As discussed at greater length elsewhere in this opinion, notwithstanding defendant's contentions to the contrary, this evidence is clearly relevant not only to motive, but to intent and identity. In December 1999, prosecutors charged Bierenbaum based on the circumstantial evidence. We also conclude that even if a different finding were somehow deemed reasonable, there can be no rational view after weigh[ing] the relative probative force of conflicting testimony and the relative strength of conflicting inferences that may be drawn from the testimony,'(People v. MacCracken ex rel. 14, 551 P.2d 334). Should we answer that inquiry in the affirmative, we next must weigh the relative probative force of conflicting testimony and the relative strength of conflicting inferences that may be drawn from the testimony (People ex rel. When Dalsass arrived, the crime scene unit was only allowed to search for fingerprints, the victim's diary and her address book. The Washington State Department of Corrections manages all state-operated adult prisons and supervises adult incarcerated individuals who live in the community. 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. 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.. WebThe Washington State Department of Corrections manages all state-operated adult prisons and supervises adult inmates who live in the community. 1. That key factor in the context of marital or other intimate relationships frequently differentiates domestic violence assaults and homicides-wherein prior bad acts have often been deemed admissible during the People's direct case-from other cases wherein evidence of past assaultive behavior against people other than the victim has most properly been precluded. Consequently, it is not improbable that her call followed at least some degree of reasoned reflection. Because defendant did not have a list with him, Dalsass said he would call defendant's home for it that evening. The record also reveals that, although in July defendant told Det. To one of his Southampton summer housemates in July 1985, with a demeanor described as lacking in emotion, he said he and his wife fought on July 7 and she had taken a towel and some suntan lotion and had gone to Central Park. Defendant counters this reasoning, contending that the 1983 choking incident and all the other evidence and references to threats and marital strife should have been precluded because they bespeak propensity and because the People improperly used the choking incident to suggest that defendant had a propensity for violence. This conclusion is effortlessly drawn not nearly so much because he began dating so soon, but much more because of his obvious and expressed confidence his wife would never return. In 2000, former plastic surgeon Robert Bierenbaum was convicted of the 1985 murder of his wife Gail Katz. 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. Her body was never found and the great weight of the evidence shows that she was anything but desperate or depressed so that one might reasonably fear she was contemplating suicide. His medical license was revoked 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 denied 96 N.Y.2d 921, 732 N.Y.S.2d 637, 758 N.E.2d 663 [previous assault against victim admissible]; People v. Reynoso, 262 A.D.2d 102, 693 N.Y.S.2d 521, lv. The evidence is also strong that she was determined to confront defendant with her divorce demands. 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. Like his wife, he was 29 years old when she vanished. 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. While no one other than the victim and defendant was present to observe what transpired in the marital dwelling on the morning of July 7, the inference from the foregoing circumstantial facts is most compelling, if not irresistible, that they had a hostile confrontation that weekend about the future of their marriage, its serious problems, and how each would deal with them. The trial justice's carefully balanced decisions allowed the People to show only the existence and the general nature of the letter in order legitimately to probe defendant's motive. I wanted her to stop yelling at me and I attacked her, Bierenbaum said, according to a hearing transcript obtained by the network. Another woman whom he dated in Las Vegas in 1995 asked him on their first date whether he had ever been married. Together, the two women looked for and found defendant's flight log. Neither her body nor her remains has ever been found. 286). On one occasion a co-worker overheard defendant in a common work area arguing loudly with his wife over the telephone. Furthermore, he invited a different woman to move into the marital apartment with him in September 1985. Within days, investigators were also skeptical of Bierenbaums story, according to the Times. This couple had a history of angry words and deeds, of threats, and of violence; they harbored a wide range of feelings ranging from ambivalence to profound hostility toward each other, and, beyond their generalized resentment, defendant had evident motives to kill the decedent. 