Crazy for You: The True Story of a Family Man's Murder, a Wife's Secret, and a Deadly Obsession

by Michael Fleeman

A LOVING FATHERA typical morning in the Atlanta Businessman Rusty Sneiderman drops his beloved son off at the Dunwoody Prep nursery. In the parking lot, a minivan pulls up next to his car. The driver pulls out a gun-and shoots Rusty four times in the chest.A HEARTBROKEN WIFESneiderman's devoted wife, Andrea, is devastated by the crime. Who could have done this? She is shocked when police trace the shooting to a man named Hemy Neuman-who happens to be Andrea's adoring boss. A DEADLY OBSESSIONThe prosecution accuses Andrea and Hemy of having a "forbidden relationship," and of conspiring to collect $2 million in her husband's life insurance. But Andrea swears she never intended to kill Rusty-and that it is Hemy who's "delusional" and obsessed. With the charges against her dropped, and the insurance money frozen, Andrea remains a mysterious character. Only one other person-the man who pulled the trigger-knows the truth about what really happened...With 8 pages of dramatic photos!

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Crime, Audiobook, Biography

332 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 27, 2015

Reviews

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the classic story of a man and woman who have an affair, and the man kills the woman's husband. Was the wife in on planning the murder? We never really know, the evidence isn't very clear, unlike the evidence for the murderer, but she's such a disagreeable person during the murder trial that I certainly wasn't sad when she was found guilty of some lesser crimes in relation to the death. Her co-worker, with whom she has the affair and who kills her husband, pleads that yes, he is guilty, but he was insane at the time. If being in love and being ruled by passion is insanity OK but I don't buy his insanity plea but the jury did. I'd like to read a follow up story in a few years to see what the wife has done with her life and how the children are doing.

[Jill H. · Rating 3 out of 5]

A so-so story of a love triangle (or not) in which a husband and loving father is gunned down in front of his children's day care center by an unknown assailant. It doesn't take long for the police to discover that the wife may or may not have been having an affair with her work supervisor. At the least, he was obsessed with her......at the most she helped him plan the crime so that they could be together. The book drags a bit becoming somewhat repetitive , thus my lower rating. It is interesting but no masterpiece!!

[Mrs. Read · Rating 5 out of 5]

By an odd coincidence I just finished reading the second of two true crime books about a woman whose spouse is murdered by someone who’s obsessively in love with her. In each instance the killer is readily identified and confesses; the subject of each book is the investigation/trial[s] about the wife/loved one’s degree of complicity in the murder.
The book I read first, Crazy for You, is written by Michael Fleeman, a good writer and a good investigative reporter. Insofar as he has an opinion on Mrs. Sneiderman’s guilt he keeps it to himself and it doesn’t seem to have affected his account. At the center of the case was a genuine mystery: if she and the murderer were having an affair, they had a rational motive to remove the obstacle to their being together; if he’d based an elaborate fantasy on what was just a close boss/employee relationship, he was crazy to imagine that killing her husband would enable him to realize it, and she was an innocent victim of a deranged stalker. Of course there is a continuum between “Here’s that printout, Sir” and “Oh darling, once he’s dead we’ll together forever”, and Fleeman presents the evidence and lets the reader decide where they were on that spectrum.
Crazy for You is a fine true crime book, and like most books in that genre it is overlong. The writer’s dilemma is that to include everything about the crime, the criminals, the victims, etc. is simply impossible, but to deliberately omit something is a priori an assertion of its irrelevance. Imagine an account of the Simpson/Goldman murder that went: A big sports star married a teenager and they divorced - later on she was killed - he was tried for the crime and acquitted. Well, one could argue that any chronicle of the Simpson/Goldman killings which did not include the Rodney King beating trial four years earlier was similarly incomplete, even though not one person involved in that crime/trial was so much as mentioned in Simpson’s. For some readers Fleeman didn't score a bullseye in the challenge of deciding how much is too much, but it’s an intriguing crime and a good book nonetheless. Recommended.

[Jimmy Chaillot · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a wild case this turned out to be. Do I think the wife had something to do with the murder? I do. Her demeanor on the witness stand screamed guilty. Was there enough evidence to convict her? Nope and if we go off hunches to convict people our justice system crumbles.

Lots of info in this book more than I thought there would be.

I recommend it.

[Adam Overwijk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Couldn’t put it down, great book

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

After I realized that a podcast I was listening to was just pulling straight from the audiobook, I went straight to the source. I live in the Atlanta area and I remember when this story hit the news. I now work in Dunwoody, where this took place. The author did a great job describing Dunwoody and recapping the aftermath of this crime. However, the audiobook narrator mispronounced "DeKalb," which will only irritate locals.

[♥ Marlene♥ · Rating 3 out of 5]

No idea why but I had a hard time getting into this story. I had began reading but then stopped too read other books. So few days ago I picked it up again from the beginning but maybe because the people were not ones I could relate to I just found it a struggle at times to read. Loved the author's other books though.

[Ronnie Cramer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A strange and interesting case to be sure.

