Syracuse Jewish Doctor Goes on Trial in Wife’s Murder

Jury selection began in the trial of a Syracuse, N.Y., physician accused of murdering his wife.
Dr. Robert Neulander, 63, was indicted in June on charges of second-degree murder and tampering with physical evidence and was released on $100,000 cash bail. His wife, Leslie, Neulander was found dead in the shower of the family’s home in 2012, but the death initially was ruled an accident. Neulander has denied the charges.
Both Neulanders were active in the local Jewish community.
By the end of Monday, seven jurors were picked and 20 potential ones were still under consideration, according to Syracuse.com. The trial in Onondoga County Court is expected to draw a large number of spectators, so court officials opened a second courtroom where viewers can watch a closed-circuit video feed of the proceedings, The Associated Press reported.
In questioning potential jurors, defense lawyer Edward Menkin emphasized that Neulander had no motive to kill his wife. Jurors were also questioned about their ability to view graphic photos, presumably of the victim, and whether such images might affect their neutrality.
The Neulanders chaired the Jewish Federation of Central New York’s annual campaign in 2012. Leslie chaired fundraising events at the Syracuse Hebrew Day School in DeWitt and Robert played a key role in the expansion of the local Jewish community center.
Their four children attended the Syracuse Hebrew Day School.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO