhere and shoots him several times. If you're laying on your stomach, okay, with your head towards me, okay, from where you are there,

The shooter would have been right here. We never did find the weapon that was used, but I guess we had the next best thing. Say your name for the record. My name is Jan Da Silva. Jan Da Silva was important in the trial as well. Yeah. Jan was able to connect the dots because we could show that it looks like he committed the murder, but we didn't have a murder weapon. Can you tell us where you actually listed the gun? It was a website.

Mr. De Silva said he had sold a Bursa 40 caliber Thunder pistol. I showed him the lineup and he immediately identified Hemi Newman as the person he sold the gun to. Do you know who the person was that contacted you? Yes, sir. What was his name? Hemi Newman.

I asked him, "Do you still have the test-fire casing that comes with the gun when they sell it to you?" Typically, after somebody buys a gun, it comes with what's called a test-fire casing, a spent bullet that essentially proves that the gun has been tested and works properly. Jan De Silva said he actually had given that casing to his girlfriend. And luckily for investigators, she still had it.

Prosecutors say that souvenir shell casing matches the bullet casings found at the crime scene, linking the gun to the murder. What would have been about a week after he sold the gun to Hemi, Hemi came back up to the restaurant where Jan DeSilva was working as a valet. He started off by saying, don't ever have a mistress. Don't ever have a mistress? Yes, sir.

And Newman tells Jan Da Silva something else about that gun he'd recently sold him. He told me he just tossed it on a lake, Lake Lanier, and that he was okay because he made sure that it was tossed in somewhere where nobody can find it. What does this all begin to tell them about Hemi Newman? This was a massive cover-up. Hi, Mr. Deputy. We're in recess until tomorrow morning.

A well-planned cover-up and proof, according to prosecutors, that Heming Newman was very much in his right mind when he planned this murder. But now his trial is about to take a truly bizarre turn, one that includes some of the world's most famous musical names. On to the latest twist in the so-called daycare murder trial. A Georgia man accused of gunning down his romantic rival

Tell me how intense this was. This was national attention. It's the most intense case I've ever been involved with, and I've tried high-profile cases. Bring in my jury, please. The prosecution painted Hemme Newman as a lying, cheating man who was faking his mental illness, who wanted Rusty Snyderman out of the picture so that he could marry Andrea Snyderman, take their money and her children, and ride off into the sunset.

Hemme was broke. All those things came out in his interrogation. He was unhappy in his relationship with his wife. You have all these expenses and we have no money. I told my wife, we don't have any money. We're broke. The defense, meantime, painted a picture of a troubled man with undiagnosed bipolar disorder who had a traumatic childhood. The answer of why in this case, it actually begins with Hemme's father.

His father was a concentration camp survivor. Very difficult man, very distant man, not very loving. Our belief was because of his bipolar disorder, he didn't have the capacity to know right from wrong at the time of the shooting of Rusty Snyderman. To counter that argument, the state shows jurors videos of two different evaluations of Hemme Newman with a court-appointed psychiatrist. What I've been told that I need to do, and that is that Rusty needs to die.

And this is where the trial takes a truly bizarre turn. During the summer of 2010, the defendant claims that he was visited by a six-foot dark demon. Also, he claims a six-foot bright white angel came to him. Is it a mountain? It's a high place? It's a deep place. It's like a packet white.

That's right. According to Newman, the demon in his head sounded like the R&B legend behind hits like "Never Never Gonna Give You Up," seen here on pop music TV show, Top Pop. Then there's the voice of the angel. The Australian played in Greece. What's her name? Oh, um, "Never Never Gonna Give You Up."

That's the best way he could describe it so that we could understand what he was saying. What was that all about? There are essentially two ways you can be acquitted if you commit a crime and you claim that you're insane. One way is what we call the right from wrong test, that you were so far gone that you don't understand the difference between right and wrong. The other way, which was the centerpiece of this trial, is that you were suffering from a delusion that compelled you to do the act.

When he comes, I think he's real. Do you think he's real now? What do you think he is? Now? I mean, I'm talking to you and sort of analyzing it. Yeah. Probably not. Timmy Newman's defense says that part of his psychosis was a belief that Rusty Snyderman's children were actually his and that he needed to kill Rusty to protect them. The plan included me being there for Andrew after the fact.

It wasn't only killing Rusty, but also the protection and being there for the children. Hemmi's goal in shooting Rusty was to save Rusty's children from the same kind of torment that he himself experienced as a child. He thought he was doing the right thing by killing Rusty to save his children. And during those recorded interviews, Newman makes some surprising allegations about his relationship with Andrea.

