Going West: True Crime - Aliza Sherman // 390

Episode Date: March 20, 2024

In March of 2013, a 53-year-old nurse was stabbed to death by a hooded figure in broad daylight outside of her lawyer’s office in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. With the help of the attack and flee caught on multiple surveillance cameras, an intense investigation began to hunt down the culprit of her brutal murder. This is the story of Aliza Sherman. BONUS EPISODES Apple Subscriptions: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/going-west-true-crime/id1448151398 Patreon: patreon.com/goingwestpodcast CASE SOURCES 1. Find A Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/107388328/aliza-caroline-sherman 2. Cleveland Clinic: https://give.ccf.org/event/inspiring-change-event-in-honor-of-aliza-sherman/e457398 3. Justice for Aliza Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/justiceforaliza 4. Cleveland Jewish News: https://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/news/local/ed-czinn-how-am-i-going-to-tell-mom/article_d091ea1c-2618-11e3-bfdf-0019bb2963f4.html 5. The Cincinnati Enquirer: https://www.newspapers.com/image/692774700/?terms=%22aliza%20sherman%22&match=1 6. Court TV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeLrMcuZ5jA 7. News 5 Cleveland: https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/local-news/10-years-after-mothers-murder-aliza-shermans-daughter-finds-her-voice-with-new-podcast?fbclid=IwAR0sANwrQAQm70rMNqafH5FKYfJySgFg9yZ_VGh5lMrtrdLHNPpUzo0iqeI 8. Cleveland 19: https://www.cleveland19.com/2023/03/23/10-years-later-is-aliza-shermans-murder-any-closer-being-solved/ 9. Cleveland Jewish News: https://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/sherman/depositions-reveal-details-of-sherman-civil-case/article_db6cc4ce-3976-11e6-9b9b-2fcaa676d945.html 10. WKYC: https://www.wkyc.com/article/news/investigations/aliza-sherman-unsolved-murder-investigation-cleveland/95-e92d9962-7ca6-42d2-ab87-fbab59ed2f4a 11. NBC: https://www.nbcnews.com/dateline/cold-case-spotlight/daughter-works-cleveland-clinic-honor-aliza-sherman-10-year-anniversar-rcna76177 12. Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/11t2cft/the_2013_murder_of_aliza_sherman_cleveland_ohio/ 13. Cleveland Magazine: https://clevelandmagazine.com/in-the-cle/the-read/articles/aliza-sherman 14. WKYC: https://www.wkyc.com/article/news/local/cuyahoga-county/attorney-indicted-for-tampering-with-aliza-sherman-murder-evidence/24299949 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What is going on true crime fans? I'm your host, T and I'm your host Daphne and you're listening to going west. Hello everybody. Hope you're having a great day. Big thank you to Brian for recommending today's case. This one has a really devastating and kind of interesting element to it with the cameras that are involved. That's not something that we see a lot.

I mean, a lot of the cases we cover do involve surveillance footage, but this attack was actually caught on surveillance footage, which I feel like we never see. Yes. And it's one of those cases that you absolutely should share. Um, it really, really does need answers. And there is just some very interesting thoughts and theories involved in this case, so let's not waste any more time. Let's talk about this one. Let's do it! Alright guys, this is episode 390 of Going West, so let's get into it. In In March of 2013, a 53-year-old nurse was stabbed to death by a hooded figure in broad

daylight outside of her lawyer's office in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. With the help of the attack and flee being caught on multiple surveillance cameras, an intense investigation began to hunt down the culprit of Aliza Sherman. Aliza Caroline Zinn was born on September 6, 1959 in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, which is just northeast of downtown Cleveland and not far from Lake Erie. Aliza was one of four joining older brothers Harry, Ed, and Steve to parents Doris and Albert Zinn, who had an incredibly harrowing backstory because both Doris and Albert were survivors of the Holocaust and lost most of their immediate families in Auschwitz. After they were able to immigrate

to the United States, they settled in the Cleveland area and began their own family, who were raised to be loyal and loving, which are qualities that the siblings maintained into adulthood. Her brother Ed recalled, quote, growing up, we had a very tight-knit family. The fact that my parents had lost many of their own brothers and sisters in the Holocaust made us very close. I think that we did everything together. The family's faith was central in their lives, so all four children attended Hebrew Academy for Elementary School. And Elisa continued her faith-based education as the only one to attend a Jewish high school, which was Yevna High.

