Convicted Man Confesses to Murdering Wife in 1985 I was stunned because I always thought that that day would never come, that he would own up, take responsibility for having killed his wife.. 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]). It is clear to us that a finding other than guilt would not have been reasonable. An accomplished pilot, he took her body onto a four-passenger Cessna 172 Nighthawk and, as the plane flew over the Atlantic, tossed it out the aircraft door. Katz and Bierenbaum met in the early 1980s in Manhattan and had what initially seemed to be a magical romance, Katzs sister, Alayne Katz, told ABC News. The New York Times reported in 1999 that authorities believed he spent hours dismembering Katzs body before taking flight and dumping it into the water somewhere between Montauk Point, New York, and Cape May, New Jersey. 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. 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. Early in that period, before they began dating, and therefore significantly before the end of September, he falsely told her the police had searched his apartment and car and found him to be clean. Furthermore, she testified that, during that early period, he expressed no concern about his wife's disappearance. Ex-surgeon Robert Bierenbaum confesses he took wife Gail Katz's 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. Indeed, his behavior utterly belies his claims of ignorance of his victim's whereabouts. During the first police interview of defendant on July 8 at 9:00 P.M., lasting 45 minutes, Det. They also manifest his motives to abuse and control her, to quickly end a miserable marriage, and ultimately to keep her from using the Tarasoff letter in a divorce proceeding to humiliate him, damage his reputation, imperil his career and jeopardize his financial future. @JohnQABCs all-new 20/20 premieres Friday at 9/8c on @ABC. 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. Yet, he omitted to tell the detective that he was a pilot and that on the previous afternoon he rented a plane from a New Jersey airport between 4:30 P.M. and 6:30 P.M. for a two-hour flight. NYC surgeon admits to killing his wife by throwing her out of a plane at 44, 608 N.Y.S.2d 1; cf. On the facts here, it is reasonable to assign a moderate degree of probative force to the false statements [emphasis added]. Furthermore, although defendant told friends he searched for the deceased in Central Park on July 7 between 11:00 A.M. and 5:30 P.M. and found her towel and suntan oil in the park, he never shared that highly significant detail with O'Malley or Dalsass on the two interviews each had held with him during the seven days following July 7. This aspect of the evidence, when viewed with all else the People proved, compels inferences that defendant had an informed reason, based on his own direct knowledge, to be completely unconcerned that: a) his paramour might shortly be forced to confront his missing wife in her own bedroom; and b) his early morning trip to the precinct would reunite him with her. https://t.co/RWuaARMIay pic.twitter.com/6FoU3ze3wU, Uncovered (@uncovered) December 16, 2020. Medical Examiner's Testimony and Videotaped Demonstration. Finally, this evidence shows that this defendant was motivated and had an intent to harm this victim. rendered November 29, 2000, affirmed. Relevant factors include spontaneity, repetition, the mental state of the declarant, absence of motive to fabricate, *** unlikelihood of faulty recollection and the degree to which the statement was against the declarant's *** interest (see People v. James, 93 N.Y.2d 620, 642, 695 N.Y.S.2d 715, 717 N.E.2d 1052 [citing Idaho v. Wright, 497 U.S. 805, 821, 110 S.Ct. Confession: Dr. Robert Bierenbaum and his then-wife, Dr. Janet Cholett, leave court together in October 2000 in New York. 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. While the statement must have been made before the declarant had the opportunity to reflect, the time for reflection is not measured in minutes or seconds, but rather is measured by facts. (People v. Marks, 6 N.Y.2d 67, 72, 188 N.Y.S.2d 465, 160 N.E.2d 26, cert. Forever in our hearts.. Doheny v. Lacy, 168 N.Y. 213, 223-224, 61 N.E. Dr. Baran unequivocally denied she had ever made either of those statements to defendant or that she had even held these opinions. PEOPLE v. BIERENBAUM (2002) | FindLaw 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. Turning next to defendant's hearsay claims, he argues that the trial justice erroneously allowed several People's witnesses to testify that the victim had told them that, inter alia, her marriage was stormy, that she was afraid of defendant, that he was very controlling, that there was much verbal strife between them, that her husband had occasionally made threatening statements to her, that he once choked her in 1983 rendering her unconscious, that she had taken steps to prepare to leave him, and that she had used and intended again to use the Tarasoff letter to threaten him if he failed to meet her divorce demands. Robert Bierenbaum Defendant next argues that the claimed relevancy of the Tarasoff letter does not justify its introduction because its prejudicial effect outweighs its probative value. 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. At the time the deceased disappeared, defendant was a surgical resident at Maimonides Hospital and a licensed pilot. 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. Defendant also argues that although this contested hearsay information, emanating from the victim, was admitted purportedly as legitimate background evidence, there is no background exception to the hearsay rule, and, beyond that, this background information was highly prejudicial, and, therefore, the trial justice should have precluded it. denied 362 U.S. 912, 80 S.Ct. READ NEXT: Robert Bierenbaum Today: Where Is the Surgeon Now in 2021? First, the court correctly ruled that defendant's objection in the form of a mistrial motion, after summations were completely over, was belated (see People v. Allende, 269 A.D.2d 211, 704 N.Y.S.2d 206, lv. Dalsass on Monday, July 8 and again on Sunday, July 14, he never said-indeed on July 8 he denied-that he and his wife argued that morning, even though Dalsass did acknowledge that defendant, on July 14, said the victim was pissed the morning she left. Defendant and Dr. Feis spoke daily that first week, but during the first few calls she urged him to contact the police and to speak to the doorman. Bierenbaum, now 66, convicted of the murder in 2000 under circumstantial evidence, had continually denied any involvement in her death, told parole that he killed his wife Gail Sentenced to 20 years to life after his October 2000 conviction, Bierenbaum became eligible for parole in 2020. Additionally, her key reason for precluding the professionals from giving oral testimony at trial was that one of their purposes for consulting with defendant's closest family members was to gain insights from his family members, insights which might enhance their treatment of defendant. WebRobert Bierenbaum, who is serving a life sentence for a 1985 murder, revealed details of the crime during a parole hearing in December 2020, according to an ABC News transcript newly obtained. Through the testimony of several witnesses, including four expert witnesses-New York City's Chief Medical Examiner, an experienced New York City Police Pilot, an aviation safety inspector, and an airline transport pilot/flight instructor/FAA flight test examiner-the People established that it was physically possible for defendant, a surgical resident and pilot, unassisted, to disarticulate a recently expired body of the victim's size (5ft. Finally, although the alleged assault she recounted was undoubtedly extremely frightening, the proof shows her mental state so many hours later was not shown to be dominated by the same level of heightened excitement that would normally overwhelm a person in the immediate aftermath of such a recent traumatic shock. Since none of the three of these relatives was involved in providing defendant treatment nor subject to any other privilege (see Poppe v. Poppe, 3 N.Y.2d 312, 165 N.Y.S.2d 99, 144 N.E.2d 72 [marital privilege inapplicable where one spouse wrongs another]; People v. Davis, 226 A.D.2d 125, 640 N.Y.S.2d 53, lv. He also once choked Gail into unconsciousness after finding her smoking on their balcony. He thus claims that those cases do not apply to permit such evidence under these facts because this case involves evidence of only one prior assault. Compounding the significance of that devastating omission-an omission which concealed the very means and opportunity to dispose permanently of his victim's body-is the documentary evidence found in his home several months after July 1985 showing clearly that his written flight log entry for July 7 was changed from July 7 to August 7.
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