79 N.Y.2d 808, 580 N.Y.S.2d 174, 588 N.E.2d 72.) For the entire week immediately following the victim's disappearance, defendant failed to return Det. By using this website, you accept the terms of our Visitor Agreement and Privacy Policy, and understand your options regarding Ad Choices. Dalsass he would respond to his request to view the apartment, defendant in fact did not contact Dalsass until September 12, 1985, and he did not permit entry until September 30. Katz, 29, of New York, was murdered in July 1985 by her husband, Dr. Robert Bierenbaum. Corrections is thankful to the Tribes for caring for these lands since time immemorial and honors its ongoing connection to these communities past, present and future. Because the letter's separate purpose was to warn, and, further, to insure that its disclosure at trial for that valid purpose did not publish its otherwise confidential contents-and thus breach the court's associated preclusion order-the court appropriately placed significant restrictions on the People's use of the letter. 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. Because of client confidentiality, the doctors could not testify in court. He became eligible for parole last October, according to state prison records. Mar 15, 1999. Bierenbaum has been eligible for parole since October 2020. I had to take the rug out to be cleaned.. ABC News and the Times reported that investigators learned that Bierenbaum had gone to the Essex County Airport in Caldwell, New Jersey, on July 7, 1985, and taken out a small plane for about two hours. While married to defendant, the victim had an affair with at least one other man; just before the day she disappeared she stated to a friend she was about to tell defendant she wanted a divorce; she had borrowed money to prepare to leave; she said she was seeing one or two other men and that she loved one of them; she was looking for an apartment and was seen with circled newspaper ads for apartment rentals the day before she disappeared and her friend had offered her a place in Connecticut to stay while she got herself resettled. Third, he argues that the trial justice should have precluded, and that the prosecutor inappropriately used, evidence that defendant choked his wife rendering her unconscious in the autumn of 1983, including evidence of her statements to her cousin over the phone, which the court admitted as excited utterances.. He was the individual that las[t] saw her in the apartment. Molineux authorizes a trial justice to consider allowing a jury to hear about a defendant's prior bad acts-be they violent or otherwise-if they shed light on the issues of intent, identity, motive, absence of accident or mistake, or common plan and scheme (id. Robert Bierenbaum admitted to killing wife Gail Katz and throwing her body out of an airplane during a December 2020 parole board hearing, according to a new Starcasm Staff October 22, 2021 20/20, True Crime. He also failed to mention to both Det. As for the opinion testimony, the court exercised its discretion properly by admitting the medical examiner's expert testimony. There he told his father that he and his wife had an argument earlier that day, that she left for Central Park, and she had not returned by the time he left Manhattan. In considering whether this defendant's behavior and statements show evidence of his consciousness of guilt, we find that they unquestionably do. 576 ratings36 reviews. O'Malley inquiring how the investigation was proceeding and met with him on July 13. Armed with circled apartment rental ads the day before she disappeared, the victim declared to her close friend, Denise Kasenbaum, that she was leaving defendant that weekend. 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. Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Leslie Crocker Snyder, J.) The December parole hearing at which he admitted his guilt was unsuccessful. Moreover, his behavior with other women so soon after July 7 is inconsistent with behavior one would reasonably anticipate from a husband whose wife had mysteriously disappeared, notwithstanding that their marriage was stormy. At his sentencing, Alayne Katz told the court Bierenbaum killed her sister to prevent her from exposing him as a violent and twisted man, according to the Times. The defense argues that these rulings were improper because: 1) there was no evidentiary foundation to justify the opinion evidence and the scenario depicted in the video demonstration, i.e., that they were purportedly based on speculation; and because 2) these forms of evidence are extremely potent, inflammatory, and therefore they unduly prejudiced defendant in a case like this where, according to him, there is no proof to support the opinions or the scenario shown on tape. At a parole hearing in December 2020, he confessed to killing his wife and dumping her body from a O'Malley that he and his wife had argued the night before she disappeared and continued arguing on the morning of July 7, prompting her to go to Central Park at 11:00 A.M. to cool off.. As this Court stated in Farrow v. Allen, 194 A.D.2d 40, 608 N.Y.S.2d 1, once a patient authorizes his or her psychiatrist to release, what might otherwise be, a privileged letter to a third party who is completely unconnected to his or her treatment and who is not subject to any other privilege, its release is sufficient to waive the privilege as to the information contained in the letter itself (id. Defendant displayed no reaction, [h]e didn't say anything.. A jury convicted Robert Bierenbaum of second-degree murder based on circumstantial evidence that on July 7, 1985 he intentionally killed his wife, Gail Katz 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. Dr. Karnofsky also remembered a phone call defendant received one morning at three o'clock, a few months after she moved in. I opened the door and then took her body out of the airplane over the ocean, the transcript reads, according to ABC News. Defendant offered that Gail had, years earlier, attempted suicide. 