(JTA) — A Manhattan psychiatrist was indicted for the attempted murder in 2012 of her estranged partner — the father of her son.
The indictment alleges that Dr. Pamela Buchbinder enlisted her young cousin to bludgeon and stab Dr. Michael Weiss, who also is a psychiatrist, in Weiss’s home office on West 57th Street, the New York Post reported Thursday. The report did not say how Buchbinder pleaded. She had denied any wrongdoing during the five-year investigation.
Buchbinder and Weiss had been arguing over visitation for their then-6-year-old son, and three days before the attack on Weiss, Buchbinder had successfully demanded that Weiss name her as beneficiary on his $1.5 million life insurance policy.
Weiss survived the brutal attack and has won full custody of the boy.
Buchbinder is expected to be arraigned Friday in Manhattan Supreme Court on charges of attempted murder, burglary and assault, the Post reported.
Buchbinder’s cousin, Jacob Nolan, 25, of Ronkonkoma, New York, was convicted last year and sentenced to 9 1/2 years in prison for attempted murder, assault and burglary. Weiss was Nolan’s biggest advocate as the young man was sentenced in July 2016.
“I have no personal desire to punish Jake,” Weiss said at the sentencing of the man who nearly beat him to death. “I understand that a long prison sentence will not undo what has happened or restore the sense of security that has been forever taken from me.”
During Nolan’s trial, Weiss told the Manhattan judge that Buchbinder was the real culprit, manipulating the mentally vulnerable young man into committing the crime.
In 2015, as the parents continued to spar over visitation, Weiss’s lawyer told a Manhattan Family Court judge that Buchbinder drew the map that Nolan used to find Weiss’s address and office.
At the same Family Court proceeding, Weiss’s attorneys showed photos of Buchbinder and Nolan buying a sledgehammer together at a downtown Manhattan Home Depot the night before the attack.
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