Ex-surgeon admits murdering wife and pushing NYC surgeon admits to killing his wife by throwing her out of a plane Please try again. Tarasoff v. Regents of Univ. 4. She was seeking his advice. She called Wiese again the following day to let him know she took his advice and was staying with her grandfather. NEW True Crime: Why did a handsome doctor, pilot, husband really kill his wife? However, in the July 8 interview, he had specifically denied that the reason she left the apartment at 11:00 A.M. to sunbathe in Central Park was related to an argument that morning. The victim, whom Wiese occasionally saw at family gatherings, telephoned him at his office one afternoon in the fall of 1983. We also conclude that even if a different finding were somehow deemed reasonable, there can be no rational view after weigh[ing] the relative probative force of conflicting testimony and the relative strength of conflicting inferences that may be drawn from the testimony,'(People v. MacCracken ex rel. York surgeon admits killing wife, throwing body Moreover, the justice's immediate response-I suspect I'll allow it-is of no greater legal significance. ABC's '20/20' to explore case of ex-Grand Forks surgeon who He admitted that during the July 7 argument he failed to heed his psychiatrist's advice to try to defuse the situation and that this argument on the day she disappeared became explosive. He told others that he and the victim argued just before she left for Central Park to cool off; another that a private investigator he had hired found evidence she was living in California probably with financial help from her family; others that she had a drug problem, that she may have disappeared with drug dealers and that she probably was murdered by her druggie friends; others that she may have run off to live with someone in the Caribbean; and others that his missing wife was seen after July 7, 1985 in some type of fugue state in the Central Park area and that it was unlikely she would return. A jury convicted Robert Bierenbaum of second-degree murder based on circumstantial evidence that on July 7, 1985 he intentionally killed his wife, Gail Katz Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Leslie Crocker Snyder, J.) That was the overwhelming opinion of those closest to her, including her gynecologist, her therapist of three years, and her sister, three confidantes in the best position to know. A King County Superior Court jury today found Robert Parker guilty of two counts of aggravated murder in the stabbing and strangulation of two Shoreline-area 224, 177 N.W. The court did, however, permit the prosecution to adduce testimony that the victim had received a letter from one of these psychiatrists warning her of the danger defendant posed to her, although the justice prohibited the People from introducing the letter itself. of Cal., 17 Cal.3d 425, 131 Cal.Rptr. Moreover, his behavior with other women so soon after July 7 is inconsistent with behavior one would reasonably anticipate from a husband whose wife had mysteriously disappeared, notwithstanding that their marriage was stormy. Finally, the victim chose to call an attorney, rather than a lay person, one with whom she did not have an especially close, personal and confidential relationship. In it, they located a handwritten entry which appeared to have been changed from the original notation of 7/7/85 to the substituted date of 8/7/85. Molineux authorizes a trial justice to consider allowing a jury to hear about a defendant's prior bad acts-be they violent or otherwise-if they shed light on the issues of intent, identity, motive, absence of accident or mistake, or common plan and scheme (id. 3in. Did Dr. Robert Bierenbaum Kill His Wife Gail Katz? Finally, she observed that defendant was meticulous, even compulsive, about making flight log entries. He told her friend, Dr. Feis, that they had a severe argument the day of her disappearance, more severe than he had originally described to her and to various other people. When she came to, he begged her forgiveness and promised it would never happen again. @MKazColdCase from @PIFortheMissing explains the case of Gail Katz-Bierenbaum in part two of investigating and prosecuting homicide cases without the victim's body. Furthermore, he said to at least two people, not including the police, that he had searched for his inexplicably missing wife in Central Park on the afternoon of July 7 and there allegedly found the suntan oil and towel she had taken with her when she left the apartment at 11:00 A.M. On one occasion a co-worker overheard defendant in a common work area arguing loudly with his wife over the telephone. To yet another, he described his missing wife as a tramp, off living with someone else. Dalsass' approximately eight telephone answering machine messages. To begin with, Wiese was unable to reliably estimate how long before his cousin called him that the