4. Moreover, the ruling was correct also because of the Tarasoff exception to the CPLR 4504(a) privilege. Something that might be very innocent might develop into a lead where she might be. The case continued to nag at Andy Rosenzweig, chief investigator for the Manhattan District Attorneys Office, and he and other detectives began re-interviewing everyone involved in the missing persons case, according to the network. We have examined defendant's remaining contentions and find them unavailing. The victim would complain also that defendant tried to exert excessive control over her, and she expressed fear of him more than once. ), rendered November 29, 2000, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of murder in the second degree, and sentencing him to a term of 20 years to life should be affirmed. From there, he telephoned his apartment more than once. 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. Illustrative-but not exhaustive-are the following examples: 1. Moreover, the justice's immediate response-I suspect I'll allow it-is of no greater legal significance. About midway through their one-year relationship, defendant gave his approval to have Dr. Karnofsky's girlfriend, Sharon, also move into the apartment temporarily. At the time, the plastic surgeon claimed innocence, but that has all changed. Defendant also relies on the trial justice's rejection of the People's request to call defendant's three treating doctors to testify at trial. 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). The proof is most telling that on the very day the victim disappeared, she intended to confront defendant with her decision to leave him. In this case his behavior and threats were admitted because they revealed the former three of these five potentially relevant items. Dalsass that he and his wife had argued that Sunday morning. 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 However, apparently also on July 8, defendant told the victim's therapist, Dr. Sybil Baran, that he and the victim had argued and that she'd gone off in a huff; 8. Robert Bierenbaum, who is serving a sentence of 20 years to life in prison, revealed the details of the 1985 murder during a December 2020 parole hearing whose He was convicted in her death in 2000, but her body was never found. He also once choked Gail into unconsciousness after finding her smoking on their balcony. Gail Katz reported the assault at a local police precinct, but nothing came of the report. 831), a physician is required to disclose to the extent necessary to protect a threatened interest. She called Wiese again the following day to let him know she took his advice and was staying with her grandfather. Sgt. 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. Defendant was pretty surprised and stunned and asked her what she knew. O'Malley that they argued on July 6 and continued on the morning of July 7. 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. During that meeting he told O'Malley that he drove his father's Cadillac to his sister's New Jersey home on July 7, instead of his own [smaller] Datsun, as his car allegedly had mechanical problems. 3in. within 10 minutes, pack her dismembered torso and limbs into a flight/duffel bag and carry them through an unmonitored rear exit of his apartment building for a distance of two blocks to his garaged car. The Court of Appeals has made that clear. Meanwhile, her husband moved on and began seeing other women. All three subsequently contacted Katz and warned her that her life could be in danger, the newspaper reported. However, defendant said he would not be home until later, as he had plans to dine out-after an interview which had focused on his wife's sudden disappearance just 34 hours earlier. The victim's contested statements meet virtually all these enumerated criteria. He also disclosed to his date that in the past he had a bad temper, but that it had gotten much better. In fact, defendant even misstated to Det. The remains were buried, the article said. Accordingly, there can be no holding that this verdict is against the weight of the evidence. 662, 4 L.Ed.2d 620; People v. Norton, 164 A.D.2d 343, 353, 563 N.Y.S.2d 802, affd. In People v. Cintron, 95 N.Y.2d 329, 332-333, 717 N.Y.S.2d 72, 740 N.E.2d 217, the Court said that the probative weight of evidence of consciousness of guilt is highly dependent upon the facts of each particular case. In an earlier case, specifically referring to a defendant's false statements, the Court said: In the circumstances of this case, it is difficult to come to any other conclusion than that these false statements indicate a consciousness of guilt. However, in a strange turn of events, Robert decided to confess during a 2020 parole hearing and claimed that he had strangled Gail to death before flying out with her body and dumping it into the Atlantic Ocean. Watch 20/20 Season 44 Episode 3 Do No Harm Online 20/20 S44 E3 Do No Harm The first wife of a Jekyll and Hyde Manhattan plastic surgeon mysteriously disappears. 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. The former plastic surgeon, who is in prison for the killing, admitted to the parole board in December 2020 that he strangled Katz, 29, before loading her body onto a Cessna 172 and tossing it into the Atlantic Ocean. Apart from the fact that there is no reliable evidence that anyone else saw or heard from her thereafter, defendant repeatedly admitted to several people, including his father, that he last saw her then. The jury saw this altered document. On this appeal, we address the following four issues: First, defendant contends the trial evidence is legally insufficient and the verdict is against the weight of the evidence. It is clear to us that the highly probative nature of this particular proof on the critical questions of defendant's motive and intent, and of the killer's identity, far outweighs any prejudice (see People v. Alvino, 71 N.Y.2d 233, 241-242, 525 N.Y.S.2d 7, 519 N.E.2d 808). In that 1858 case, the Court of Appeals held, without direct proof of the death, or of the violence or other act of the defendant which is alleged to have produced death, a murder conviction may not stand (id. His first parole hearing is when, according to ABC Former NY surgeon admits killing wife, throwing body from airplane in 1985 (NCD). The email address cannot be subscribed. Furthermore, he did not turn over the victim's telephone/ address book until more than two weeks after her disappearance; 7. Parker was However, the proof here evinces defendant's intent to focus his aggression on one person, namely, his wife-his victim. He returned it after one hour and fifty-six minutes, giving him time enough to fly round trip approximately 165 miles over a part of the Atlantic Ocean. One of the prosecution's key assertions was that defendant was motivated to kill his wife because she threatened to destroy him by exposing the letter's contents should he fail to meet her divorce demands. On another occasion, while the couple was watching a television program about the Von Bulow murder case, defendant told the victim that the problem with Claus Von Bulow is that he left evidence and [defendant] would not leave evidence. The testimony revealed that the victim perceived this statement as a threat. Rather, the evidence is credible and we hold that the resulting inference is strong. He said he then disposed of her body, the Daily News reported. 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. Defendant next argues that the claimed relevancy of the Tarasoff letter does not justify its introduction because its prejudicial effect outweighs its probative value. At that point and with no expressed hesitation or apparent lack of confidence, he told his paramour to remain in bed through the night in the marital apartment, because he doubt[ed] it was his wife. To yet another, he described his missing wife as a tramp, off living with someone else. The People proved beyond a reasonable doubt that this defendant had the opportunity, the motive, and the intent to kill his victim, and that it was he who did so. Judged by that standard, we find and hold that the circumstantial evidence adduced at this trial decisively extinguishes any doubt that defendant Robert Bierenbaum, and no one else, intentionally killed his wife Gail Katz Bierenbaum, brought her body to Caldwell Airport in Fairfield, New Jersey, loaded it onto a small plane, flew it over the Atlantic Ocean, and, there, dumped her remains. denied 94 N.Y.2d 904, 707 N.Y.S.2d 389, 728 N.E.2d 988; People v. Bonilla, 251 A.D.2d 82, 674 N.Y.S.2d 23, lv. 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. 286 and its progeny. Dalsass repeated his appeal to defendant to leave out nothing, saying: I pretty much told him that any information that will assist in finding Gail was rather important. Furthermore, defense counsel's earlier language on October 11, 2000 purporting to object was premature and, in any event, legally inadequate to constitute an objection (id.). I went flying. The company is family owned and highly values relationships often going beyond the call of duty to help a customer. of Cal., 17 Cal.3d 425, 131 Cal.Rptr. The call came from the police who insisted that he immediately come in to view a woman they had found at the New York Port Authority Bus Terminal, someone they thought might be his missing wife. The former plastic surgeons stunning confession took place during a December parole hearing, the transcript of which was recently obtained by ABC News. Gail Katz Bierenbaum./Robert Bierenbaum. 