[Jeff Clausen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started this book on Valentines Day. The romance oozed from its pages, along with obsession, lying, and of course murder. A great combination. The author has a clean, journalistic style that made the reading smooth and unambiguous. Not all true crime is reported this well. The setting of an upscale Atlanta suburb was also a nice change from so many gritty and unappealing locations that are featured in true crime books, while at the same time nicely contrasting the scary mental illness of the murderer. Theses unsavory characters are apparently to be found everywhere and that makes this story even more chilling. My only complaint seems obvious and legitimate: among “eight pages of dramatic photos!” there was not a single photo of the murder victim. I’d sure like to sympathize with the poor man, but alas no picture to put with a name.

[Denise Zendel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the true story of a love triangle that led to a murder at a daycare center in an Atlanta, GA, suburb. Rusty Sniederman dropped his son off at the Dunwoody Prep nursery and on the way back to his vehicle, was shot four times in the chest by a man wearing a disguise. The man in the disguise turns out to be Sniederman’s wife’s boss.

I had watched this case when it appeared on TV (20/20, Dateline, Oxygen, 48 Hours) and thought I might learn something the TV shows glossed over. When I came upon the ebook. I didn’t. It’s a well-written, extensively researched, factual account of the murder and resulting court case that caused me to nod off repeatedly as I read it. Also, the cover promised “eight pages of photos” that sadly were left out of the ebook. The story did keep me occupied at the gym, my main purpose for getting it, but I found it overall dry.

[Leslie Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I feel that the story was told well by the author, the edition of this book that I read suffered from a lot of grammatical errors that the editor should have caught - mostly repeated words like "and" and "that". If that makes you as unhappy as it made me, I recommend Kendall Rae's video on YouTube covering this case.

[John Lyman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty repetitive and seemingly intentionally salacious at times. Quite a few editing errors.
Poor Rusty, a truly innocent victim, not to mention his kids, family and friends. His wife should’ve received more jail time. Her final statement was clear evidence that she did not admit the truth and her involvement in the killing.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written true crime book telling a gripping story of a murder in Atlanta. The ticking clock drama of the murder itself is followed by a series of revelations during the investigation and subsequent trials. I read this on my iPad and there were numerous errors in the text which spoiled the experience somewhat. In this day and age I expect better.

[Beth Ann Garcia · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a captivating story! Engrosses you at every turn. Lots of twists and turns and the plot thickens right up to the end. Did Andrea know Hemy was going to kill her husband? Did she put him up to it or plan it with him?

[Mari · Rating 5 out of 5]

felt like i was there seeing this happen

Interesting to see trial and all events leading up to it. Knowing it was a true store and so well written, it was quite disturbing to me. How terrible for the family and all involved and those that know them.

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good true crime book. It did seem to drag for me a bit at the end, but all and all the author did a nice job on this book.

[Aura Erickson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great true crime story based on lies and deceit.

[Britt]

She should have been put in so much longer!!!

[Missy · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5⭐️audio

[Suzanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was kind of a different crime story. SPOILER ALERT in that the person you thought did it, but I thought the wife was involved but she didn't get tried or convicted of the murder. Very sad case.

[RS · Rating 4 out of 5]

i bought this book on yesterday, start reading it last night and finished it today! i am a sucker for stories about liars and this book does not disappoint - mostly because this is based on a true story.

the writing style kept me engaged. as most of the details of the case was extracted from the case files, the story could easily be dry and boring. but it was not so.

in the end, i do not agree with the verdict and sentence, but at the same time i recognize that that could just the side of me who "just love revenge" talking.

USD$3 million is a lot of money.

[Jerry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Did Andrea plan her husband's murder

I watched the trial of this on tv. I think she was involved , but she escaped murder charges. I think the book covers lots of information that wasn't shown on tv. I couldn't put it down, I think most true crime readers would find it very interesting.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to the true crime podcast Case Closed that was based on this book. I then read the book thinking there would be additional insight and there really wasn’t. Since this is true crime there is no neatly tied up ending and there are still questions that may never be answered (at least in my mind). I thought the book told the story it had well.

[april lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed it, found it hard to put down at times. I remember this case very well as I live in the Atlanta area, and I remembered thinking that something wasn't quite right....little did we know the twists and turns that would surround the mystery of these suburbanites. Excellent!

[John Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting and complex tale of love, wealth, betrayal, and murder. Fleeman presented a thorough and engaging account of the murder of Rusty Sneiderman. However, the true "characters" were Andrea Sneiderman and Hemy Neuman.

[Laura Cleinman · Rating 5 out of 5]

great true crime

Provides detail as well as analysis and interpretation. Very well written. Buy this you will not be sorry. Enjoy !!!!!

[Cindi Bean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Book

I very much enjoyed Crazy for You. It kept me interested from beginning to end! I believe Andrea was more involved in the murder.

[Kristal · Rating 3 out of 5]

True crime

This is a good book.I think it could of been told in.a.shorter story. Sometimes tended.to.be.repetitive. very disappointed.three are no photos.

[Catherine Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A true crime murder story about a man who murdered his lover's husband in Georgia.