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. It is on the basis of that history and its relevance to proving an element of the crime charged-and, as well, after the court balances probative value against potential prejudice-that a court may determine the admissibility of prior evidence of aggressiveness, be it acts of domestic violence, threats or otherwise. No forensics, no eyewitnesses, entirely circumstantial, Bibb told ABC News. Dr. Robert Bierenbaum, a trained pilot serving 20 years to life in prison, admitted to the crime at a parole hearing for the first time since his wife, Gail Katz, 29, denied 93 N.Y.2d 1025, 697 N.Y.S.2d 584, 719 N.E.2d 945 [prior assault admissible]; People v. Steinberg, 170 A.D.2d 50, 573 N.Y.S.2d 965, affd. 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). Investigators believe Bierenbaum strangled her in their Upper East Side apartment before disposing of the body, the article said. ed.] A few weeks after his wife disappeared, defendant began dating a nurse whom he knew from Maimonides Hospital where they were employed. 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. She was also determined to make it clear to defendant that she would use a letter, written to her by his psychiatrist warning her of the danger he posed to her, in order to humiliate him with his professional peers should he refuse to meet her divorce settlement demands. Courts have also considered the status or relationship to the declarant of the person to whom the statement was made *** whether there was a coercive atmosphere, whether it was made in response to questioning and whether the statements reflect an attempt to shift blame or curry favor (James, supra, 93 N.Y.2d at 642-643, 695 N.Y.S.2d 715, 717 N.E.2d 1052 [citing United U.S. v. Matthews, 20 F.3d 538, 546; other citations omitted]). Moreover, it is unlikely that one's body would vanish without a trace in the aftermath of self-inflicted death. Furthermore, the trial justice gave the People even less leeway than Farrow permits after a waiver, by ruling that only the existence and nature of the letter-not its factual content nor the physicians' testimony-were admissible. 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 Ex-surgeon confesses throwing wife's body from airplane in 1985 denied 95 N.Y.2d 792, 711 N.Y.S.2d 160, 733 N.E.2d 232; People v. Valez, 256 A.D.2d 135, 682 N.Y.S.2d 162, lv. Perhaps defendant's most damning omission was his repeated, false claim to the police and to others that he remained in the apartment all afternoon on July 7 and then went directly to his nephew's birthday party in New Jersey. 224, 177 N.W. Defendant's so called objection contains none of these ingredients. 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. They were both 29 at the time of her killing, and he told the parole board he was immature and did not know how to contain his anger, the Daily News reported. The Surgeon's Wife We disagree. To reject any notion that the victim intended to use the letter a second time simply because she may have already used it once before would unreasonably ignore her various statements, her reasons for wanting a divorce, and her state of mind as that fateful weekend approached. Moreover, the justice's immediate response-I suspect I'll allow it-is of no greater legal significance. 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. FindLaw.com Free, trusted legal information for consumers and legal professionals, SuperLawyers.com Directory of U.S. attorneys with the exclusive Super Lawyers rating, Abogado.com The #1 Spanish-language legal website for consumers, LawInfo.com Nationwide attorney directory and legal consumer resources. They argue that when certain established facts are juxtaposed with other proven circumstances, defendant's multiple contradictions and omissions are patently incriminating. A UNIT FINDINGS RECOMMENDATION Furthermore, there is virtually no conflicting testimony within the People's case to compare against the weight of the People's credible proof, proof which so firmly supports this conviction. 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. 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. Nevertheless, he contradicted himself among various versions and aspects of those statements. He hasnt changed. Defendant falsely attributed to Dr. Baran the opinion that the victim was depressed and might have committed suicide. When she came to, he begged her forgiveness and promised it would never happen again. They both complained many times to many people that their marriage was loveless and their life together was stormy. We have examined defendant's remaining contentions and find them unavailing. at 44, 608 N.Y.S.2d 1; cf. In it, they located a handwritten entry which appeared to have been changed from the original notation of 7/7/85 to the substituted date of 8/7/85. 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. O'Malley inquiring how the investigation was proceeding and met with him on July 13. All rights reserved. Her body has never We therefore reject as unpreserved defendant's present position regarding the video's admissibility, not because we revere form over substance, but, rather, out of our recognition of the indisputable need during a trial for clear language announcing candid and specific positions, after which judges may issue fitting rulings. Katz, 29, of New York, was murdered in July 1985 by her husband, Dr. Robert Bierenbaum. GRAND FORKS -- The story of Dr. Robert Bierenbaum, a plastic surgeon who practiced in Grand Forks and Minot and later was convicted for the murder of his wife in their Manhattan apartment, will air in a two-hour, special 20/20 program beginning at 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 22, on ABC. 79 N.Y.2d 808, 580 N.Y.S.2d 174, 588 N.E.2d 72.) Verbal strife plagued it, express and implied threats uttered by defendant aggravated it, and defendant's admitted violence against his victim during at least one episode surely worsened it. 