After attending the Haran School of Nursing in 1981, she was passionate about starting a career where she could help people. Elisa loved children, so she began her work in healthcare as a labor and delivery nurse, but eventually she shifted to working as an IVF nurse at the prestigious Cleveland Clinic and she really loved it there. The year after she graduated nursing school, Aliza married an ophthalmologist named Dr. Sanford Sherman. And aside from both working in the medical field, the two had a ton in common.

Actually including the fact that Sanford was also the child of Holocaust survivors. Yeah, that's a really interesting part of this story. The fact that the two of them met and connected on the fact that both of their parents had been Holocaust survivors. I mean, it's just really interesting to know. It's a horrible thing to have in common, but I'm sure that it helped them bond a lot that their families came from very similar struggles. So the couple settled in the Cleveland suburb of Beechwood, Ohio, and they had four children together, Jason, Jennifer, Jeremy, and Josh. Aliza is remembered as a loving and doting mother, and her children called her the sweetest person they knew.

Jennifer said later, quote, She was my hero. I was in awe of her. She was the most selfless person I have ever known, who did everything to help other people and lift other people up without ever expecting anything in return. In their community, the Shermans appeared to have it all. You know, they were both enjoying successful careers in healthcare, as well as creating a beautiful family and home. But here's the thing, Aliza's many friends basically say otherwise. Her best friend Jan described the marriage as emotionally abusive. She even claimed that Aliza didn't feel safe with her husband Sanford, and that the police

had apparently reported to their home multiple times in the midst of arguments between the two. Jan called Sanford controlling and possessive, saying that she wasn't safe in their home, and that he had even been physical with Aliza in the past Now in 2010 Samford admitted to having an affair and this affair had been going on for the past four years and the next year in 2011 Aliza emailed the rabbi at her son Jeremy's high school Where he was the sophomore at the time urging him to grade her son on a pass fail basis

Basically explaining that his grades were suffering due to turmoil in the home he was the sophomore at the time, urging him to grade her son on a pass-fail basis, basically explaining that his grades were suffering due to turmoil in the home. Now in her email, she wrote to the Rabbi, quote, I've been battling and struggling with a very controlling, hurtful spouse for many years. It looks like a divorce is imminent. It took me a long time to reach this point, tried to avoid it at all costs, but seeing how my oldest son turned into a reincarnate of his father, I realized I have to free Jeremy from this environment. Nobody knows about the steps I need to take,

except for my best friend who is my support." Now, their children also recalled the couple's disagreements from a very young age. Their son Jason said later, quote, I have memories from when I was three years old sitting on the carpet in the family room, covering my ears when they were fighting. The police were at our house numerous times throughout our childhood because me or one of my siblings just called the cops when they were fighting. In June of 2011, Aliza had had enough, and the two began navigating a very difficult divorce that was plagued by setbacks and conflict. Later, pouring

over Aliza's journal entries, which carefully documented the entire ordeal, Jan reflected, quote, she was so distraught and so afraid, and she just wanted this divorce to be over and move on with her life, though she knew that he would never totally leave her alone. While in the midst of the divorce proceedings, Aliza also described that Sanford had been stocking away millions of dollars into a private Merrill Lynch account that he had opened up in her name in May of 2000. And Aliza never had any knowledge of this account, nor access to this account. Four years later in 2004, he forged power of attorney to gain access to the bank account,

despite the fact that it was in Aliza's name. By 2010, he had drained the account of the two million dollars that he had deposited into it. Which just makes you wonder what on earth is that money for? Yeah, it's so weird and so suspicious that he's keeping these accounts from his own wife. But during her early divorce proceedings, Aliza learned what that money had been used for. Her daughter Jennifer's lawyer Adam Fried later alleged that, quote, these transferred assets were not used for family purposes and were in part used for strippers, paramours, and to settle a defamation lawsuit that Aliza never even knew about.

