An attorney who police believe orchestrated the murder of his client to avoid a court appearance is on his way back to Ohio.
Gregory Moore, 51, was arrested in Texas following his indictment on murder and kidnapping charges and is being extradited back to Ohio. The charges are related to the March 2013 murder of Aliza Sherman in downtown Cleveland, Cleveland 19 reported.
Sherman, 53, went to Moore's law office on Erieview Plaza after Moore contacted her and asked her to come. She was chased outside of the office and down the street by an unknown assailant who stabbed her 10 times. She died of her wounds.
According to the indictment, the attack on Sherman was a plot by Moore to avoid having to go to trial because he was not prepared.
"The purpose of Aliza Sherman's kidnapping was to obstruct Judge Rosemary Grdina Gold from conducting the trial in the divorce case," the indictment states. "This goal was designed to be achieved by causing Aliza Sherman to be unavailable to attend the proceedings due to serious, serious physical harm and/or death."
According to the indictment, Moore had a history of taking extreme steps to avoid court dates. At the time of Sherman's murder, the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office was investigating a series of bomb threats phoned into courthouses on days when Moore was scheduled for trial. The bomb threats were phoned in January, May, and July 2012.
Much of the indictment lays out Moore's communications with Sherman they day she died. Moore texted Sherman at 2:31 p.m. asking her to come to his office around 4:30 p.m. Among the details the indictment notes is that Moore disconnected from the Verizon cellular network between 4:23 p.m. and 7:32 p.m.
Once disconnected from the network, prosecutors believe that Moore continued to text with Sherman liking through the law office's hotspot. Sherman and Moore's texts indicate Sherman's confusion as she waits outside the law office doors to be let in.
At 5:13 p.m., Sherman sent a text indicating she was outside and asking when Moore would arrive. Moore replied, "Been here." The indictment states that this response was designed to keep Sherman waiting by the doors.
At 5:22 p.m., Sherman's sent a text message stating "If u are here why don't you let me in? I guess I will go back to my car..Too cold..text me when the door is open thx." According to the indictment, during this time period, someone who "was either Moore or a co-conspirator" approached Sherman from behind, chased her down the street, and stabbed her to death.
