Accident, Suicide, or Murder is examining the murder of Leslie Neulander, who the police believe was beaten to death by her doctor husband, Robert Neulander, at their home near Syracuse, New York.
The Neulanders were a well-known and respected family in their community. Robert, an obstetrician-gynecologist, delivered many babies in the area, and as a result, there were plenty of warm feelings for the family.
However, by September 2012, things were not going well in the Neulander household. Robert’s practice was struggling following a battle with an insurance company, and the marriage was failing.
On the morning of September 17, the couple’s daughter, Jenna Neulander, dialed 911 in a panic. She told the operator that her mom, 61-year-old Leslie, had slipped in the shower and bashed her head. She was overheard shouting at her father, Robert, to stop moving the body.
When the cops arrived, they were surprised to find Leslie’s remains in the bedroom about 60 feet from the bathroom. Robert explained that his wife had fallen in the shower and smacked her head, and he had then carried her to the bedroom so he could perform CPR.
The investigators were suspicious, wondering why there was so much blood in the bedroom and not in the bathroom. The cops found blood splattered on the bedroom wall and pooling on a rug.
However, the medical coroner corroborated Robert’s story, declaring that Leslie likely died from “blunt force head injuries due to fall from standing height.” The death was ruled an accident.
Watch the Latest on our YouTube ChannelSuspicions about Leslie Neulander death wouldn’t go away
The case was reignited by Neulander family friend and former county coroner Dr. Mary Jumbelic. She began hearing rumors about the family and decided to look at Leslie’s file.
Jumbelic concluded that Leslie’s injuries were more in common with a car crash or a violent assault than a fall. She also thought Leslie had been hit with a blunt object.
The cops took another look at the case and re-searched the bedroom. This time, they found even more blood splatter, which covered the back of the bed’s headboard.
The police wondered why Robert, a trained doctor, moved his badly injured wife from the bathroom to the bedroom, particularly when he knew she might have a broken neck.
District Attorney Bill Fitzpatrick later told reporters that he suspected Robert had assaulted his wife in the bedroom, and she then ran to the bathroom. Robert then allegedly made a show of carrying Leslie from the bathroom back to the bedroom in order to hide his guilt from his daughter and the police.
Fitzpatrick explained, “[Robert] has got to explain the blood trail from the assault that took place in the bedroom that eventually made its way into the bathroom, and he’s gotta do it in reverse. He had to move that body himself to explain that blood.”
Robert Neulander convicted of killing Leslie Neulander
The cops concluded that with their marriage failing, Robert had murdered his wife in a fit of rage.
Robert’s initial conviction was ruled out after a juror was found to have broken the rules, but a second trial returned another guilty verdict. He was sentenced to 20 years.
As of February 2024, Robert’s defense team had launched a third appeal.
Accident, Suicide, or Murder airs Saturdays at 8/7c on Oxygen.