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 Bierenbaum, in their Manhattan apartment; transported her body to a New Jersey airport the same day; loaded it onto a small private plane; and piloted it over the Atlantic Ocean where he discarded her remains. O'Malley in the interim, Det. There was no foregone conclusion to this case, by any stretch of the imagination.. 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. When a few months later he received an early morning telephone call from the police indicating they may have had his lost wife at the precinct, he was less than anxious to accede to their request that he immediately leave his bed to possibly identify his inexplicably missing wife. All of Bierenbaums appeals over the years were unsuccessful. No other inference finds any support in this record, and none could survive an impartial and objective assessment of the proof, particularly in light of defendant's admission that their argument was severe and had become explosive.. He became eligible for parole last October, according to state prison records. Rather, the evidence is credible and we hold that the resulting inference is strong. We disagree. 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). Plastic Surgeon Robert Bierenbaum Finally Confesses to Tossing In late July or early August, defendant asked her out, and they became intimate on their first date. He urges now-as he did at trial-that the court could have served the People's purpose adequately by only allowing the People to use the letter to inform the jury that the letter existed, and stipulating that its unspecified contents would embarrass defendant. Man Admits to Murdering His Wife More Than denied 77 N.Y.2d 879, 568 N.Y.S.2d 922, 571 N.E.2d 92; see also People v. Laverpool, 267 A.D.2d 93, 700 N.Y.S.2d 139, lv. His medical license was revoked The justice allowed the jury to learn only of its existence and nature, but not of its specific contents beyond its warning to the victim that defendant posed a threat to her. Ive waited for that sound a long time. The jury got the case on Monday. 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. However, on July 10, he called Det. Finally, the victim chose to call an attorney, rather than a lay person, one with whom she did not have an especially close, personal and confidential relationship. One day in the fall of 1983, at about 3:00 P.M., the victim called her cousin, Hillard Wiese, an attorney, at his office. https://t.co/WMwMXq1BzA, Gail Beth, beloved daughter, granddaughter and sister, her headstone says. Gail Katz Bierenbaum Murder: Her Cause of Death, Copyright 2023 Heavy, Inc. All rights reserved. At the time the deceased disappeared, defendant was a surgical resident at Maimonides Hospital and a licensed pilot. 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. Days turned to months, and months to years with no sign of Katz. 3.86. In fact, the doorman did not speak to defendant July 7 and could not recall seeing either defendant or the deceased that day. Finally, the court's cautionary instructions to the jury were more than adequate to assure a relevant and fair consideration of this evidence and avoid prejudicial impact. By July, it was against this backdrop that a divorce was virtually inevitable-a situation exacerbated further by defendant's knowledge of his wife's adultery. Upon seeing the transcript of Bierenbaums confession, Alayne Katz said the words sounded like her former brother-in-law. His flight path took him over the ocean. 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. Notwithstanding these and other direct, uncomplicated admonitions, defendant omitted telling Det. 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. The court must assess not only the nature of the startling event and the amount of time which has elapsed between the occurrence and the statement, but also the activities of the declarant in the interim (People v. Edwards, 47 N.Y.2d 493, 497, 419 N.Y.S.2d 45, 392 N.E.2d 1229). They also proved that it was also feasible for him to so transport the bag containing the decedent's remains-whether disarticulated or intact-to Caldwell Airport in Fairfield, New Jersey, and load it aboard a Cessna 172 plane directly from the car parked alongside on the tarmac, all unnoticed. Arcturus: New COVID-19 variant spreading in the U.S with new symptom, Accused Florida serial killer accepts plea deal, will serve 4 consecutive life terms, Gov. 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. One of the biggest challenges, the former prosecutor said, was to convince a jury that Bierenbaum could fly a plane and push Katzs body from the aircraft at the same time. As a cameraman in a helicopter filmed the recreation, a New York City police officer shoved a duffel bag filled with 110 pounds of rice and sand from a Cessna 172 three times, unassisted, the newspaper said. Confession: Dr. Robert Bierenbaum and his then-wife, Dr. Janet Cholett, leave court together in October 2000 in New York. Her remains have never been found, although a body washed ashore in Staten Island that investigators initially believed to be Katz Bierenbaum. Defendant responded to none of them. He saw three different doctors. 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. Not a single shred of evidence in this record supports any of these bizarre claims; 5. 