So it's like he has this whole separate situation that he is completely hiding from his wife and his family, doing all of these things in secrecy and even tying Aliza to it by opening an account in her name to store this money in. Yeah, so strange. Well, the defamation lawsuit also came obviously as a big surprise to Aliza and her children

because somehow with the aid of the secret account, Sanford had managed to suppress any word of the legal disputes that he was facing. The lawsuit alleged, Sanford had managed to suppress any word of the legal disputes that he was facing. The lawsuit alleged that Sanford met an exotic dancer in Boca Raton, Florida in 2006, and at some point between 2007 and 2009, he traveled to New York City on a business trip and flew her up to be with him. While there, he assumed the identity of his own cousin in order to cover his tracks and made inappropriate sexual advances towards this woman. He then threatened to kill the dancer and her father if she did not comply with his wishes,

and in the end, this suit was settled out of court with hush money paid from Sanford's secret account. I mean, two million dollars especially, like, that is a lot of money to secretly shuffle away from your wife and family. And I know that it was used for hush money, but I'm curious if it was set up for that purpose in the beginning. Like, if he had planned on using this in case he got in trouble somehow? Well it seems like just according to the lawyer saying like it was used for strippers and paramours and to settle the lawsuit, it seemed like he probably did have a separate account so he could spend money more freely on such you know um such things. Such things. I don't know what to say. Yeah whatever you want to call it. Right. Um, to keep it secret.

And then when he took out the 2 million, that was, that was for this lawsuit. So it was like he ended up just being able to use this secret account that he was eventually found out for, but to try to do all of this under the nose of your wife and family, it's just, it's a wild part of this story. So as all of this information trickled out, Aliza was even more horrified by the man

that she had spent the last 30 years of her life with. But she told friends that she felt strong-armed into staying with him because their youngest son still lived at home, so they agreed to share the house until the divorce was finalized, but they did stay in separate bedrooms. But his predatory behavior grew worse as their divorce grew closer.

On January 16, 2012, Aliza wrote in an email to a friend, quote, I am really afraid. I think he is going to do something really bad. I am really afraid he is going to have me killed. Now, regardless of how contentious their divorce was and how rocky their relationship had been for decades, Sanford still seemed to wanna work things out between them and urged Aliza to seek couples counseling with him, which we see a lot.

So from an outsider's perspective, this seems kind of like with him, which you know, we see a lot so from an outsider's perspective This seems kind of like a power move, you know Yeah, definitely not not necessarily maybe that he actually wants to stay in the relationship But he doesn't want it to fail on top of him. You know what I mean? Yeah, like it's like if he is the one who brings us up and makes the effort then Maybe he can kind of like manipulate her to stay saying. Oh, I'll be better. You know, I'm going to do better. But I think at this point, Elise is like, you know, 30 years, like we've done this for 30 years and nothing has been getting better.

So let's just move forward with this plan. Yeah. And she, she feels unsafe in her own home. So, you know, as she should, she should be able to leave. So she declined wanting to do couples counseling. She just seemed to really want to get out of this awful relationship. So after she filed for divorce, Sanford wrote her a letter that read, quote, Please get marriage counseling with me and save this marriage of four Holocaust survivors. But for Aliza, they were way too far gone. So in response to this, Aliza wrote to her attorney, quote, I think after 28 plus years

of trying, I gave it a fair shot. If I had 1% hope that something could improve, I would agree to the counseling, but I know this is all an act to mess with my head. Despite the past year and a half of her life being ruined by disputes and friction between she and Sanford, 53 year old Aliza seemed to have a positive outlook on her future as a single woman. Shortly before her divorce trial she texted her brother quote, trial in two weeks hopefully there is life after death. Just a very very eerie

comment especially knowing what is gonna happen. Yeah it's unintentionally foreboding but it also really shows how she was feeling about her relationship to say that and it's it's just devastating that she was in that situation but she was almost on the other side of it. Yeah I was gonna say she almost had the opportunity to live this new life that she wanted. So on the other side of it. Yeah, I was going to say, she almost had the opportunity to live this new life that she wanted. So, on the afternoon of March 24th, 2013, Aliza headed to a meeting with her lawyer, Gregory Moore, in downtown Cleveland.

