Robert Bierenbaum, a former plastic surgeon, confessed to the 1985 killing of his wife, Gail Katz, during a parole hearing in December 2020 He said he strangled her to 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. 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. He said Katz had stormed out of their apartment following an argument the morning before and not returned. Bierenbaum described himself as immature at the time of the murder, for which he is serving 20 years to life. In the former, the previous aggression principally indicates intent, or motive, or identity; whereas in the latter it can predominantly give rise to an inference of propensity. 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. Dalsass' approximately eight telephone answering machine messages. O'Malley that the building doorman said he last saw her leave the building shortly after 11 o'clock on July 7. If it appears that the trier of fact has failed to give the evidence the weight it should be accorded, then the appellate court may set aside the verdict (CPL 470. Gail Katz once called her sister, weeping, and said that her husband tried drowning her cat in a toilet at their Upper East Side apartment, Alayne Katz said. The victim's contested statements meet virtually all these enumerated criteria. Robert Bierenbaum was convicted of second-degree murder in 2000 and sentenced to 20 years to life in prison. Indeed, this prosecution contention-i.e., that it helped expose defendant's motives-was a valid one, as it is at the heart of the People's case. 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. Contested are the way and reason her life ended, the way her killer disposed of her body immediately thereafter, and her killer's identity and state of mind. 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. Accordingly, the judgment of the Supreme Court, New York County (Leslie Crocker Snyder, J. On the facts here, it is reasonable to assign a moderate degree of probative force to the false statements [emphasis added]. Notwithstanding defendant's characterization of that exchange as wordplay, contending now it should be deemed a substantial legal objection, the attorney's words do not constitute an effective protest under CPL 470.05(2), because the specific language would not, nor did it, prompt the court to make an actual ruling. The victim would complain also that defendant tried to exert excessive control over her, and she expressed fear of him more than once. His next parole hearing is slated for next month. Within days, investigators were also skeptical of Bierenbaums story, according to the Times. All three subsequently contacted Katz and warned her that her life could be in danger, the newspaper reported. 831), a physician is required to disclose to the extent necessary to protect a threatened interest. A trial court must not merely count the number of past incidents, but it must engage in a qualitative assessment of the words and deeds which create the history of the relationship between defendant and alleged victim. | The full 20/20 premieres TONIGHT at 9/8c on @ABC. Therefore, he argues such evidence unduly prejudiced him, outweighing any of its probative value. Moreover, the ruling was correct also because of the Tarasoff exception to the CPLR 4504(a) privilege. To them he insisted that he had remained in the apartment until 5:30 P.M. without leaving at all. The former plastic surgeons stunning confession took place during a December parole hearing, the transcript of which was recently obtained by ABC News. Defendant contends that the court improperly allowed the prosecution to adduce testimony, and otherwise refer to evidence, that defendant was violent, and that he choked his wife to the point of unconsciousness in late 1983. Bierenbaum has been eligible for parole since October 2020. On July 7, 1985, at 4:30 P.M., he rented a Cessna 172 plane at Caldwell Airport in Fairfield, New Jersey. A surgeon who murdered his wife admitted to the killing more than 30 years later. In addition, he had, the day before (7/13), told Det. The record is replete with evidence depicting events and statements which motivated the victim to end her marriage. The couples stormy marriage continued as Katz worked toward her doctorate in clinical psychology at Long Island University. And, while we agree this type of evidence, alone, may not and should not form the basis for a finding of guilt, it may be taken into account in evaluating all the other evidence. at 184). MacCracken v. Miller, 291 N.Y. 55, 62, 50 N.E.2d 542 [other citations omitted]). Bierenbaum, a former plastic surgeon, was convicted of killing his first wife, Gail Katz, in 1985. 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. The record also reveals that, although in July defendant told Det. Often, evidence of prior assaults and threats manifests general aggressiveness, i.e., a general propensity to act aggressively against other people. Furthermore, the statements were made mostly to those close to her, in contexts completely devoid of coercion, not in response to anyone's questioning, nor under circumstances at all suggestive of any attempt to curry anyone's favor. Alayne Katz and other witnesses would later testify, however, that they had seen one of the letters, which Gail Katz planned to use in the divorce proceedings. 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. We disagree. 286 and its progeny. 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. The December parole hearing at which he admitted his guilt was unsuccessful. Thinking for a Change: Encouraging Positive Change in Incarcerated Individuals, News Spotlight: Cultural Programming at DOC, News Spotlight: DOC Transgender Housing Policy, Jill Getty Appointed to the Indeterminate Sentence Review Board, Reentry Matters Celebrating Second Chance Month, Copyright 2023 Washington State Department of Corrections. It was appropriately rejected by the jury. https://t.co/ZGewROXCaQ pic.twitter.com/qwTytMjU2s. Defendant himself said his wife told him she wanted a divorce. 