choking incident occurred. Among them are the following examples: he told Det. The call came from the police who insisted that he immediately come in to view a woman they had found at the New York Port Authority Bus Terminal, someone they thought might be his missing wife. at 44, 608 N.Y.S.2d 1; cf. 286). Exposing these transgressions, if it did not disgrace him, would most certainly compromise his professional standing, damage his personal reputation, and injure his short- and long-term career plans and income potential. Therefore, he argues such evidence unduly prejudiced him, outweighing any of its probative value. In MacDonald v. Clinger, 84 A.D.2d 482, 487, 446 N.Y.S.2d 801, the court said: where a patient may be a danger to himself or others (see e.g. Consequently, it is not improbable that her call followed at least some degree of reasoned reflection. Applying these principles to the evidence in this purely circumstantial murder case, our review convinces us that, notwithstanding the facial attractiveness of some of the factual arguments defendant's appellate counsel presents, this guilty verdict, based on the proof this jury heard and saw, is the only fair and reasonable outcome (see People v. Sanchez, 61 N.Y.2d 1022, 1024, 475 N.Y.S.2d 376, 463 N.E.2d 1228). He was the individual that las[t] saw her in the apartment. That exception provides that for compelling policy reasons the privilege can be overcome when the patient demonstrates that he poses a clear and present danger to a third party-in this case his wife. First, she would threaten to humiliate him by publishing to his professional colleagues and superiors a warning letter she had received from defendant's treating psychiatrist; and, second, she would threaten to expose an alleged Medicare fraud in which she claimed he and his father were allegedly involved. It is clear to us that the highly probative nature of this particular proof on the critical questions of defendant's motive and intent, and of the killer's identity, far outweighs any prejudice (see People v. Alvino, 71 N.Y.2d 233, 241-242, 525 N.Y.S.2d 7, 519 N.E.2d 808). O'Malley in the interim, Det. Ex-surgeon confesses throwing wife's body from airplane in 1985 He then drove her body to an airstrip in Caldwell, N.J., and dumped it into the Atlantic Ocean from a single-engine private plane. In our role of reviewing the sufficiency of trial evidence as an appellate court in a purely circumstantial evidence case, we must decide whether a guilty verdict is based on legally sufficient evidence by determin [ing] whether any valid line of reasoning and permissible inferences could lead a rational person to the conclusion reached by the fact finder on the basis of the evidence at trial, viewed in the light most favorable to the People [citations omitted] (People v. Williams, 84 N.Y.2d 925, 926, 620 N.Y.S.2d 811, 644 N.E.2d 1367). He also once choked Gail into unconsciousness after finding her smoking on their balcony. I heard the cuffs close round hishands. Thus, under Ruloff v. People, 18 N.Y. 179, those two facts once precluded a murder prosecution in New York. denied 88 N.Y.2d 1020, 651 N.Y.S.2d 19, 673 N.E.2d 1246 [quoting Poppe]; People v. Govan, 268 A.D.2d 689, 701 N.Y.S.2d 474, lv. Bierenbaum had been out on $500,000 bail. https://t.co/RWuaARMIay pic.twitter.com/6FoU3ze3wU, Uncovered (@uncovered) December 16, 2020. As a cameraman in a helicopter filmed the recreation, a New York City police officer shoved a duffel bag filled with 110 pounds of rice and sand from a Cessna 172 three times, unassisted, the newspaper said. In fact, defendant even misstated to Det. However, he again omitted to mention that he had rented and flown an airplane for almost two hours that same afternoon, a consistent omission whenever he told others about the events of July 7. These facts establish beyond any question that this marriage existed in a volatile, highly emotional, turbulent and dysfunctional environment. However, Dr. Baran unequivocally denied she had ever said anything like that to defendant or that she ever discussed anything with him on that subject. Surgeon Killed Wife, Dumped the Body in the Atlantic From a Miller, supra, 291 N.Y. 55, 62, 50 N.E.2d 542 [other citations omitted]), that this jury failed to give the evidence the weight it should be accorded (People v. Bleakley, 69 N.Y.2d 490, 495, 515 N.Y.S.2d 761, 508 N.E.2d 672). She told Wiese she was speaking quickly and softly because she was expecting defendant. PEOPLE v. BIERENBAUM (2002) | FindLaw A jury convicted Robert Bierenbaum of second-degree murder based on circumstantial evidence that on July 7, 1985 he intentionally killed his wife, Gail Katz Bierenbaum, in their Manhattan apartment; transported her body to a New Jersey airport the same day; loaded it onto a small private plane; and piloted it over the Atlantic Ocean where he discarded her remains. Ex-surgeon confesses to