>> your part in all this almost reads like a novel. did you feel like that? >> well, it's not fiction, and truth is often stranger and more painful than fiction could ever be. >> reporter: it was december 2012 when mary jumbelic found herself in a precarious position. the former medical examiner was looking at the autopsy of a dear friend, and she was reviewing the work of the current m.e., who had definitively ruled leslie neulander's death an accident. >> well, there's a process you look at everything.

you consider the scene. you consider the autopsy findings. you look at the statements. you weigh it all in and -- and come to a scientific conclusion about it. >> did you feel like leslie was talking to you from the grave as you're looking at this report? >> yes, she's telling me what happened, yes. >> reporter: and what leslie's injuries were telling mary would eventually send shockwaves through syracuse. >> leslie was murdered. she died as a result of blunt head trauma and the manner was homicide. she had large five inch wound on the side of her scalp with her skull crushed in, pushed into her brain, with injuries on multiple sides of her face, both cheeks, her forehead, her nose, her lip. >> what was the medical examiner thinking? >> i wish i knew. >> reporter: mary's findings gave the case new momentum. and the person authorities were

focusing on was bob neulander. detectives began collecting more evidence in what was still a highly circumstantial case and eight months had gone by since leslie's death. it was spring 2013. bob had sold the beautiful mansion on shalimar way and had moved into a much smaller place downtown. police got search warrants for his new condo. >> we took the two lamps and those lamps still had blood spatter on them. on the -- >> still? >> on the -- on the shades. yes. >> reporter: they also returned to the mansion now sold and mostly empty but amazingly, the neulanders' bed was still there. >> we did locate more blood and more spatter on the headboard and the blinds. >> of -- of the bed? >> which -- which weren't seen that day. >> reporter: the local media caught wind that police were investigating the prominent doctor. >> today police also searched here in fayetteville which is where the neulanders lived. >> reporter: bob had hired an attorney who made it clear his

client was innocent. >> this has been an open secret and a subject of gossip and irresponsible rumor now for months. dr. neulander has not been charged with any kind of offense. >> reporter: and the investigation dragged on. bob never went to israel to visit daughter jenna, authorities took his passport. >> he did turn over his passport for a certain period of time. i -- i -- i think he got it back. >> reporter: he never practiced medicine again either. eye problems kept him from performing surgery. meanwhile, december 2013, more than a year after leslie's death, bob, alongside his attorney, agreed to tell detectives details about the day leslie died. >> he had gone for a run and come back and went through a whole process of getting some coffee and bringing coffee up. because that's a normal routine. and then, he says goes to check on leslie. he was knocking on the door and she wasn't answering. so, he walked into the bathroom and -- and then, he found her on the floor of the shower.

did anyone ask him, "why did you move her so many times?" >> he has to bring her out of the shower because it's too steamy and dark in the shower. >> reporter: but that conflicted with what detectives saw for themselves the day of leslie's death. >> nothing was dark that day. it was very bright. >> reporter: and that wasn't all. detective kapral realized bob was now telling a different story from what he told one of the first responders at the scene. >> that day he had told the officer he found her in an upright, seated position in the shower. >> reporter: maybe it was the passage of time, but more than a year later his memory of her fall had changed. >> he found her with her head on the floor of the shower laying with her head towards the door. >> reporter: still, that didn't answer why a respected doctor and a prominent member of the community would murder his wife. police were nowhere near ready to make an arrest. when out of the blue a new face

came forward in the investigation. >> you know, sometimes you gotta be brave enough to get involved, even if it's a bad situation. >> reporter: remember nevin robi? he met leslie at a local starbucks six months before her death. they had become fast friends. >> i could bounce so many ideas off of her. it was a really good sounding board. you know, i mean, i think it was refreshing for her to be able to talk to someone that is not really part of her friendship circle. >> reporter: he had information that would change the investigation once again. leslie had been telling nevin secrets about her personal life, including her marriage troubles. according to nevin, when bob saw texts between nevin and his wife, he didn't like it and texted nevin himself. >> "who are you?" you know, and "what -- what are you guys talking about?" i just responded very simply. i was like, "we're having lunches. she's my friend." >> did he get hostile at all? >> he only got hostile at the end. "my wife and i are having, like, marital issues i'm glad you're, -- you're her friend, but you know, please stay out of our marriage stuff. so obviously he knows that she's talking to me about their

