In 2013, Aliza Sherman was murdered Downtown in broad daylight before a meeting with her divorce lawyer. For 12 years, her family and friends continued to search for answers and seek justice for their loss.
Now, they just might have some. This week, Cuyahoga County prosectors indicted divorce attorney Gregory Moore on various counts, including murder and conspiracy. The full indictments are as followed:
- One count of aggravated murder;
- One count of conspiracy;
- Six Counts of murder (Murder A and Murder B); and
- Two Counts of kidnapping.
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Photo Credit: Gregory Moore (Williamson County, Texas, Jail)
Moore's long history of criminal activity included calling bomb threats to avoid court appearances. He was questioned initially and spent six months in jail after charges of tampering with evidence, obstructing official business, falsification, telecommunications fraud and forgery. Sherman's husband, Dr. Sanford Sherman, was also a suspect and engaged in years of financial legal battles with her estate. Sanford died last year in Florida.
A 53-year-old mother of four, Sherman worked as a in vitro fertilization nurse at the Cleveland Clinic. Despite evidence that he'd left more than an hour before the incident, Moore asked Sherman to come to his office, where he claimed to be, to prepare for her upcoming divorce hearing. Moore had been erratic and unprepared, pushing Sherman's case multiple times.
“She was my hero,” daughter Jennifer Sherman told Cleveland Magazine in 2017. “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.”
Read the full 2017 feature on clevelandmagazine.com. Below is an excerpt.
Jennifer Sherman was at the end of a long Sunday study session when she received a text message from her 17-year-old brother, Jeremy.
“Are you with Mom or do you know where she is?”
Their mother, Aliza, had gone out and promised to bring back pizza. But that was hours ago, and Jeremy was hungry.
For much of the day, Jennifer had silenced her phone while cramming for a pharmacology exam at Case Western Reserve University. Her mother sent a text message around 2:55 p.m. to say she was meeting with her attorney, Gregory Moore, at his downtown Cleveland office to discuss final preparations for her divorce proceedings in a couple of days.
But when Jennifer noticed it was 7:45 p.m., she grew worried.
Jennifer called Aliza’s cellphone. She could count on one hand the days they didn’t talk to one another. No matter when she called in the past, Aliza would pick up without hesitation.
This time was different. Her mother didn’t answer.
Jennifer tried a second time. Nothing. So she called Jeremy back to figure out where their mother could have gone.
Before she left, Aliza had told Jeremy she was headed to their grandmother’s house in Cleveland Heights to get some medicine and run errands. Although their grandmother, Doris, lived in Florida, she kept a home nearby for when she’d visit.
Jennifer called her mother one more time, then tried Moore’s office. Neither of them answered. So Jennifer put on a pair of slippers and ran to her car wearing nothing but a pair of gray pajama pants and a fleece hoodie.
As she drove north from her home in Solon, Jennifer tried to sort out the possibilities. Maybe Aliza never went to Doris’ house in Cleveland Heights. She always tried to protect Jeremy from the divorce that left her emotionally and physically worn down, so it was possible Aliza used her mother’s house as an excuse. Or maybe Aliza drove to Doris’ first, got in a car accident and never made it downtown. Perhaps she simply misplaced her cellphone and would be home shortly.
Jennifer continued to dial between her mother’s cell hoping she would answer.
Then the calls started coming to her. Doris had been trying to reach Aliza for hours. Aliza’s brother Harry wasn’t having any luck either.
Jennifer knew. Something terrible had happened.
Aliza prized family above all else. It was the reason she worked as an in vitro fertilization nurse at the Cleveland Clinic, helping women fulfill their second, third and fourth chances at building families of their own. It was why she continued living with her soon-to-be ex-husband, Sanford, for nearly a year-and-a-half after she filed for divorce.
As Jennifer approached Warrensville Center and Cedar roads, her phone rang again. It was Jeremy. Cleveland police officers were on their way to the Beachwood house, where Jeremy lived with Aliza and Sanford, to talk with the family.
Jennifer made a U-turn across the four busy lanes and frantically called her then-boyfriend Kevin Rivchun to tell him the news. He was visiting his parents’ house nearby and was on his way to meet her. Less than 10 minutes later, they converged on Jennifer’s childhood home on Penshurst Drive.
Over the past five years, 25-year-old Jennifer had distanced herself from her father. She was furious at him for how he treated Aliza, how he had handled himself throughout the divorce proceedings and further fractured their family. Even now, Jennifer wanted nothing to do with him. As Kevin pulled behind her in the driveway, Jennifer ran inside, grabbed Jeremy and pulled him out of the house, leaving Sanford alone inside.
For 45 minutes, they sat in her car at the end of the driveway. Outside it was quiet, the ground covered in a thin blanket of snow. Inside, Jennifer’s thoughts raced about what might have happened, about how close her mother was to starting over.
When the police arrived, two detectives stepped out of the car. Jennifer rushed out to meet them. Reeling, she reached for the detective’s coat with both hands and pulled the officer close.
“What happened to my mother?” she asked, tears streaming down her face.
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