Now, he had texted her earlier that morning, asking her to come to his office to prep for the trial, which was coming up in just two days. Aliza let her friend Jan know that she was heading in for a meeting, and Jan basically asked if she should join her, but Aliza declined, just hoping that this meeting would be brief. Now Aliza was supposed to be meeting her lawyer Greg in his office, but when she arrived, she found that it was locked, and her calls to him were going unanswered So with this she just decided to head back to her car to wait out his arrival on that very cold evening And that's when she was accosted by an assailant

Dressed in black from head to toe wielding a knife Shortly before 5 30 p.m. So two hours before sunset, so it's still daylight, Aliza was walking in front of 75 Erie View Plaza, just blocks from the shores of Lake Erie, in what's normally a very bustling business district. Even on a Sunday evening, because in this area, it's home to many hotels, bars, and restaurants that would have been open at this time. But somehow, her attack went unnoticed until it was too late.

As Aliza walked to her car in front of the business plaza, a suspect, shrouded in all black, including a mask and gloves, rushed to her, clearly surprising her. The vicious attack was quick and calculated, with Aliza being stabbed 11 times, including blows to her face, right ear, back, and her neck, causing her to collapse to the ground. And just as quickly as this attack took place, Aliza's killer fled from the Erieview Plaza in a frantic jog. Kenny Shepard, who was a man inside a nearby building, heard Aliza's shrieks for help and ran to her aid. And as awful as this is to think about, he recounted later that she was bleeding from her mouth and kept repeating the phrase, help me. He also recalled her saying that she thought that she was dying as he placed an urgent 911 call. Kenny told Aliza, stay on the ground. Don't move. Don't get on your feet. He remembers pleading with her. Don't die. Lady,

stay with me. Okay. I hear them. I hear them. Lady, stay with me. All right. They're coming." To the dispatcher, he reported, quote, I've never seen this much blood. Kenny later spoke of his frustration that he sought help from a nearby police officer, as well as the security guard of an adjacent building before, you know, the ambulance eventually arrived. And they both brushed him off. That part of the story really pisses me off because he's frantic. He's, you know, the ambulance eventually arrived, and they both brushed him off. That part of the story really pisses me off because he's frantic.

He's, you know, he doesn't know what to do. He's just this citizen that stumbled upon this horrific scene and this horrific attack. And I really, really feel for Kenny because I can't even imagine coming upon something like that. But just the fact that they didn't care and they brushed him off feels so shitty. It just doesn't even make sense. And then, on top of that happening,

Emergency Services inexplicably sent a fire truck instead of an ambulance. So her getting help was like severely pushed off by these these little issues that were happening. Yeah, it was it was hindered because just like, yeah yeah How many more things could go wrong in this attempt to save her life like a fire truck shows up? Police officer is brushing off the only you know the person that's trying to help this victim And it's just like it's insane to think about this scene I know well when she was transferred to Metro Health Medical Center her injuries were too severe And she passed away less than an hour later her, her injuries were too severe, and she passed away less than an hour later. Meanwhile, her son Jeremy was waiting at home for his mom to return with a pizza after telling

him that she would just be running errands that afternoon and she'd be home by dinner. So as their typical dinner time came around and went, Jeremy began to grow concerned when his mom didn't come through the door. When he reached out to his sister, Jennifer, she hadn't heard from their mother either, which was a pretty rare occurrence in a very close relationship. So she tried her mom, Aliza's divorce attorney, Greg Moore, who is the guy that Aliza went down to go meet.

Yeah. Who never showed up by the way. Right. And we're going to talk about that later actually. And she also reached out to her grandmother Doris, who did live in Florida most of the year, but Doris spoke with her daughter Aliza on a daily basis. So Jennifer's just kind of thinking maybe grandma will know where mom is. And when Jennifer spoke with them, she learned that no one had heard from Aliza.