marriage stuff. >> maybe she's telling you her deepest, darkest secrets that he doesn't want out. >> that response was one thing, one thing only, control. this is my life. he doesn't want that information spread. >> reporter: nevin knew about the discord in the marriage. leslie had also confided in him that bob had been unfaithful to her for years. >> he had been cheating on her throughout the marriage. my thing is, well, if someone's doing you wrong then -- then change it. but, you know, her reasonings were kind of like, you know, we have kids. so it wasn't until the last conversation did i kind of hear the grand plan that she had. >> what was the grand plan? >> that they were gonna get a divorce. she was looking for a new place. the last conversation she said she put down a deposit and signed an agreement. >> reporter: they'd also just changed their wills. >> if something happened to one or the other person that they would inherit everything. and i was like, "i mean, i guess that sounds good." >> reporter: but what concerned nevin the most was this. >> she started talking about bob and how he's acting very erratic.

he came to the bathroom one day and he was, like, really kind of, like, semi-aggressive. and not aggressive to her physically just, like, kinda, like, verbally. and then he'd, like, leave quickly. so i was like, "well, do you feel afraid?" and she's like, "no, not really." >> were you worried about her? >> i was worried. i felt like, you know, i don't know if i'm gonna see her again. >> reporter: leslie texted nevin that evening. it was four days before her death. she asked him not to contact her. >> she wrote, "don't text or get in touch with me. i will get in touch in october. stay well. it was great seeing you today, xo." >> reporter: october is when they'd both be in nyc and planned to meet for lunch. only when october came, leslie never showed up. >> i was like, "well, that's weird." and i just went over to my computer and i just typed in he first and last name. and there was her obituary. >> reporter: leslie had died in september, a full month earlier. >> and i was, like, in shock. it flashed me back to the last conversation i had with her. it was -- it was like two book ends happening. they just came together. the

book closed. >> reporter: coming up -- was it murder? the case heads into court. and on the stand a distraught, devoted daughter. >> daddy, don't move her, daddy! >> what does she remember? what is she gonna say? >> reporter: when dateline continues. 130 yards now... bill's got a very tough lie here... looks like we have some sort of sea monster in the water hazard here. i believe that's a "kraken", bruce. it looks like he's going to go with a nine iron. that may not be enough club... well he's definitely going to lose a stroke on this hole. if you're a golf commentator, you whisper. it's what you do. if you want to save fifteen percent or more on car insurance, you switch to geico. it's what you do. this golf course is electric... for my frequent heartburnmorning because you can't beat zero heartburn! ahhh the sweet taste of victory! prilosec otc. one pill each morning. 24 hours.

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2014. close to two years since dr. bob neulander told police his wife leslie slipped and fell in the shower. dewitt police detective scott kapral had painstakingly pieced together a murder case against the doctor. but one last hurdle still stood in the way. a big one. the current m.e.'s ruling of an accidental death. >> perhaps there's just a willingness to want to believe bob. >> reporter: the m.e. was steadfast in his belief that leslie died from a slip and fall -- even after his predecessor, mary jumbelic, had come to a very different conclusion. >> it's just -- it seems like it would be hard to ignore all those other injuries. >> right, it does go against, you know, classic forensic knowledge. >> reporter: so the onondaga county district attorney arranged for other prominent forensic pathologists to take a look at the case. gene conway, the dewitt police chief at the time, sat in a meeting where leslie's cause of

death was hotly debated. mary was there too. >> the current m.e. was also in the room? >> yes. and the meeting was for the purpose of discussing the findings that the medical examiner had come up with. >> this is a bit of a showdown, a science kind of showdown. you've got the current m.e. ruling one way, an accident. you've got the former m.e. saying, "no, this is a murder." >> well, it was a good discussion. there was now opinions from other medical professionals that the cause of death was homicide. >> other forensic pathologists, board certified, nationally known, came to the conclusion independent of my conclusion. >> reporter: after considering the opinions of those other experts, the medical examiner decided to change his ruling from accidental fall to homicide. authorities now had what they needed to indict the doctor.

