Murder defendant Hemy Neuman
Rusty and Andrea Sneiderman with their two children
DECATUR, Ga. (WXIA) -- The relationship between Dunwoody housewife Andrea Sneiderman and the man accused of murdering her husband continued to dominate courtroom testimony on Thursday.
Hemy Neuman's defense is trying to convince a DeKalb County jury that he was insane and did not know it was wrong to gun down Rusty Sneiderman outside a Dunwoody daycare in November of 2010.
Defense Psychologist Dr. Adriana Flores told the jury she believes Neuman has bipolar disorder, is manic, psychotic and delusional.
Flores said Neuman told her demons convinced him to kill Rusty Sneiderman so he could take over his life, his children and his wife.
"He believed that he was the father of her children and that his children were in danger and that he was going to protect them by killing Mr. Sneiderman," Flores testified.
Flores said Neuman's marriage, his finances and his work performance were falling apart, but that he thought he could start over with Andrea Sneiderman if her husband were out of the way.
She said he told her he and GE co-worker Sneiderman shared intimate dinners and even a bed on business trips, but that he wasn't really sure if any sexual relations were real or imagined.
But she said Neuman became convinced he had to kill Andrea's husband to protect her children from the kind of abuse he suffered as a child.
"I have to kill him," Dr. Flores quoted Neuman, "I got my marching orders; I was a faithful soldier doing what I had to do."
Flores also said she believed Andrea Sneiderman's off and on flirtations only made Neuman's delusions worse.
"It's a pattern of pushing him away, pulling him toward her, pushing him away, pulling him toward her," she testified.
Flores said she tried to contact Andrea Sneiderman while working on Neuman's analysis, but that Sneiderman refused to talk to her.