Newman also discusses a business trip he says he took with Andrea, where he claims they ended up alone in a hotel room watching a movie together. No.

And then I went back to my bed. Andrea denies this ever happened. And Heming Newman continues to maintain that he and Andrea never had a sexual relationship. But prosecutors think there could have been another motive: money. Rusty Steinerman had a couple million dollar life insurance policy that really became a focal point for investigators. He wanted Rusty's life, and he wanted Rusty's wife. He wanted the money because they're wealthy.

The house was paid for. I think the house at the time was worth almost a million dollars. State calls Andrew Snyder, Judge. It's becoming clear that at this trial, there's one person everybody wants to hear from. Do you have any idea why the defendant would have these feelings toward you?

I think I'm a pretty nice person. And when Andrea Snyderman takes the witness stand, it's a very hot seat. Do you know why Mr. Newman would have emailed a friend that you finally gave in? No, I don't. We're talking about a self-proclaimed delusional individual who killed my husband.

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In the dry states of the Southwest, there's a group that's been denied a basic human right. In the Navajo Nation today, a third of our households don't have running water. But that's not something they chose for themselves. Can the Navajo people reclaim their right to water and contend with the government's legacy of control and neglect? Our water, our future. Our water, our future.

That's in the next season of Reclaimed, the lifeblood of Navajo Nation. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts. More than 70 people would testify in Hemi Newman's trial. But the star witness, undeniably, is Rusty Snyderman's widow, Andrea. Once she takes her seat here, things quickly turn hostile. The defendant ever express his feelings for you?

Yes. Do you have any idea why the defendant would have these feelings toward you? I think I'm a pretty nice person. I'm a very caring person. Were you and the defendant romantically involved? No.

But for the next two days, the nature of Andrea Snyderman's relationship with her boss takes center stage at trial. Prosecutors going over details about their business trips together, reading from some very unbusinesslike emails between them. It's about how you felt when we looked at the stars in Tahoe, when we woke up Friday morning in Denver, when we walked out of the restaurant on Thursday, when you took my hand and nestled your head on my shoulder.

Even so, Andrea testifies that when she and her boss traveled together, she allowed him into her hotel rooms two times. But she says that was before she realized Newman was stalking her. Did he stalk you from inside your own room?

And whether Andrea recognized it or not, it seemed that Newman's behavior was becoming more and more unpredictable.

Remember that 911 call Rusty made to police about a strange man lurking outside his home? I don't know who the hell he is, and I don't want him by my house. Turns out, that was Hemi Newman, an admission he eventually made during one of his mental health evaluations. I told Hemi, I told like six other people also what happened on the side of my house, because it was bizarre and scary.

Normally, when you're called as a prosecution witness, you're there to help their case. They treat you nicely. They treated her as a hostile witness from the get-go. I had no choice but to continue my career and my job. Andrea Snyderman was defiant because both sides were coming at her full bore. The stalker that you've now testified about, you picked him up at the airport? Yeah.

You flew home with him. That's correct. You changed seats to sit next to him. That's how we always traveled. In one of the emails, she talks to Hemi about feeling like she's betrayed her family and expressing remorse over actions. I turned to the second page of that email. Yep. Hemi Newman says, "Please never forget how much I love you." And how did you respond?

I know, but so do other people. I betrayed them all. I'm not sure how to deal with that for now, but my burden, not yours. What happened in Greenville then? We were holding each other's hands and that's it. It may sound worse than it is, but to me that was a betrayal. So you're repenting in the email, at least, from holding his hand? Yep.

She was pushing back on these allegations and she wanted people to know unequivocally, "I had nothing to do with this. I didn't have an affair. I didn't betray my husband. Certainly didn't want him dead." Do you know why Mr. Newman would have emailed a friend that you finally gave in? No, I don't. We're talking about a self-proclaimed delusional individual who killed my husband. No, I don't question anything that he said to anyone. Here you have this widow of the victim

adamantly saying that something did not happen. And yet both sides, the attorneys were arguing that it did.

One witness after another takes the stand to testify about what they claim was the nature of the relationship between Hemmie Newman and Andrea Snyderman. The jury even hears from a bartender in South Carolina who recalls serving the pair. What stood out most was that he kept spinning her around to the salsa music. I know at one point she kind of was dancing for him. He pulled her back.

- At any time did you see the parties kiss? - Yes, I did. - How many times did they kiss? - I would say about three times. - Andrea is also asked about this trip, but says she remembers certain details differently. - We had some drinks at the bar, maybe one.