>> there was an arrest this morning of robert neulander. >> reporter: dr. bob neulander, the obgyn who had brought so many lives into the world was now accused of taking a life, charged with second degree murder and tampering with physical evidence. >> was this case dominating the headlines in the news? >> yes, it was. and it was also dominating the conversation. many people thought he was innocent. and i think that, for most people, they couldn't come to believe in their mind that he would take her life. >> reporter: and when the trial began this past march the entire neulander family -- all of their children, even leslie's own siblings, remained in the doctor's corner. >> reporter: wstm-tv reporter sarahbeth ackerman. >> every day the neulander family would come out of the elevator and link arms or be

hugging and kissing as they were walking down to get to court. >> reporter: what the neulander family heard "in" court, was district attorney william fitzpatrick telling the jury that their father, bob neulander, was a man who flew into a rage. >> he's a guy that snapped and killed his wife. >> reporter: and then tried to cover up the evidence. the d.a.'s theory? that bob killed his wife in the bedroom. and then moved her into the shower to make it look like an accidental fall. the 911 call was played for the jury. >> my mother's -- i don't know if she is breathing, but she is laying on the ground in the shower. >> reporter: jenna called 911 from the other side of the mansion after her father screamed for help. >> i need to go over there and see if she's okay. >> okay. how do you know she's down there? >> my dad. my dad is -- he's over there. >> reporter: she then put down the phone and ran into the master bathroom. >> oh my god, there's blood everywhere! >> reporter: that's when she discovered her mother, bloody and lifeless, for the very first time.

>> dad, put her down. her neck might be broken. >> reporter: she begged her dad to stop moving her mother into the bedroom. >> daddy, don't move her. daddy, stop moving her please. >> reporter: authorities believed it was all part of the doctor's attempt to cover up the murder. >> why do you think he moved the body so far? >> my gut feeling would be it was a way for him to re-introduce the body into the bedroom. >> reporter: and according to dr. mary jumbelic, no medical professional would move someone so severely injured. >> that would be out of character. >> reporter: what's more, forensic experts testified that leslie's time of death didn't match bob's story of discovering his wife a little after 8am. instead, they believed leslie died hours before. >> given the temperature of the body, the rigor in the jaw and the hands, doesn't fit the, "i brought the cup of coffee at 8:20 and the shower's running." >> reporter: detective scott kapral.

>> what did you think really happened that day? >> some sort of assault took place in that bedroom and in that bed. and then, at some point, it obviously continued into that shower. >> reporter: and there was something else -- something subtle, that the neulanders' housekeeper had told detective kapral about. that the bed sheets had been changed since she last made the bed. >> the bed was not made the way she makes that bed. >> you think that was dr. neulander covering up the blood in the bed? >> absolutely, yes. >> reporter: but the trial was far from over -- neulander's defense attorney took the floor and told an entirely different story. >> in the high profile murder trial of dr. neulander, it's now the turn for the defense. >> reporter: ed menkin told the jury his client was charged with a crime that simply never happened. all you had to do, he said, was look at the original medical examiner's report which ruled it clearly "an accident" -- an "accidental fall" in the shower which led to "blunt force head injuries" which caused leslie to die.

>> reporter: and that big black eye that sgt. norton noticed right away? the original m.e. had explained that too. >> this is the first time we heard coup contrecoup. when you have an injury to the skull on the right side it's common for it to bleed into the left side. >> reporter: what's more, said the defense, leslie had a history of vertigo. jenna wrote that in her statement to police. it was detailed on leslie's autopsy report. her sister also testified that leslie had suffered increased dizzy spells in 2012. and while the housekeeper told the jury that the bed looked suspiciously made the day of leslie's death -- leslie's sister had an explanation for that too. >> she said that she used to change the sheets with her sister. and jenna said that she changed the sheets with her mother. so you had a lot of family members that said that they've done that before. >> reporter: the defense made a big point of the fact that the entire neulander family stood behind bob. and that included daughter

jenna, now 25, who took the stand in her father's defense, on the very last day of testimony. >> what is she gonna say? what does she remember? what is she testifying? >> reporter: jenna testified that when she witnessed her dad struggling to move her mom out of the shower, she "helped" her dad. together they carried leslie into the bedroom and onto the carpet, something the 911 call doesn't reveal. would the jury believe bob and leslie's sympathetic daughter jenna? or would they accept the d.a.'s suggestion that jenna was covering for her beloved father? >> jenna was so overwhelmed. it almost looked like she was hyperventilating a little bit, 'cause she's waiting to find out her father's fate. you see the emotional rollercoaster they're going through. >> reporter: bob neulander's fate was now in the hands of the jury. coming up -- >> bob neulander is the most

honorable person i have ever met. >> reporter: honorable husband or callous killer? >> this has been two and a half years of living hell. >> reporter: the verdict.

