Latest / Murder Files Unsealed / Doctor Claims Late Wife Fell in Shower But Strange Injuries Cast Doubt

Transcript

Doctor Claims Late Wife Fell in Shower But Strange Injuries Cast Doubt · Murder Files Unsealed

• 0:00
  The investigators were perplexed by the discovery of Leslie Nolander's body. Doctor Robert Nolander,
• 0:06
  a well known obgyn in de Witt, New York, claimed that his
• 0:10
  wealthy philanthropist wife had a fatal slip and fall accident in the shower due to
• 0:16
  her vertigo. However, the severity of Leslie's head injury, with her skull
• 0:22
  cracked to the base and her brain exposed, along with strange wounds on her
• 0:27
  face and hand, raised suspicions. Despite the lack of a clear motive for
• 0:33
  the death of the vibrant sixty one year old mother and the unexplained amount of
• 0:38
  blood in the bedroom and bathroom, the district attorneys sought help from Leslie's friend,
• 0:43
  doctor Mary Jumblick, a retired medical examiner, to unravel the mystery.
• 0:49
  They say that dead men tell no tales. Well that's not true. Dead
• 0:54
  men tell remarkable tales if you just look carefully enough, said William Fitzpatrick on
• 1:00
  Onondaga County DA on Accidents, Suicide or Murder airing Saturdays on Oxygen the morning
• 1:08
  of September seventeenth, twenty twelve. Oh my god, there's blood everywhere.
• 1:15
  Dad put her down. Her neck might be broken, screamed Leslie's twenty three
• 1:19
  year old daughter Jenna, in a disturbing nine one one call replayed on Accidents,
• 1:23
  Suicide or Murder. Friend Megan Coleman, a news anchor with NBC three
• 1:29
  in Syracuse, referred to Leslie as a community leader and highlighted her involvement in
• 1:34
  various boards. She also mentioned that Leslie and her husband were a prominent couple
• 1:41
  in the community. Neulander informed the authorities that he had not seen Leslie that
• 1:46
  morning until he discovered her injured on the shower floor. He clarified that they
• 1:52
  slept in separate rooms due to his frequent hospital visits. Upon returning from his
• 1:57
  morning run, no Ulanda placed a cup of coffee on Leslie's bedside table while
• 2:04
  she was in the shower, as was their routine. It was rosh Hashana
• 2:08
  and they had plans to attend temple later that day. It was only during
• 2:14
  his second check on her that he found her still in the shower, badly
• 2:17
  hurt. He immediately went to Jenna's room and instructed his daughter to call nine
• 2:24
  one one. After that, he attempted CPR in the shower, but the
• 2:30
  surface was too slippery. Neulander then moved Leslie to the bedroom, where he
• 2:36
  performed vigorous CPR in an effort to revive her. In the bathroom, the
• 2:42
  shower was still running when I got there, stated Sergeant Michael Kergan, one
• 2:46
  of the first patrol officers to arrive. I knew doctor Noulander. He was
• 2:52
  one of the rare obg Wayans in the county. He was my wife's doctor.
• 2:55
  At one point. As the EMTs worked to save lesl Kergan couldn't ignore
• 3:01
  the blood that was present. Stains could be seen on the bedroom carpet,
• 3:06
  Splatter was evident on the nightstand, tiled floor, and in the bathroom.
• 3:10
  Unfortunately, Leslie was declared deceased at the location. Any evidence in the shower
• 3:16
  could be washing away. I took a photograph and then I shut the water
• 3:22
  off. The officer also took samples from water bottles and the cup of coffee
• 3:28
  on the nightstand. You never know if it could be something she ingested.
• 3:32
  At this point, we're asking is this an actual accident or do we have
• 3:38
  a homicide. The medical examiner promptly determined the death to be accidental, citing
• 3:44
  that her injuries were in line with a slip and fall in the shower.
• 3:47
  Fitzpatrick informed show producers that it is relatively common for individuals to pass away in
• 3:53
  a bathroom, with an estimated two thy five hundred cases per year involving catastrophic
• 3:59
  ev events like heart attacks or strokes followed by a fall resulting in severe injuries.
• 4:06
  Doctor Mary Jumbalick helped blow the case wide open. While the new Lander
• 4:11
  family received support from the community with a traditional Shiva at their home, rumors
• 4:16
  circulated in the background. Leslie's close friend, Jumbalick, who was the retired
• 4:23
  Chief Medical Examiner of Onondaga County, remained skeptical about the talk of murder and
• 4:30
  marital issues. Even when a mutual friend mentioned witnessing a significant amount of blood
• 4:36
  at the house, Mary initially dismissed it. She stated, I've heard people
• 4:42
  exaggerate before, claiming there was a lot of blood when it was just a
• 4:46
  small drop. However, when she discovered that Neulander was planning to travel to
• 4:51
  Israel shortly after his wife's death, she became concerned. Jumbalick reached out to
• 4:58
  her former colleague fits D expressing worries that Neulander might be leaving the country permanently.
• 5:05
  Despite the case being officially closed, Fitzpatrick couldn't ignore his suspicions and requested
• 5:12
  Jumbalick to assist by coming out of retirement. This request came as a shock
• 5:17
  to her, describing it as a very jarring moment. Upon viewing the crime
• 5:23
  scene photos provided to her, Jumbalick was stunned and felt as though she was
• 5:28
  looking at the wrong case. She remarked, it was completely different from what
• 5:33
  had been concluded. The head wound appeared more complex than a mere fall in
• 5:40
  the shower. Eighteen months after Leslie's death, the medical examiner revised his ruling
• 5:46
  to homicide, telling the DA I got this one wrong. The jury unanimously
• 5:53
  found Neulander guilty of murder, and he was sentenced to twenty years