An Ohio divorce attorney was arrested for allegedly murdering a client in 2013 in order to avoid having her case tried in court.
Aliza Sherman, 53, was fatally stabbed outside Gregory Moore’s downtown Cleveland office on March 24, that year. Moore, 51, was the woman’s lawyer.
Though security footage at the time captured a hooded man fleeing the scene, police did not make an arrest until Friday, when Moore was charged with one count of aggravated murder, one count of conspiracy, six counts of murder, and two counts of kidnapping.
Moore does not have an attorney assigned to his case, according to court records.
According to an indictment obtained by NBC News, Moore texted Sherman on the day she was killed, instructing her to meet him at his office at 4.30 p.m. and notify him when she was leaving.
According to police reports, Sherman waited outside the building as “Moore or an unnamed conspirator” approached her from behind and fatally stabbed her more than ten times. Moore allegedly texted and called Sherman prior to and following her death.
“These texts and requests for calls were for the purpose of creating false evidence that Moore was unaware of Sherman’s assault,” according to the arrest warrant.
Moore allegedly murdered Sherman to prevent her divorce trial from proceeding, according to the grand jury’s indictment.
The trial was supposed to begin the following day.
Sherman, a nurse, left behind four children.
In addition to the murder, police said Moore was being investigated for sending bomb threats to the courthouse on days he was scheduled to appear in court, as well as attempting to avoid proceedings in which he was involved. The attorney was reportedly aware that police were investigating him for the threats.
In 2017, he pleaded guilty to inducing panic and falsification for providing misleading statements to authorities investigating Sherman’s death.
Moore is scheduled to be arraigned at the Cuyahoga County Justice Center.