>> reporter: the jury was now deliberating in the murder case against prominent physician bob neulander. it had been two and a half years since his wife leslie died. years of turmoil for bob, his children, and for friends. many of whom didn't know who or what to believe. >> this has been two and a half years of -- of living hell. it's not anything that you wish upon anybody. >> reporter: leslie's friend terri had gone back to the medium a second time for more answers. >> i remember asking, "is she -- with her children?" "is she watching out for the kids?" and she said, "yes, but they're not hearing her." "she's trying desperately and

she cannot get in peace until they do hear her." >> is your take on that that they're supporting bob? >> that's exactly what i think. uh-huh. >> reporter: jurors were taking their time deliberating, but then on the afternoon of day 4, reporter sarah beth ackerman noticed a sudden commotion. >> well, we started noticing that there were several other district attorneys, kind of, making their way over to the courtroom. so, we all knew that something was going to happen. >> reporter: the neulander family arrived. jenna was clinging to her father. >> she was crying. she was breathing really heavily. >> reporter: everyone filed back into the quiet courtroom, the tension suffocating as the foreperson rose to deliver the doctor's fate. >> emotions were high inside the court when the verdict was read. >> reporter: guilty. guilty of murdering his wife in the second degree and tampering with physical evidence. >> jenna screamed.

she was hysterical, screaming, crying. it was just a nightmare. >> reporter: as officers handcuffed dr. neulander, who now faced 25 years to life in prison, jenna was pleading to her father. >> "daddy, look at me. look at me, daddy. i know you're innocent. i love you. i was there." >> reporter: and as for leslie's friends? the two women who helped drive the investigation. >> when you heard guilty, what's going through your mind? >> i was glad it was over. >> relief. i think it's a relief. >> reporter: bob's defense attorney ed menkin emerged and spoke briefly to the media. >> bob neulander is the most honorable person i have ever met. his case has been a travesty from start to finish and it is not finished. >> reporter: six weeks later, the defense filed a motion for a new trial citing jury misconduct accusing a juror of receiving text messages about the case. the judge will hold a hearing

-- the judge denied the motion for a new trial. but there is still one big question for those who believe bob snapped that september morning in 2012. why? detective kapral thinks part of it had to do with money. >> if they do get a divorce, the fact that she would expect or could expect to get a certain portion, possibly half of that most certainly built up in the entire picture we are drawing. >> reporter: and part of it -- was about the marriage. >> from an investigative standpoint, i think we were looking at someone who didn't want to accept the fact that she was moving on. >> reporter: and then there was that final text between leslie and nevin. the text about meeting up in new york city in october. >> do you worry that there's a chance that maybe bob saw that text message and exploded? >> i -- i mean, maybe. i mean. >> he took it the other way that it was romantic? >> i mean, i guess the police, you know, made mention of that.

but, you know, but they don't think that it was something along those lines. nor am i gonna sit here and -- and try to, you know, get emotionally estranged from my own well-being that, like, i'm the cause of this whole situation because to be quite honest i don't think i am. i don't think anyone is. >> and as for leslie's friends who stood up and spoke the truth when most people were too afraid to. >> it's been difficult. some people don't talk to me. >> how did her children react to you? >> i'm -- i'm sure they bear me animosity. i wouldn't blame them for that. >> what would you say to bob? >> i'm sorry it ended like this. i'm very sorry. nobody wants to see somebody that they liked go to jail. but leslie didn't deserve to die. >> if leslie has looked down on all of this, what do you think she's thinking as far as how everything unraveled? >> i think she would be saying, "i was right." "see, i told you." leslie didn't want revenge, but she wanted her story to be out there.

that's all for holt. thanks for joining us. . this sunday morning where does the race stand now? we have brand new runners and i am talking to the front runners. plus remember this moment from the debate. >> watch a full fetus on the table and kicking and someone saying to keep them alive for the brain. >> how the fight over planned parent hood could shut down the government in ten days.