killing wife, throwing her body out of When one applies the appropriate legal principles, these conclusions become most compelling for a rational, dispassionate and attentive fact finder. As for any suggested theory that someone other than defendant killed her, no proof exists in this record which is even remotely consistent with such speculation, and there is no one other than defendant Bierenbaum who, like he, had the motive or had the exclusive opportunity to kill her at the time and place where the victim was last seen alive; and, surely, there was no one who signaled his obvious guilt by covering and distorting the truth as this defendant repeatedly did. Whether earlier acts of alleged violence or threats are admissible depends on the circumstances surrounding both the past and the currently charged aggressive acts or threats. ), rendered November 29, 2000, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of murder in the second degree, and sentencing him to a term of 20 years to life should be affirmed. I went flying. ). At that point and with no expressed hesitation or apparent lack of confidence, he told his paramour to remain in bed through the night in the marital apartment, because he doubt[ed] it was his wife. After the verdict,Snyder ordered him jailed to await sentencing. He urges now-as he did at trial-that the court could have served the People's purpose adequately by only allowing the People to use the letter to inform the jury that the letter existed, and stipulating that its unspecified contents would embarrass defendant. SEATTLE - Robert Parker, spared the death penalty last week, was sentenced today to life in prison without the possibility of parole. That the victim had once before confronted him with the same letter and her same threat weeks or months before July 7 does not, as defendant now urges, diminish the potential explosiveness of her intended confrontation on the weekend she died, because the testimony is otherwise clear and certain that she once again intended to tell defendant over that weekend that she was divorcing him. However, in a strange turn of events, Robert decided to confess during a 2020 parole hearing and claimed that he had strangled Gail to death before flying out with her body and dumping it into the Atlantic Ocean. Defendant also suggested to others that his wife was depressed and thus may have killed herself, disclosing also that she had tried to commit suicide years earlier. It is, simply put, not a ruling in response to an actual objection based on then existing circumstances (see People v. Luperon, supra, at 78, 623 N.Y.S.2d 735, 647 N.E.2d 1243; cf. In light of the foregoing, this verdict is supported by legally sufficient evidence and it is thoroughly consistent with the evidentiary weight. Robert Bierenbaum admitted he threw his wife's body out of an airplane and into the ocean nearly three decades ago during a parole hearing in December 2020, ABC Therefore, the trial justice's ruling was a careful and completely reasonable exercise of judicial discretion. bierenbaum parole 2020 The former plastic surgeon, who is in prison for the killing, admitted to the parole board in December 2020 that he strangled Katz, 29, before loading her body onto a Cessna 172 and tossing it into the Atlantic Ocean. WebSTATE OF NEW YORK BOARD OF PAROLE APPEALS UNIT FINDINGS & RECOMMENDATION Name: Bierenbaum, RobertDIN:00-A-7114 Facility: Otisville CF AC While no one other than the victim and defendant was present to observe what transpired in the marital dwelling on the morning of July 7, the inference from the foregoing circumstantial facts is most compelling, if not irresistible, that they had a hostile confrontation that weekend about the future of their marriage, its serious problems, and how each would deal with them. 93 N.Y.2d 946, 694 N.Y.S.2d 337, 716 N.E.2d 172 [prior assault admissible]; People v. Jones, 289 A.D.2d 1010, 735 N.Y.S.2d 276, lv. We further determine that the instant body of consciousness of guilt evidence-because of its quality and quantity-exhibits a guilty mind, a finding which, in this context and under these circumstances, is surely not weak, or, for that matter, even moderate. In 1989, while Bierenbaum relocated from Manhattan to Las Vegas, Nevada, to set up a new medical practice, a partial female body washed ashore in Staten Island, New York, near the area where authorities believed Bierenbaum dumped his wifes remains, according to The Charley Project. At 9:00 P.M. the next night (July 8), he finally spoke to Detective Vergilio Dalsass, telling him that his wife left their apartment at 11:00 A.M. on July 7 to sunbathe in Central Park wearing pink shorts and a white t-shirt. Robert Bierenbaum Today: Where Is the Surgeon Now in 2021. In a December parole hearing, however, Bierenbaum, now 66, admitted for the first time that he strangled Gail Katz, 29, in July 1985. For the entire week immediately