Dr. Robert Bierenbaum, his ex-wife, and Dr. Janet Cholett leave court in October 2000 in New York. Lorenzo Ciniglio/Sygma via Getty Images
Robert Bierenbaum admitted to the 1984 murder of Gail Katz.
The New York surgeon was an experienced pilot.
According to a transcript obtained by ABC News, Bierenbaum claimed that he strangled Katz before dumping her body in the ocean.
Robert Bierenbaum was a New York-based former plastic surgeon who was convicted in 2000 of the murder of his wife. He confessed to it and then threw her body out of an aircraft and into the Atlantic after years of maintaining his innocence.
Bierenbaum, now aged 66, was convicted in 2000 of her murder. He said that he had repeatedly denied involvement in her death and told a parole hearing in December 2020, that he had killed Gail Katz in 1985. He claimed that he was too young to deal with his anger and was therefore "immature".
In a transcript obtained by ABC News, Bierenbaum stated that she wanted her to stop shouting at me and attacked her.
Bierenbaum, who is also a pilot experienced, said that he had "strangled his wife" and then "went flying".
The transcript said, "I opened the doors and then took her body out the plane over the ocean."
Gail Katz's remains have never been found.
Robert Bierenbaum and Gail Katz in 1984. ABC News.
Bierenbaum was convicted by the prosecution in 2000. This is despite the fact that they had used the exact same theory regarding Gail Katz's murder during their original trial against Bierenbaum.
According to a 1999 New York Times story, authorities believe that Katz was dismembered by Bierenbaum before taking a plane over the ocean and dropping the body off at Montauk Point (New York) and Cape May (New Jersey).
"I was like, 'Holy sh*t are you kidding me?'" Dan Bibb was a former Manhattan assistant District Attorney who prosecuted Bierenbaum back in 2000.
Bibb said, "The Bierenbaum Story when you get down to it Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde... This guy was a psychopath."
Continue the story
In the 1980s, Katz and Bierenbaum met for the first time. She was still a student at college, while he was a surgeon. He was known for taking women on romantic plane rides.
Alayne Katz, Gail Katz's sister, said that while their relationship seemed to be "magical" at first, Bierenbaum began controlling and becoming violent over time.
Alayne stated that her sister called her one day after Bierenbaum tried to drown Gail in their Upper East Side apartment's toilet. Alayne Katz claimed that Bierenbaum choked Gail one night after she caught her smoking from their balcony. Gail Katz reported the incident, but Bierenbaum wasn't charged.
"If Robert Bierenbaum had been arrested in 2021, Bibb would have taken him to the hospital immediately," Bibb said. "The fact this was [1983]... nothing was done."
Bierenbaum confessed to Katz's family and police that they had been in a fight in their apartment. Katz fled and never came back. Bierenbaum lived a normal life, attending parties in Hamptons and meeting other women.
ABC News reported that Bierenbaum had moved to Las Vegas in 1990 and established a practice for plastic surgery there.
Bierenbaum remains in prison. ABC News reports that his next parole hearing will be held in November.
Insider has the original article.