As Jennifer set out in her car to look for her mom herself, she received another call from Jeremy, her brother, telling her that police were on their way to their parents' house to speak with the family, which just made them both fear the worst. Detectives arrived at the home and delivered the shocking news to Jennifer's boyfriend and Jeremy who were all waiting in the driveway while their father Sanford was inside the home. At the time, Jennifer was estranged from her father, apparently due to his treatment of her mother and his just unconscionable behavior throughout the divorce proceedings, so she

didn't want to be in the house with him. mean very understandable absolutely at this point right so when police arrived on the scene minutes after the attack They secured the area just hoping to catch a glimpse of the murderer or talk to somebody who did But they found no sign that anyone had been in the vicinity however in the days following this horrific attack and murder, investigators discovered that a security camera from a nearby parking garage had captured both the assailant fleeing the scene and the murder itself. Now, because the attacker was clad head to toe in black, it was basically impossible for investigators to surmise a description, the race, or even the gender of the murderer.

Also, I just wanted to state that many have commented that based on the gait and manner of the walk, it appears as if the suspect is actually a woman. Though others have reflected that because of the brutal nature of this crime, I mean 11 stab wounds, that it's most likely going to be a man. Yeah, and in the video that's available, like you can't see the actual attack, which none of us would need to see anyway, but in the corner of one camera, you can see this person running away from the scene towards the camera and then also away from it. And it's really eerie because their face is completely dark because of the hood. And it's, don't you think Keith, it's like, it's hard to tell anything about their physique

because of the kind of like bulky hoodie outfit that they're wearing? Yeah, I was gonna say, it seems like this attacker had on this very like large jacket. So, you know, when police said that it's almost impossible to tell, it's true. I mean, it's very hard to tell if this person was thin or...

Yeah, you can't tell their body shape. And from their run, it's definitely a fumbly jog. They're kind of wiggling side to side a lot, which is I think why people think it's a woman because there's a lot of flailing. Not that every woman runs like that, but... No, yeah. I was going to say, the attacker's arm is kind of out, and it's kind of going back and forth, like kind of flailing around. And so it does kind of seem like that might, but I mean, who knows?

It's so hard to speculate on that. Yeah, I think it's important to kind of try to analyze it for sure, but it really does feel impossible to tell, you know? So just so you guys, in case you wanna see it, we're gonna post it on our socials so you can go check it out and let us know what you think. Cause it is so incredible that this footage exists

because it at least helps paint the picture of what happened. If there was no footage at all, that you, we would have absolutely no idea what happened. Oh yeah, especially with just how quickly the suspect left that vicinity of the crime exactly It's it's very telling to what type of murder that this was as we're gonna get into as well But you know whether it was a man or a woman police noted that it seemed that they were of medium height Generally a slim build and had no noticeable items of clothing on their

person so that was all police could really come up with. Within weeks as leads were scarce police released the footage of the murderer rushing away from the scene of the crime captured on the security footage from a nearby parking garage so that is where this footage comes from. That's why from the footage itself, you can't see Aliza on the one that's out there because it's from a parking garage where the attack itself is not visible. And again, the footage of her actual murder,

which was caught as well, was not released to the public for obvious reasons. Now, according to police who analyze every second of the horrifying videos for clues, Aliza's assailant seemed to be running toward her from East 9th Street. They surprised her, stabbed her 11 times, and then fled the scene just as quickly as they entered it, like Heath said, escaping down 12th Street where the parking lot video cameras captured them running from the scene. entered it, like Heath said, escaping down 12th Street where the parking lot video cameras captured them running from the scene.

Investigators were relieved at the discovery of the surveillance footage, of course, hoping that this meant a swift investigation, especially if they were able to capture where this person went by following the cameras nearby. they are feeling confident that they're gonna figure out exactly who this person is. So, police tried and tried to track down the perpetrator using various cameras, but unbelievably, this person just vanished and wasn't able to be traced getting into a car or ending up wherever they did. So in the wake of the tragedy, as detectives investigated the case, Aliza's family gathered to celebrate her life. Her brothers, children, and friends just couldn't believe the violent and senseless end to such a beautiful and peaceful existence.

Because Elisa's mom Doris was suffering at the time from severe health setbacks, her brothers decided to wait a few days to inform her that her daughter was murdered. But before Elisa's brother Ed had even known that his sister had been murdered, Doris seemed to sense that something was off. Now Ed recalls quote, When I came back that night, my mother had actually deteriorated further. And apparently, they told us that she was asking for Elisa all day long. She said, Where's my daughter?

