A divorce attorney murdered a Cleveland nurse in a plot to avoid taking her case to court because he had not prepared for it, prosecutors allege.
Gregory Moore, 51, is accused of fatally stabbing Aliza Sherman, 53, to death outside his office on March 24, 2013.
Sherman was on her way to discuss her divorce case when she was approached by a hooded figure and knifed ten times.
Police initially believed she had been attacked by a stranger, but said technological advances led to them recently identifying Moore as a suspect and positing the bizarre motive.
Investigators believe Moore hatched the savage murder plot to avoid having to admit that he was unprepared for Sherman’s case.
The attorney was previously convicted for phoning in false bomb scares to several courts in 2012 to avoid having to come clean about being unprepared for other cases he was due to argue.
Moore was arrested and charged on Friday with one count of aggravated murder, one count of conspiracy, six counts of murder and two counts of kidnapping, according to the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office.
His long-awaited indictment came after the state’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation said it found evidence Moore had lied about his location at the time of the murder.
Aliza Sherman, 53, was fatally stabbed outside her divorce attorney’s office in downtown Cleveland on March 24, 2013
Investigators allege that divorce attorney Gregory Moore, 51, murdered Sherman in a plot to avoid taking her case to court because he had not prepared for it
Authorities found that Moore had arranged to meet Sherman at his office despite leaving the building hours earlier. Pictured: Aliza Sherman with daughter Jennifer as a child
Surveillance footage, phone records and key card data revealed that the attorney had never actually entered his office building as he had claimed and could have been outside at the time Sherman was murdered, prosecutors said.
The mom-of-four was attacked as she waited for someone to unlock the doors to Moore’s downtown office building, according to the indictment.
Surveillance video released by police shows a hooded figure running from the crime scene
Moore had disconnected his phone from the cell network for three hours around the time of Sherman’s death in an attempt to avoid creating cell tower location evidence, per the complaint.
‘These texts and requests for calls were for the purpose of creating false evidence that Moore was unaware of Sherman’s assault,’ the indictment said.
He later turned his phone back on and made several calls to Sherman’s phone in an attempt to cover his tracks, prosecutors allege.
He then got a new phone a few days after her death, according to the criminal complaint.
‘The Sherman family has waited over a decade for answers regarding their mother’s homicide,’ Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O’Malley said.
‘Through the tenacious work of multiple law enforcement agencies, evidence was accumulated that paints the unmistakable picture that Gregory Moore orchestrated and participated in the brutal murder of Aliza Sherman.’
Moore had been acting as Sherman’s attorney after her original lawyer was suspended.
Sherman was a nurse at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio
Sherman’s husband at the time, Dr. Sanford Sherman, was never identified as a person of interest in the case and has since died, Cleveland.com reports.
Moore’s arrest marks a dramatic conclusion to a case that had remained one of Cleveland’s most haunting unsolved murders.
‘The successful conclusion of this case highlights the coordinated efforts between the FBI, local law enforcement, and the Cuyahoga County Prosecutors Office and serves as an important reminder of our commitment to the relentless pursuit of justice for victims and their families,’ Cleveland Office of the FBI Special Agent in Charge Gregory Nelsen said.
Prosecutors also highlighted Moore’s suspicious actions in the hours after Sherman’s death, including false statements to investigators and attempts to mislead the police.
In 2017, Moore admitted to lying to police about his involvement in Sherman’s death, as well as making bomb threats to the Geauga County Courthouse in January 2012 and the Lake County Courthouse in May 2012, and the Cuyahoga County Courthouse in July 2012.
Investigators suggest that he may have been motivated by a desire to avoid taking her case to court, which could have led to financial and professional complications for him. Pictured: Police investigate the scene after Aliza Sherman was stabbed to death
He was later sentenced to 180 days in jail, 36 months of community control, and 150 hours of court work service, News5Cleveland reported.
Court records showed no attorney for Moore on Friday and he’s expected to be arraigned in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court at a later date.