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). He is incapable of a shred of remorse.. NEW True Crime: Why did a handsome doctor, pilot, husband really kill his wife? ABC News reports Robert Bierenbaum made the confession during a parole board hearing in December 2020, about 36 years after his wife, Gail Katz, went missing in New York City. The trial record also makes it clear-notwithstanding the victim occasionally vacillated about terminating her marriage-this couple was on the verge of divorce in July 1985. This complaint-apart from ignoring or underestimating the appropriate, limiting language the court carefully chose to caution and instruct the jury-misconstrues the rationale underlying People v. Molineux, 168 N.Y. 264, 61 N.E. The court said (at 603, 721 N.Y.S.2d 593, 744 N.E.2d 128): Reliability is the sum of the circumstances surrounding the making of the statement that render the declarant worthy of belief. He dated a chiropractor for a while before remarrying in 1996 and moving with his new wife, gynecologist Dr. Janet Cholett, to Minot, North Dakota, where they had a daughter together and he opened a successful medical practice. No witness disputed that their discord and fighting reached a level characterized by threats against the victim and at least one previous violent act by defendant against her. Bierenbaum confessed to killing his wife during a parole hearing in December 2020, saying they were fighting and he wanted her to stop yelling, according to the New [S]peaking in very hushed tones and very rapidly and, sounding extremely upset, she told him that she and defendant had a fight the night or day before. 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. Confidential information privileged. He again omitted on July 14 to tell Dalsass-and O'Malley as well the day before-that he was a licensed pilot, rented a plane in New Jersey, and flew it for two hours from 4:30 P.M. to 6:30 P.M. on July 7. 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 News reported. 3.86. I had to take the rug out to be cleaned.. Neither her body nor her remains has ever been found. 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 They began dating a month before she moved in. There is every reason in this record to find that defendant was the last person to see her alive at 11:00 A.M. that Sunday morning. When Dalsass arrived, the crime scene unit was only allowed to search for fingerprints, the victim's diary and her address book. Most important, if there existed any lingering ambiguity about whether defense counsel had or had not registered a cognizable objection on October 11, defense counsel himself resolved it on October 16 when he said no objection at the moment the People actually offered the exhibits. However minor it might be it was very important. He faces 25 years to life and is to be sentenced on Nov. 20. 3in. 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. denied 97 N.Y.2d 756, 742 N.Y.S.2d 616, 769 N.E.2d 362 [prior threats of violence and acts admissible]; People v. Lee, 284 A.D.2d 412, 726 N.Y.S.2d 284, lv. Defendant displayed no reaction, [h]e didn't say anything.. Moreover, the justice's immediate response-I suspect I'll allow it-is of no greater legal significance. In fact, several witnesses, including Dr. Baran, described victim's state of mind during the period before July 7 as being happy, jovial and the like. Bierenbaum, an experienced pilot who had been convicted on circumstantial evidence, was serving his 20 years-to-life prison sentence when he made the chilling confession during a December 2020 parole board hearing. At one point while they lived together, on a day that Dr. Karnofsky was angry or annoyed with defendant, and, having heard a number of accusatory answering machine messages directed at defendant, she confronted him to see what his reaction [would be]: What I said to him was, well, I think that if you did this and if it really happened as some people seem to think it did, that perhaps something happened in the apartment and you intentionally or unintentionally-Gail was hurt, you could have put her in one of those big flight bags or duffel bags and carried her out of the apartment since she was very small, put her in the back of your car, drive out to the airport and thrown her body out of the plane. In fact, defendant even misstated to Det. We agree with only one claim of error. Gail Katz reported the assault at a local police precinct, but nothing came of the report. Bierenbaum, an experienced pilot who had been convicted on circumstantial evidence, was serving his 20 years-to-life prison sentence when he made the chilling Significantly, he omitted telling his father that he had flown an airplane for nearly two hours that very afternoon. I heard the cuffs close round hishands. Rather, the tape's contents clearly demonstrate the feasibility of the People's theory of this case, a theory which all of the circumstantial proof together overwhelmingly shows. Confession: Dr. Robert Bierenbaum and his then-wife, Dr. Janet Cholett, leave court together in October 2000 in New York. During their entire relationship, she did not observe him make any efforts to locate his missing wife. He became eligible for parole last October, according to state prison records. Defendant also disputes the instructions' adequacy, and, beyond that-in addition to urging this Court to reject the notion of a background exception to the hearsay rule-he further argues that the testimony recounting the victim's out-of-court statements was largely unreliable. In a domestic violence homicide, as this clearly is, it is highly probative-quite often far outweighing any prejudice-that a couple's marriage was strife-ridden and that defendant previously struck and/or threatened the spouse-victim (see People v. La France, 182 A.D.2d 598, 599-600, 583 N.Y.S.2d 835, lv. 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. O'Malley inquiring how the investigation was proceeding and met with him on July 13. When she asked what had happened, he told her his wife may have committed suicide or may have met with foul play, as she had dated a variety of men. Something that might be very innocent might develop into a lead where she might be. There was no foregone conclusion to this case, by any stretch of the imagination.. Because defendant consented to having the warnings and disclosures communicated, not only to the victim but also to his parents, the court's ruling about the warning letter was correct. Meanwhile, her husband moved on and began seeing other women. Dalsass and later to Det. Investigators took steps for a jury to witness exactly how they believe Bierenbaum dumped his wifes body during his 2000 murder trial, according to the New York Post.
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