Something happened to my daughter. Please tell me what happened to her. Is my daughter still alive? Which was kind of scary in a way. And that is before, you know, Jennifer ever called her later that night asking if she had heard from her. So the fact that she had been saying that before anybody had any inkling of something happening to Aliza is really one of those like mothers intuition moments that we see on this show a lot. Yeah, we've talked about that plenty of times, how moms can usually sense that something is wrong. But still, Ed waited until the end of March, so about a week to inform her of what had happened to Aliza.

And as he expected, Doris was just beyond devastated at the loss of her only daughter. Ed continued sadly, quote, My first thought was, how am I going to tell my mother? It was bad enough that I had to know this, but how in the world was I going to tell my mother? It's a very violent crime. Imagining Aliza lying there, bleeding to death, it's difficult to imagine. She didn't die suddenly.

I think she suffered. I'm convinced that she was thinking about her mother and her children at that moment when it happened. My biggest concern was, how am I going to tell my mother, a lady who went through the Holocaust, that her daughter, who she's been so close to, and looking forward to going back to sea in Cleveland. I mean, that was the plan as soon as Aliza's divorce was over. So I didn't call my mother that night.

Aliza's estranged husband Sanford was present at the funeral, though fellow attendees recall that he did not seem nearly as affected as they would have expected him to be, despite their impending divorce. Because remember, those close to Elisa say that he was constantly trying to manipulate her into staying with him. And also, you have to remember that they had been together for nearly 30 years. Yeah, and they were still living together. So they were together for a very long time.

They shared children, and they still saw each other on a regular basis. So it was at this time that divisions within the family began to grow deeper. Each of the children made a speech mourning the loss of their mother, but in Josh's speech, he attempted to actually clear his father's name and write his reputation. Attendees recall him saying quote, I feel like I'm in a nightmare right now. I feel like I'm going to wake up and it's going to be a bad dream. She was the best mother in the world.

I wish I would have been closer with her. This is not right and the way she died was not right. I'm sick of hearing about these stories on the news. No one knows who did it. Jennifer sat Shiva for her mom in her own home instead of in her parents because she apparently didn't want to spend any excess time around her father. She was very loyal to her mom in that way. And she even moved Jeremy in with her until he finished high school so that he didn't have to continue living with their dad either. Jennifer was a nursing student at the time who, like her mom, was working at the

Cleveland Clinic. And of course, she was grieving and feeling so overwhelmed at the time so she did take a step back from both to mourn the major loss. And her brother Jason, who was attending medical school, almost did the same but was encouraged by Jennifer to keep going. She recalls, quote, My mom would always say to me, Jen, if I'm not here one day, you're going to have to be the one to keep everyone together. I wanted to make sure they felt they weren't alone and that they had somewhere where people love them.

Two weeks after Aliza's death, her family and friends held a vigil for her at the scene of her murder, and with the help of Cleveland Crimestoppers, they raised a $25,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. After carefully scrutinizing the footage of both videos, the Cleveland police chief announced that Cleveland police were confident that this had been a targeted and planned attack leveled against Eliza. Law enforcement even questioned whether she had been set up by someone with a fake meeting at her attorney's office that never came to fruition, or that she may have been a victim

of a hit. They never were able to recover the murder weapon, but they did note that the knives in Aliza and Sanford's home did not appear to be a match for the murder weapon, just based on the injuries that Aliza sustained. Also, on top of this, robbery was ruled out immediately, because her necklace, diamond-enrusted watch, and two rings were still on her purse and her purse was found beside her at the time, so it did not appear

that this was a robbery, which makes it seem even more likely that this was probably a hit. Now scouring the blocks surrounding the scene of the attack, they looked for any item of clothing that may have been worn or discarded, or any sign of the murder weapon, even checking the rooftops of nearby buildings in case her attacker had sought refuge, to basically just wait out the police there. When none of these efforts proved fruitful, police actually sought assistance from NASA to enhance the surveillance video, just hoping that this would illuminate any physical description of the perpetrator. Which is so cool that they went to NASA to try to help with this footage.

