CLEVELAND — Dr. Sanford Sherman, the estranged widower of murdered Cleveland Clinic nurse Aliza Sherman, has died, the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation confirmed to 3News late Wednesday night.
BCI officials say they were informed of Dr. Sherman's death as part of their "active and ongoing" investigation into Aliza Sherman's 2013 homicide. Further details regarding Dr. Sherman's passing were not immediately available.
Though Sanford Sherman was never officially named as a suspect in his wife's killing, their pending divorce was at the center of the case. The couple had been married for more than 30 years and had been set to take their separation claims to trial in March of 2013, but Aliza Sherman was found stabbed to death outside her attorney's Erieview Plaza office two days before proceedings were supposed to begin.
Police had wanted to speak to Dr. Sherman about his wife's murder, but he hired his own lawyer and consistently declined to cooperate for the remainder of his life, fueling public speculation as to any potential role he might've had. In a 2023 Cleveland Jewish News podcast series marking 10 years since Aliza Sherman's death, co-hosts Mike Butz and former 3News anchor Sara Shookman detailed a civil fraud lawsuit against Dr. Sherman filed by his own daughter Jennifer, which included testimony of both Aliza Sherman's fears for her safety along with accusations Sanford Sherman had previously inquired about committing "the perfect murder."
"(Former police officer) Larry (Shanker) and Sanford were friends. They would walk on the beach, according to Larry, or walk somewhere and Sanford would ask him how to commit the perfect murder," Jennifer Sherman's attorney Adam Fried told CJN. "That's essentially what he testified to in his deposition."
Both parties reached a settlement in 2016, and no additional civil or criminal cases were ever brought against Sanford Sherman. To date, the only person charged in connection with Aliza Sherman's death was her divorce lawyer Gregory Moore, who pleaded guilty in 2017 to lying to investigators on the day of the murder.
"Greg Moore knew my mother was vulnerable and frightened," Jennifer Sherman told WKYC back in 2021. Moore had been scheduled to meet with Aliza Sherman the day she was killed and texted her to tell her he was in his downtown office, even though evidence eventually proved he was not.
The murder itself remains unsolved, and Ohio BCI took over the case three years ago. The sole piece of evidence released to the public was grainy surveilance video showing a masked figure in black running from the crime scene.
"When this initially happened, we thought someone would be arrested in a few days," Jennifer said in 2023. "I never dreamed we'd still be standing here today, 10 years later, without anyone held accountable."