-Did you dance? -Um, I got onto the dance floor myself. -Did you dance with the defendant? -He came to join, and there was a time where he reached out his hand and twirled me around, and, um, that's it. -Did you kiss him or did he kiss you? -No. I -- I -- No. -Looking at her testimony, it was sort of hard to remember who was on trial. -Yeah. -Whether it was Andrea Snyderman or Hemi Newman. -Yeah. -You all went after her, and the defense went after her. -Yes.

Yeah, we had to because we had to establish motive. How does she come across to the jury? Not like a grieving widow. Dishonest, disingenuous, a liar. And there's something else that stands out for prosecutors, something they see as a discrepancy in Andrea's story about the day Rusty was shot.

Andrea Snyderman testified she didn't know Rusty had been shot until she got to the hospital. At the time you called Dawn Snyderman, at that time, did you know what had happened to Rusty? No. Okay. I didn't know what happened to Rusty until I got to the emergency room. Okay. No one told me what happened to Rusty. Rusty's own father and one of her friends testified that she called them to say that Rusty had been shot. She called and said,

Rusty had been shot. She was so, so sorry and that she was going to Dunwoody Prep to find out what had happened. And are you sure that she told you that Rusty had been shot? Yes, sir. She immediately screaming to me that Rusty had been shot and she didn't know if he was dead or alive and she was on the way to the hospital.

Again, Andrea denies that happened. And that same friend also testified about what she knew about Andrea's relationship with Hemi Newman. Did Andrea admit or deny an affair with her boss at that time after the murder? Denied it. Based on all the time you've known Andrea, based on your observations of her, her mannerisms, when she told you no, did you believe her? No, but my heart...

really wanted to. And when Citron leaves the stand, there's another unforgettable moment in the courtroom. Andrea went up and hugged her friend who had just testified that she didn't believe her when she said she wasn't having an affair. So it was very strange. It was so jarring that the attorneys made a motion to have her removed from the courthouse and the judge obliged and barred her from the rest of the trial.

With all the allegations swirling around Andrea Snyderman, the questions so many are asking, is the grieving widow on her way to becoming a criminal defendant? It's clear to me that Andrea is covered in Rusty's blood. Everybody was wondering, what's next with Andrea?

Dramatic closing arguments in the daycare murder trial. Just what motivated Hemi Newman to kill a man outside of that Georgia daycare depends on who you believe. The murder trial for Hemi Newman is moving fast. The jury could have this case as early as tomorrow afternoon. As prosecutors and defense lawyers begin final arguments in the case against Hemi Newman, the two sides have one thing in common: their scathing accusations against Andrea Snyderman.

Both sides claimed that she was an evil woman who played a role in her husband's death. Either the angel and the demon were talking to Hemi and telling Hemi to kill Rusty, or the demon that he was cheating with. The gun, in this case, was in Hemi's hand, but the trigger, I respectfully suggest, was pulled by Andrea Snyderman.

You had the defense team saying that she knew full well that Hemi Newman had mental illness and she was sort of pushing him to do this even if she didn't expressly say go kill my husband her actions led him to do that. Adulterer, liar and master, master manipulator.

They were laying it all at her feet. Yes. Our theories were very, very close. They were saying she led him all the way up to it but didn't necessarily plan it. And we were saying, yeah, she was the motive for it, but we believe she perhaps had something to do with it as well. Hemi denied his crime from Andrea because Andrea already knew him. As soon as this murder had taken place, she called Hemi Newman. She calls Hemi multiple times. On her way to the hospital,

We thought that that was extremely odd behavior. She told everybody that would listen that Rusty's been shot, but yet she wasn't told until she got to that hospital two hours later. The only way she would know that is if he told her. Andrea says she called her boss for more innocent reasons, to tell him that something had happened to Rusty and that she'd left the office. Rusty deserved it.

to be treated with some respect and dignity. He did not deserve to be shot down in the street like some stray dog. Robert James was forceful, he was loud, he would point. This is what he did! He was putting on a show, saying no no no, he's lying about this mental illness, this was an affair, they both wanted him out of the picture. They would have us believe that he's insane because he's having a good time at the club.

And Andrea's doing this dance for him and she's, you know, and they're groping and they're grinding and they're getting it on and they're kissing and hugging. He's having an affair! He's about to go back to the room and do the horizontal motion!

wouldn't be like, "Oh, I'm about to have sex. It's great." Of course he's having a good time. If that makes him insane, then half the men walking down the street are insane. Nobody is insane that plans a murder this way in the cover-up. He knew he was wrong, and that makes him guilty. That makes him guilty. That makes him guilty. Every day, every day, because he is sane, and he knew the difference between right and wrong.