I mean, that's a big step. And also cool that NASA was willing to do this and to step in and be helpful as well. But still, even after NASA taking this surveillance footage and analyzing it, they came up empty-handed. and analyzing it, they came up empty-handed. Kenny Shepard, the man who found Aliza and spent her final living moments with her, came forward describing how difficult that day had been for him, and that he, alongside all of her loved ones, was mourning Aliza as well. He wrote, quote, quote, I have followed this story very closely since that tragic afternoon and am as angry as you that an arrest has not been made nor have any answers been given.

It hurts my heart to know that her family and friends are suffering so terribly during this time. I continue to send my prayers to Aliza Sherman as well as her friends and family. Like you, I demand justice be served for the murder of Aliza Sherman." But despite the mounting public pressure, tips, leads, and suspects were scarce. And the only two people who have ever been considered public persons of interest in connection with Aliza's murder are her attorney Greg Moore and her estranged husband Samford Sherman. Suspiciously, her lawyer Greg actually lied about his whereabouts during the time in which she was killed, bringing Aliza down to his office under false pretenses, and also wound up

facing legal ramifications for doing so. Which, if you didn't have anything to do with it, why would you lie about like if you're being questioned in a murder, why would you lie about where you were? Like this is not the time to lie if you're not involved. Yeah I mean it's it's really curious that he felt the need to lie here and as we're gonna see he lies about a few other things as well. Well exactly I mean Greg also lied to Aliza about being in the office via text messages both before and after she was killed and then lied to police when questioned about it, which is, I mean, it's pretty strange. When his phone records, the electronic key card for his office and witness statements

all prove that he had falsified his location, he was indicted on charges of intentionally lying to police, lying to his client Aliza, and tampering with evidence. A few years later, in 2017, so the year after he was brought up on charges for lying, he was indicted again, but this time for calling in false bomb threats to courthouses on three separate occasions when he wasn't prepared for his court dates. This is so crazy to me. That's like so extreme. Like bro, you're literally a fucking lawyer and you're calling in bomb threats to a courthouse because you can't get your work done in time to go to trial. Like that is the most ironic shit I've ever heard.

On three separate occasions. Like that is so intense. So this is the kind of guy this guy is, right? Right. So police believe that this is why he was stalling on Aliza's case as well to like buy himself more time to build a case against Sanford When the court date was approaching in two days It's just really unfortunate that he Scheduled to have this meeting and if she had never gone down there Yeah, and that's that's I guess that's what really makes me suspicious here the fact that she was called to go to this meeting

and whoever killed Aliza because police believe that it was planned, knew that she was going to be in that location. So who knew that she was going to meet Greg that morning? Did Sanford know? Was Greg involved? I mean, it's like, it just makes you start to think. It is a good point though, that this was not a real meeting.

He had no intentions of going down there. And then when she gets there, she's killed. So it definitely looks really suspicious on Greg's part. It's obviously very possible that Sanford knew about this meeting, too. But, yeah, I mean, really, really good points to bring up. So for his charges, Greg pleaded guilty. Stanford knew about this meeting too, but yeah, I mean really really good points to bring up. So for his charges, Greg pleaded guilty and he was stripped of his legal licensing thankfully and sentenced to 180 days in jail and put on probation with 150 hours of community service.

But he was never linked to Aliza's murder, which some feel was a miscarriage of justice. Aliza's best friend Jan questioned, Why wasn't he there and why did he lie? Ten years later and she doesn't have justice and it's just not fair. Jennifer testified against Greg at his hearing saying, Greg Moore has had 1522 days and countless opportunities to aid in seeking her justice since her vicious death.

