Dr. Robert Neulander, an obstetrician residing in DeWitt, has been sentenced to 20 years to life in prison for the 2012 murder of his wife Leslie in their home.
On July 30, Onondaga County Justice Thomas Miller sentenced Neulander to 20 year to life in state prison. The minimum sentence for this crime was 15 years and the maximum is 25 years.
Neulander was found guilty on April 2 of murder in the second degree and tampering with physical evidence in the 2012 death of his wife.
“Although she couldn’t speak, Leslie told us what happened that day. She told us with her blood and with her wounds. We’ll never hear her cries of agony from September the 17th, but we certainly were able to see what this man did to her,” said District Attorney William Fitzpatrick during the sentencing. “This defendant goes into cover-up mode and he insidiously involves his own daughter. And any question go mercy for this defendant evaporated when he did that because Robert Naulander killed far more than Leslie that day.”
Fitzpatrick, who was prosecuting the case, asked for the maximum of 25 years plus four for the charge of tampering with physical evidence.
Pleas from the family of Dr. Neulander to allow leniency was what Miller said he took into account when determining the 20 year sentence.
“I have been tried and wrongfully convicted. My family and I are now suffering the pain and anguish of an innocent man condemned to prison,” said Neulander in a statement during the sentencing. “More so, I suffer the pain and anguish of a father and grandfather ripped away from his children and grandchildren.”
Gerald Shargel, Neulander’s attorney, said he plans to appeal the murder conviction.
Originally, Leslie Neulander’s death in 2012 was ruled as an accident due to a fall in the shower by the DeWitt police department. Former Onondaga County Medical Examiner Dr. Mary Jumbelic’s interest in re-examining the case was what brought the prosecution back to life, said Fitzpatrick.
The murder trial, which started on March 16 at the Onondaga County Courthouse, was held for two weeks and several testimonies were made by experts and forensic pathologists that showed mistakes in the original decision.
Fitzpatrick said he believed the jury reached a guilty verdict in April due to several factors, including the time of death being inconsistent with Neulander’s story, blood splatter evidence and the location of the injuries Leslie sustained being all above the waist.
Following the guilty verdict was a juror misconduct hearing starting July 8 where Johnna Lorraine, a juror in the original trial, was accused of using social media which would have biased her decision as a juror. Judge Miller denied a request for a retrial for Neulander despite this hearing.
Hayleigh Gowans is a reporter for the Eagle Bulletin. She can be reached at [email protected].