Any minute now, Judge Gregory Adams should bring the jury in for that verdict. There was never any question that he was going to be found guilty of something because he admitted to shooting Rusty Steinerman. The question was, would he be found guilty but mentally ill or not guilty by reason of insanity? Would he be sentenced to prison or to a mental hospital? Deputy Moore, bring in a jury.

After deliberating for eight hours, the jury is back with a verdict. We, the jury, find the defendant as to count one guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. We were devastated because he still goes into the prison system instead of a mental hospital. He had not testified at trial.

and I think he wanted to be heard. Your Honor, I prepared this statement to express my sense of loss for the death of Rusty Snyderman. I'm so, so, so sorry for their loss. He apologized to his own, you know, family, his children. It is also a tragedy for countless family and friends who saw a person they loved, admired, and respected, who saw him arrested and shamed.

He talked about himself. It was sort of all about him. Kind of felt like, you know, what was me? I'm sorry I got caught. Ultimately, the judge sentenced Temi Newman to life without parole. Throughout this case, Rusty Snyderman's family, specifically his brother Steve, were at the forefront. He was kind of the family spokesperson, and he didn't mince his words. It's clear to me that Andrea is covered in Rusty's blood. We'll have no peace until everyone involved in Rusty's death is held accountable for their actions.

Andrea Snyderman releases a statement saying she was, quote, grateful for and relieved by the verdict and describing her husband as an amazing man. Everybody was wondering, what's next with Andrea? She took the stand in that bombastic way. Everybody thought that she had something to do with this. The question was, would police and prosecutors go after her?

And about five months later, we got our answer. Good afternoon, everyone. I'm Jovita Moore. I'm Justin Farmer, and officers arrested Andrea Snyderman today at her family's home in Putnam County. As soon as that indictment came down, those marshals pulled Andrea Snyderman out of her parents' lake house and hauled her off to jail. She is facing charges, including the murder of her husband, Rusty Snyderman. In layman's terms, if you help, you can be charged like the person that did it.

After Andrea's arrest, the jury foreperson in Hemmi Newman's trial speaks out. She was very angry when she was on the stand. And I thought, hmm, there's something. She really is hiding something here. We don't know how she's involved, but she's involved. And we need to know, how can we have any peace when we don't know the truth? But what can the prosecution prove? Lies throughout the investigation.

and throughout the trial. Then a bombshell development in Andrea's case before her trial even begins. When the indictment itself came out and charged Andrea with malice murder, a lot of people were surprised. I always had empathy for her, but at the same time, there were all of these unanswered questions. And so those unanswered questions, you want answers to.

You hit her with an array of charges. Correct. We charged her with murder, obstruction, false statements, perjury. Are you thinking that you're going to be able to put her behind bars for possibly life as well? Yeah. I have some very strong circumstantial evidence, right? She's calling the murderer who she happens to be having an affair with moments after she finds out that her husband is shot.

And then the night before the murder, there was a search on the computer for death benefits.

The question is, do we have enough evidence that we can go from she probably had something to do with it to she did have something to do with it? Where is the evidence that she was a party to the murder of her husband? All you have is that she may have lied about having an affair. That doesn't mean she had anything to do with her husband being murdered. Indictments are built on solid foundations of evidence, and this one will fall like a pillar of salt.

After three weeks in jail, Andrea Snyderman is released on bail and pleads not guilty to all charges. Anything you want to say just about how much you're looking forward to seeing your children? The judge put her under house arrest. She couldn't even take her children to school. On the eve of her murder trial, nearly a year after she was arrested, Andrea Snyderman's in court when the DA drops a bombshell. I'm standing before the court, standing before millions of people perhaps,

asking for the court to dismiss the case right before trial. Robert James, the DA, had to go in front of the judge and admit that he did not have enough evidence to proceed with a murder case against Andrea Snyderman.

I believe that it would be unjust and unethical to go forward on a charge that I am not 100% sure someone is guilty of. That can't look good for your office, though. Oh, it looked terrible. How hard was that for you? And how often does that happen? It doesn't happen very often. If you say that the prosecutor is a minister of justice, then you have to own that. It's not what you know, quite frankly. It's what you can prove.

Murder charges against Andrea may have been dropped. Mr. Deputy, bring in the jurors. But in August of 2013, prosecutors moved forward with her other charges, including lying on the stand and hindering the investigation into her husband's murder. Across the board, we believe that she lied to police and she lied on the stand.