Yet instead, he's admitted that he lied to law enforcement about his whereabouts and continues to sit here today without explaining himself or sharing what he knows. Now Sanford had also been accused of being involved, if not committing the murder himself, perhaps hiring someone else to do it,

since it really does seem like this was a planned attack. It just feels and looks like a hit. Now, according to Jan, though he attended the funeral, he was unaffected by the tragedy, and was inactive in the efforts to track down Elisa's killer, not even donating to the reward fund. Now here's kind of a crazy part. So a friend of Samford's named Larry Shanker, who also happened to be an ex-police officer,

claimed that Samford had spoken with him multiple times about how to get away with the perfect murder. Multiple times? Yes, multiple times. Not just one time, but multiple. So Larry recalls telling him, quote, pretty much the obvious. I think anybody would think of these. The fact that you don't use your car or don't let your car be seen, don't use a gun because it could be heard, don't use your street clothes. Use something that would cover up your entire body, your face, your hands. Don't use a gun because

it would make noise." So basically, the scenario that Larry had laid out for Sanford were the exact circumstances that brought Aliza to her untimely death. I mean, that could be a great coincidence, obviously. You could say the same for Greg that, oh that's just a coincidence that he had lied about his whereabouts and told her to meet him here and that's exactly where she was killed. But this doesn't look good for Samford.

Also, I mean, would you ever talk to your friend or even if you had an ex-cop friend, would you talk to them about how to carry out the perfect, why would you have that conversation? I mean, I can kind of understand or I can kind of see how like, it's like a silly like question that, you know, it could come out of nowhere, but yeah, I mean.

But multiple times? Well, I just think the fact that it's tied in to a man whose wife was brutally murdered Makes it seem even more eerie that he's talking to this ex-police officer his friend Multiple times about this, you know what I mean? I could understand more if you're like talking about crimes You know and you're kind of like, oh, you know blah blah blah But to to bring it up multiple times and to have this kind of specific answer that matches It just feels really really weird. It's very bizarre I I admit that for sure

But there was never any link found between Samford and the death of his soon-to-be ex-wife Aliza Sadly all this speculation drove an even deeper wedge in the family, because when Jennifer got married seven months after her mother's death, neither her father nor her brother Josh were in attendance. Luckily, Jennifer had been named the executor of Alisa's will, replacing Sanford, and she then filed a lawsuit against her father, citing $2 million in damages for the money that was funneled into the secret account. Josh, who had sided with his father, then filed a motion to remove Jennifer as the executor,

but he dropped this claim about a year later. In June of 2021, the Ohio Attorney General Bureau of Criminal Investigations Cold Case Unit took over the investigation. But they have been quiet on their proceedings and any new information their analysis may have gleaned is just unknown to the public. Last year in 2023, so 10 years after her mom's brutal killing, Jennifer took part in the launch of a podcast by two journalists titled, Aliza, Her Story at 10 Years.

Jennifer remarked how therapeutic it was to pay homage to her beloved mother with this project, saying, "'Violence is not a topic that people like to talk about. It's disturbing, it's painful, it's uncomfortable. But if we don't talk about it, then nothing will change. She, my entire life since I was a little girl, advocated for me to be strong and independent and speak up, and she made me believe that I can do anything. While there is hope this podcast could bring in a tip that will crack the case, that's not the only reason this team got on board. I hope that people walk away a little bit more compassionate and a little bit more willing

to look out for one another. For me, the story doesn't end here. If anything to me, I actually feel like this is just the beginning of my story." Every year, Aliza's loved ones gather to commemorate her death, but more importantly, who she was when she was alive. In support of her mom's former place of employment, Jennifer generously raised $160,000 for the Cleveland Clinic, with the proceeds going directly to those experiencing domestic violence.

There is still a $100,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in Aliza's murder. So if you have any information about the murder of Aliza Sherman, please call the Cleveland Police Department at 440-331-5530. Thank you so much everybody for listening to this episode of Going West. Yes, thank you guys so much for listening and thanks again to Brian for suggesting this case. What a devastating story and our hearts really go out to Jennifer and the rest of Aliza's family. Yes, absolutely. Make sure if you want to see that footage to kind of get a better idea

of the scene in question. If you want to see photos of Aliza, head over to our socials. We're on Instagram at Going West podcast and we're also on Facebook. We have two groups. We have the Going West True Crime group and then the Going West Discussion Group where we can pop into conversations with you guys. So let's get you know let's get that conversation going about Alisa Sherman's case. And also just again please share this episode. Alright guys so for everybody out there in the world, don't be a stranger Thanks for watching!