Accused Daycare Killer's Wife Takes Stand

The estranged wife of a man accused of gunning down a father outside a Dunwoody day care took the stand in a DeKalb County court on Wednesday.

Hemy Neuman is charged with killing Rusty Sneiderman last November as the victim dropped off his son at a Dunwoody day care center.

Lawyers for Neuman are fighting to keep statements he made to police, as well as evidence seized during a search of his home, out of the courtroom.

Ariela Neuman, the estranged wife of Hemy, testified that officers came to the door of her home shortly after he was arrested on January 4 and requested to search the house.

"I gave them permission to take everything they wanted," she testified.

In court, investigators said they waited for the signed search warrant and eventually found an iPhone and computer equipment with evidence relevant to the murder case.

She said she didn't remember if they left a list of items taken during the search.

Hemy Neuman and the victim's wife worked together at GE in Marietta. While there was no mention of the alleged affair in Wednesday's pretrial hearing, Ariela testified that her husband left her in October, but visited often even after he'd moved out of their home.

"He used to come, almost every weekend, and sometimes during the week while I wasn't there because he had access to come. It was our house," she said.

During Wednesday's testimony, Ariela said her husband had not been sleeping at the family home prior to the shooting.

Investigators and attorneys say phone and computer data gathered at the home turned up information relevant to the crime and to the alleged affair.

Esther Panitch, Ariela Neuman's divorce attorney, said the decision to testify was painful, but necessary to demonstrate the search of her home was legal and consensual.

Panitch said Ariela never suspected her husband of 22 years was involved in the murder, but said she did suspect he was having an affair with the victim's wife.

Judge Gregory Adams has given attorneys until the end of this month to make their final arguments about admitting evidence from the search warrant and Neuman's statement to police.

He's expected to rule on both matters sometime next month. The criminal trial slated to begin by mid-October.