She hid evidence and she concealed it. She remained silent. She didn't tell them that she was a willing participant with Heming Newman in this relationship. The fact that she called Heming and the fact that she texted Heming, she hid from the police. She suspected him immediately, but she hid her suspicion. Her husband wound up dead.

Not because of anything she did. She didn't hide it. She didn't conceal it. She didn't know about it in advance. She did not try to deny the relationship. She gave them His name. And she has cooperated time and time and time and time again.

Was there a concern that Hemi Newman might testify against her? I kept thinking up to the day we were going to start trial that we would find out there's this new surprise witness, but that never happened. I was hoping Hemi would point a finger at Andrea to lessen his sentence. He never, never considered that option. Hemi continued to express his love for her.

After two weeks of testimony and multiple witnesses... Excuse me, Deputy Garrett, if you could bring in the jury, please. ...the jury has a verdict. We, the jury, find the defendant, Andrea Snyderman, count one, hindering the apprehension of a criminal, guilty. Count two, guilty. Count three, guilty. Ultimately, Andrea Snyderman is convicted of nine out of 13 counts against her.

Just 18 months after testifying at Hemme Newman's trial, Andrea Snyderman is right back in this courtroom, this time for her own sentencing. She tearfully denies ever having had an affair with her boss, asking the court for leniency. Please let me go home to my kids. Mr. Newman changed my children's lives forever by killing their father. Please don't make them live without their mother.

She blamed it on him and she was the victim. She's not a victim. Self-preservation is the only thing on her mind. She lied to her family. She lied to her friends.

She lied to us. It was more important for this criminal to protect herself rather than find and convict her husband's killer. We urge you to keep the results of her conduct that led her to lie in the forefront of your deliberations. The judge gave her five years in prison, and she's out in ten months. With credit for time served both in jail and under house arrest, Snyderman is released on parole.

And just when everyone thought the final chapter in the saga had been written, a new twist sees a very different looking Hemi Newman back in court.

In 2015, nearly five years after Rusty Snyderman's murder, Hammy Newman's conviction is thrown out. The Georgia Supreme Court finding that there was a violation of attorney-client privilege related to some of Newman's mental health evaluations. The prosecution had no right to subpoena experts that we hired that we did not intend to call as witnesses.

A DeKalb County judge set Heming Newman's retrial. This retrial is expected to last less than a month, and sanity is at the center of Newman's fate. In court, the formerly clean-cut GE executive appears markedly different. Heming Newman became Orthodox. So when he showed up to court, he was donning the Orthodox beard, he was wearing a yarmulke.

Once again, Newman's defense is arguing that delusions drove him to kill Rusty Snyderman. You will come to the right verdict, and that is that Hemi Newman is not guilty by reason of insanity.

The jury doesn't buy it. Once again, finding Newman guilty and sentencing him to life in prison without parole. -Hemme will never get out of prison. He's gonna live his life regretting his actions, regretting that he has no relationship with his own children, regretting that he lost everything.

As for Andrea Snyderman, she's out of prison and no longer has a criminal record, thanks to a Georgia law called the First Offender Act that focuses on nonviolent crimes. Even though a jury has found her guilty, when a defendant is sentenced under the First Offender Act, as Andrea was, once you have completed the sentence, you have no record. Andrea Snyderman, wherever she is today,

under Georgia law, is not a convicted criminal. So she essentially is a woman who has a clean record. Yes. Once you have served out your sentence, probation included, then, you know, your sins, your crimes are erased from the record. And she wasn't given special treatment. She just wasn't treated any worse than anyone else. It was extremely tragic. There are crazy people out there, and Hemi Newman's one of them.

and her path crossed with his and she will regret it the rest of her life. Rusty was a wonderful brother. He was a great father. Sophia and Ian adored their father and they were the light of his life.

Every single day of our lives, there will be a hole in our hearts, in our lives where Rusty should be. The Snyderman family, they really just at the heart of all of it wanted this to be about Rusty and his life and his love for his kids. And I think that was the heartbreaking part of all of this is that they were just wanting

Justice for Rusty. In my dreams, he comes waltzing through the door just like he always did. We miss him. He was the light in our life. He had so much more to offer the world. The world is so much poorer because he's not here.

Rusty and Andrea Snyderman's two children are now 16 and 19 years old. And Andrea Snyderman successfully petitioned to have her last name changed as well as those of her two children. That's our program for tonight. Thanks for watching. I'm David Muir. And I'm Deborah Roberts. From all of us here at 2020 and ABC News, good night.

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