Psychiatrist tried to kill ex with help of cousin armed with sledgehammer, officials say
A psychiatrist pleaded guilty to criminal charges after prosecutors say she plotted to kill her ex-partner with the help of her cousin nearly ten years ago in New York City.
Dr. Pamela Buchbinder, 52, is accused of having her younger cousin barge into the apartment of Dr. Michael Weiss, another psychiatrist, while armed with a sledgehammer and a kitchen knife on Nov. 12, 2012, according to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
At the time, Buchbinder’s cousin, Jacob Nolan, who was 19, swung the 10-pound sledgehammer at Weiss and stabbed him all over, prosecutors say.
Now Buchbinder has pleaded guilty to first-degree attempted assault and first-degree burglary, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg Jr. announced in a Sept. 7 news release. She will be sentenced to 11 years in prison at an Oct. 11 hearing.
In 2016, Nolan was sentenced to 9.5 years in state prison after he was convicted of charges including second-degree murder, the release says.
Weiss ultimately survived the attack and ended up in the hospital, CBS News reported.
“Pamela Buchbinder meticulously planned and plotted to kill Dr. Michael Weiss, enlisting the aid of her 19-year-old cousin Jacob Nolan,” Bragg said in a statement. “This brutal attack left Dr. Weiss, the father of her child, injured with multiple stab wounds to his body and traumatized by the brutal attack carried out by Nolan.”
Meanwhile, Buchbinder’s attorney, Eric Franz, told McClatchy News “that statement is false.”
“Ms. Buchbinder did not admit to any role in a murder, nor did she meticulously plan one,” he said. “Perhaps the DA’s office should be more meticulous when they craft their press releases.”
One day before the 2012 attack, Buchbinder and Nolan bought the sledgehammer using cash at a Home Depot, according to Bragg’s office. Prosecutors say Buchbinder also gave Nolan the kitchen knife he used in the stabbing.
Buchbinder is accused of drawing a map of Weiss’ apartment in Midtown Manhattan, which he also used as his psychiatry office, and “instructed” her cousin on how to break in, the release says.
In 2012, Buchbinder and Weiss were fighting over custody of their son who was 6-years-old, according to Fox News.
When Nolan is accused of attacking Weiss, the psychiatrist fought back and managed to grab the knife from him during a struggle, CBS News reported. Weiss “cut Nolan in self-defense.”
Nolan, who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, had previously argued that Buchbinder “manipulated” him to attack Weiss, CBS reported in 2017.
With Buchbinder’s guilty plea, Bragg said she is “being held accountable for her actions.”
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