286 and its progeny. He was inconsistent about his purported knowledge of his wife's post-July 7 whereabouts, alluding to different theories and purported sightings to different people. We recognize that as a general proposition false statements are a relevant but weak form of evidence. As for any suggested theory that someone other than defendant killed her, no proof exists in this record which is even remotely consistent with such speculation, and there is no one other than defendant Bierenbaum who, like he, had the motive or had the exclusive opportunity to kill her at the time and place where the victim was last seen alive; and, surely, there was no one who signaled his obvious guilt by covering and distorting the truth as this defendant repeatedly did. Bierenbaum described himself as immature at the time of the murder, for which he is serving 20 years to life. 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. Notwithstanding that defendant originally consented to having the psychiatrist speak to and warn the victim and his parents, he now claims that the ruling allowing testimony only about the existence and nature of the warning letter was error because it violated his statutory privilege under CPLR 4504(a) and it was otherwise unduly prejudicial. Defendant next argues that the claimed relevancy of the Tarasoff letter does not justify its introduction because its prejudicial effect outweighs its probative value. Defendant was pretty surprised and stunned and asked her what she knew. 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. 2. 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. Exposing these transgressions, if it did not disgrace him, would most certainly compromise his professional standing, damage his personal reputation, and injure his short- and long-term career plans and income potential. He was the individual that las[t] saw her in the apartment. Did Dr. Robert Bierenbaum Kill His Wife Gail Katz? Gail Katz reported the assault at a local police precinct, but nothing came of the report. A surgeon who murdered his wife admitted to the killing more than 30 years later. Psychiatrist's Warning Letter and Other Hearsay. at 184). Thus, it is impossible for a court to conclude safely that her motivation was untouched by economic self-interest or unencumbered by concerns about legal strategy. He can hardly claim with any credibility that an interlude of that nature and length slipped his mind when he spoke to the police and others on the first day, or, indeed, at least four times during the first week, following his wife's unexplained disappearance. Dalsass' approximately eight telephone answering machine messages. On the facts here, it is reasonable to assign a moderate degree of probative force to the false statements [emphasis added]. Robert Bierenbaum admitted he threw his wifes body out of an airplane and into the ocean nearly three decades ago during a parole hearing in December 2020. 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 to killing wife Gail Katz and throwing her body out of an airplane during a December 2020 parole board hearing, according to a new (Lorenzo Ciniglio/Sygma via Getty Images), We knew it was going to be the toughest trial that wed ever had. Bierenbaum has been eligible for parole since October 2020. Notwithstanding defendant's argument, this limitation was, under these circumstances, an exercise of discretion which was fair to both sides for the following important reason. 14, 551 P.2d 334), to the victim. 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. People v. Benzinger, 36 N.Y.2d 29, 33-34, 364 N.Y.S.2d 855, 324 N.E.2d 334. The victim, whom Wiese occasionally saw at family gatherings, telephoned him at his office one afternoon in the fall of 1983. 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. Later on July 14, at a meeting at Det. 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. I wanted her to stop yelling at me and I attacked her, Bierenbaum told the parole board, according to the transcript. He is now eligible for parole and faces a parole hearing in November 2021. Crystal Bonvillian, Cox Media Group National Content Desk, Former NY surgeon admits killing wife, throwing body from airplane in 1985. Instead, he falsely told both detectives, on a total of at least three occasions, that he stayed in his Manhattan apartment all day until 5:30 P.M., emphasizing to Dalsass that he was positive that he left [his apartment] at 5:30 [P.M.]. He also changed his claim that on July 7 he had spoken to the doorman who, he had originally maintained, said he saw the victim leave the building Sunday shortly after 11:00 A.M. dr bob bierenbaum parole 2020 CMI is a proven leader at applying industry knowledge and engineering expertise to solve problems that other fabricators cannot or will not take on. He also gave inconsistent statements about his wifes disappearance to various women he dated after Katz vanished. rendered November 29, 2000, affirmed. 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. Please try again. She told Wiese she was speaking quickly and softly because she was expecting defendant. The former plastic surgeons stunning confession took place during a December parole hearing, the transcript of which was recently obtained by ABC News. In addition to the foregoing powerful circumstantial evidence, the People contend that the interplay between certain items of evidence also supports the verdict. 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.. As for the opinion testimony, the court exercised its discretion properly by admitting the medical examiner's expert testimony. PEOPLE v. BIERENBAUM (2002) | FindLaw 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. Dalsass waited until 12:30 A.M. and left the first of approximately eight messages on defendant's home answering machine and at his work number during the ensuing week. The two-hour special describes Bierenbaum, a multilinguistic surgeon, skier, chef and pilot, as a Jekyl and Hyde figure. 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. 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. 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.
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