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 Prosecutors who convicted Bierenbaum were stunned by his admission to the parole board, particularly because the confession mirrored the states theory of the crime in 1999, when Bierenbaum was charged with second-degree murder. The victim, whom Wiese occasionally saw at family gatherings, telephoned him at his office one afternoon in the fall of 1983. The only thing more shocking may be how he tried to hide the body. https://t.co/WMwMXq1BzA, Gail Beth, beloved daughter, granddaughter and sister, her headstone says. 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 York Daily News. To begin with, any notion that the victim disappeared in some way other than her actual demise on July 7, 1985 is utterly dispelled by a combination of the legitimate inferences raised by all the proof and by defendant's concession that his wife died, and that she died that day. WebThe written ruling by a three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Court of Appeals in Manhattan was consistent with previous rulings by judges who have reviewed the conviction of Dr. Robert Bierenbaum. Thereafter, commencing in September 1985 and continuing for a period just under one year, defendant invited a medical student, Dr. Roberta Karnofsky, who worked under his direct supervision at Coney Island Hospital, to live with him in the marital apartment. According to the Times, she had talked Bierenbaum into seeking psychiatric help for his violent streak. TermsPrivacyDisclaimerCookiesDo Not Sell My Information, Begin typing to search, use arrow keys to navigate, use enter to select, Stay up-to-date with FindLaw's newsletter for legal professionals. In 1984, she was so unhappy that she consulted a divorce lawyer. 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. The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Robert BIERENBAUM, Defendant-Appellant. More than 30 years later, Robert Bierenbaum confesses to her murder. Apart from the fact that defendant's alternate theories of his victim's demise have no evidentiary support, the existing evidence itself also refutes them. Dalsass could not speak to defendant to obtain that vital information until the July 14 interview. 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. Therefore, he argues such evidence unduly prejudiced him, outweighing any of its probative value. Furthermore, when they are read together with the court's cautionary charges wherein the trial justice repeated and emphasized the limited value of this and other related evidence, we firmly believe the record belies his contention that he was denied a fair trial. 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 184). The protective privilege ends where the public peril begins (Tarasoff v Regents of Univ. In our role of reviewing the sufficiency of trial evidence as an appellate court in a purely circumstantial evidence case, we must decide whether a guilty verdict is based on legally sufficient evidence by determin [ing] whether any valid line of reasoning and permissible inferences could lead a rational person to the conclusion reached by the fact finder on the basis of the evidence at trial, viewed in the light most favorable to the People [citations omitted] (People v. Williams, 84 N.Y.2d 925, 926, 620 N.Y.S.2d 811, 644 N.E.2d 1367). Forever in our hearts.. Since there may be reasons other than guilt of the crime charged which would prompt a person to give a false statement, the probative weight of such statements depends upon the facts of the particular case. In one instance he falsely claimed that a private detective, whom he also claimed he hired to find her, learned she was living in California with financial support from her family. Finally, this evidence shows that this defendant was motivated and had an intent to harm this victim. He told several people that, just before his wife left the apartment for the last time, they argued. We reject the notion that in a case where an alleged homicide is the second alleged violent act against a spouse-instead of, for example, the third, fourth or ninth-the case may not be treated as a domestic violence homicide for purposes of evidentiary rulings. The two circumstances, i.e., 1) that the police never recovered the victim's body and 2) that no one other than the victim and her killer personally witnessed the violent act which ended her life, do not bar a valid murder conviction under current law. However, on July 10, he called Det. During a parole hearing in December 2020, two decades after he was jailed and 35 years after Gail disappeared, Bierenbaum finally admitted he murdered his wife. It is, simply put, not a ruling in response to an actual objection based on then existing circumstances (see People v. Luperon, supra, at 78, 623 N.Y.S.2d 735, 647 N.E.2d 1243; cf. She told Wiese she was speaking quickly and softly because she was expecting defendant. 210, 27 L.Ed.2d 213]). Without objection, the prosecution showed the jury a videotape specifically prepared for trial, demonstrating how defendant could have accomplished this from the point of loading the 110-pound body onto the plane, discarding it over the ocean, and landing back at the same airport.
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