(JTA) — The CBS News show “48 Hours” will air an hourlong program on a Jewish physician convicted earlier this year of murdering his wife.
Called “The Doctor’s Daughter,” the show about Dr. Robert Neulander of Syracuse, New York, is scheduled to broadcast nationally on Saturday night.
Neulander, an obstetrician-gynecologist, and his wife Leslie were active in the local Jewish community, including its federation and JCC, and their four children attended the local Jewish day school. The couple was also known for their philanthropic support of numerous local secular institutions.
Neulander was found guilty in April of murdering Leslie in their home in 2012, a case that initially had been ruled an accident. In July he was sentenced in Onondaga County Court to 20 years to life in state prison.
The “48 Hours” episode, according to Syracuse.com, “seeks to answer the question: how did such a successful family go so wrong?”
Susan Zirinsky, the show’s senior executive producer told Syracuse.com: “It seemed the perfect organic unit: the father delivering babies, the mom involved in communities, the children healthy. It’s so curious: people who are smart, working in a normal working environment and from the outside it looked so right… How does it happen?”
Neulander, 63, continues to insist he is innocent, and family members, including Leslie’s sister, stood by him throughout the trial. The couple’s daughter Jena testified for the defense.
A preview of the show can be viewed here.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