following the victim's disappearance, defendant failed to return Det. Det. Sentenced to 20 years to life after his October 2000 conviction, Bierenbaum became eligible for parole in 2020. The network is featuring the case Friday night on 20/20.. He told her of the argument and that the victim had left for Central Park with a blanket for sunbathing. However, this faint expression, on its face, is nothing more than a prediction that defendant might-or probably will in futuro-object to the video. We recognize that the law most often views consciousness of guilt evidence as weak-but not always. The evidence is also strong that she was determined to confront defendant with her divorce demands. Robert Bierenbaum - The New York Times Gail Katz Bierenbaum was murdered at age 29 in 1985, and the case went unsolved for years as her husband, Robert Bierenbaum, started a new life. Rather, it should be, and is, a process whereby trial attorneys announce an unambiguous objection, in praesenti, based on an articulated or otherwise known rationale involving logic, legal principles, and/or common sense, a protest which gives an adversary notice sufficient to frame a response, and affords the court an opportunity to issue a ruling. WebNEW YORK Dr. Robert Bierenbaum maintained his innocence in 2000 as he was tried and convicted of killing his first wife 15 years before. Accordingly, this claim is unpreserved and we decline to review it in the interest of justice (CPL 470.05[2]; People v. Luperon, 85 N.Y.2d 71, 623 N.Y.S.2d 735, 647 N.E.2d 1243). During the trial, the jury saw a video of an NYPD pilot loading two 50-pound bags of sand and a 10-pound bag of rice into a black duffel bag, meant to serve as a simulation for the 110-body of Katz Bierenbaum. Forever in our hearts.. It is beyond cavil that this information was relevant and that it was exactly the type they implored him to convey. I wanted her to stop yelling at me and I attacked her, he said, according to the article. Moreover, the ruling was correct also because of the Tarasoff exception to the CPLR 4504(a) privilege. No murder weapon was ever found in either case, neither defendant confessed, neither murder was witnessed, and neither victim's body-or any remains-was ever found. Courts have also considered the status or relationship to the declarant of the person to whom the statement was made *** whether there was a coercive atmosphere, whether it was made in response to questioning and whether the statements reflect an attempt to shift blame or curry favor (James, supra, 93 N.Y.2d at 642-643, 695 N.Y.S.2d 715, 717 N.E.2d 1052 [citing United U.S. v. Matthews, 20 F.3d 538, 546; other citations omitted]). There was no foregone conclusion to this case, by any stretch of the imagination.. To the contrary, it was her professional opinion, based on three years of treating the deceased once or twice weekly, that she was not suicidal. Doheny v. Lacy, 168 N.Y. 213, 223-224, 61 N.E. Defendant called a number of the deceased's friends voicing expressions of concern that she may have harmed herself, specifically attributing that notion to comments made to him by her therapist, Dr. Sybil Baran. Dalsass asked defendant for a list of the names and phone numbers of the victim's friends, relatives and others to facilitate the search efforts. In Nucci, the Court set forth the factors relevant to a trial justice's assessment of the reliability of out-of-court-statements which the People proffer as hearsay exceptions. At FindLaw.com, we pride ourselves on being the number one source of free legal information and resources on the web. denied 80 N.Y.2d 905, 588 N.Y.S.2d 831, 602 N.E.2d 239; People v. Shorey, 172 A.D.2d 634, 568 N.Y.S.2d 436, lv. Defendant asserts that because there is evidence of only one earlier act of violence by him against his wife, this murder case should not be considered as a domestic violence homicide, and therefore there is no justification for the single alleged choking episode to be received in evidence along with various threats and other evidence of discord. dr bob bierenbaum parole 2020 CMI is a proven leader at applying industry knowledge and engineering expertise to solve problems that other fabricators cannot or will not take on. However, notwithstanding that, initially, the police carefully explained to him at least three times their critical need to know every detail he was able to recall in order to aid their search efforts, he withheld all of this information during their interview with him-one encounter a mere 34 hours, and the others all within 7 days, following his wife's disappearance. 79 N.Y.2d 673, 584 N.Y.S.2d 770, 595 N.E.2d 845 [uncharged evidence of prior assaultive acts may be admissible as background to support testimony that otherwise might be unbelievable or suspect]). Bierenbaum described himself as immature at the time of the murder, for which he is serving 20 years to life.