Gregory Moore Charged in Aliza Sherman Murder Case

Gregory Moore, a former Cleveland divorce attorney, was indicted in May 2025 on aggravated murder, conspiracy, murder, and kidnapping charges in the 2013 stabbing death of his client Aliza Sherman. The Aliza Sherman murder case had gone cold for more than a decade before digital forensics led investigators back to Moore, her own lawyer. He has pleaded not guilty, remains free on a $2 million bond with GPS monitoring, and is scheduled to stand trial on September 14, 2026.¹

What Happened to Aliza Sherman in 2013

Aliza Sherman was a 53-year-old Cleveland Clinic nurse and mother of four. On the afternoon of March 24, 2013, she arrived at 75 Erieview Plaza in downtown Cleveland for an appointment with her divorce attorney, Gregory Moore. She was stabbed eleven times and collapsed outside the building around 5 p.m. A 911 caller reported hearing her say, “I’m dying.” She was pronounced dead at MetroHealth Medical Center at 6:14 p.m.²

Sherman was in the middle of a contentious divorce from her husband, Dr. Sanford Sherman. The divorce trial was scheduled to begin two days later, on March 26, 2013. Despite the timing, the case went cold. Officials later said it was not a “traditional open-and-shut kind of DNA case.”³

Who Gregory Moore Is

Gregory Joseph Moore, born around 1974, graduated from Cleveland State University’s law school and was admitted to the Ohio bar in September 2003. He practiced divorce law at the Stafford Law Company in Cleveland.⁴

Moore’s criminal record predates the murder charge. In July 2012, he was indicted on three felony counts of inducing panic after allegedly calling in bomb threats to employees of the Cuyahoga County Domestic Relations Court, warning that an explosive would detonate at 11:30 a.m. The old Cuyahoga County Courthouse on Lakeside Avenue was evacuated. No explosives were found.⁵ Prosecutors later said Moore used the bomb threats as a tactic to delay trials.⁶

On May 1, 2017, Moore pleaded guilty to two felony counts of inducing panic and one count of falsification for lying to the FBI about his whereabouts during the Sherman investigation. He was sentenced to six months in jail along with probation and community service.⁷ The Ohio Supreme Court suspended his law license in June 2017,⁸ and in February 2018 accepted his resignation from the bar with disciplinary action pending, permanently ending his ability to practice law in Ohio.⁹

How the Cold Case Was Cracked

The investigation reopened in June 2021, when Cleveland asked the Ohio Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation to take over. BCI agents spent what Attorney General David Yost described as “thousands of hours applying advanced technology and implementing investigative techniques.”¹⁰

The breakthrough came from digital forensics. Investigators used analytics on what officials called the “digital fingerprints” left by electronic devices and cell phone network activity. According to the indictment, Moore disconnected his phone from the cellular network for roughly three hours around the time of the killing to avoid location tracking, later placed calls to Sherman’s phone to create the appearance of normal contact, and eventually replaced his phone entirely.³

The Charges and the Prosecution’s Theory

On May 2, 2025, a Cuyahoga County grand jury indicted Moore on ten counts: one count of aggravated murder, one count of conspiracy, six counts of murder, and two counts of kidnapping.¹⁰

Prosecutors allege Moore lured Sherman to his downtown office under the pretense of a routine meeting to prepare for her divorce trial. According to the indictment, the killing was part of a plan “hatched months earlier” to kidnap Sherman so Moore would not have to try her divorce case in court.⁶ The indictment includes a conspiracy count and references “an individual who was either Moore or an unknown co-conspirator,” though no co-conspirator has been publicly named.³

Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael C. O’Malley said the accumulated evidence “paints the unmistakable picture that Gregory Moore orchestrated and participated in the brutal murder of Aliza Sherman.”¹⁰ The state’s evidence is largely digital. Prosecutors have told the defense they intend to introduce Moore’s personal and business Verizon cellphone records along with cellphone location data for Moore, Sherman, her estranged husband Sanford Sherman, and the Stafford Law Firm from the day of the murder.¹¹ The state has amassed over 60,000 pages of evidence.¹²

Arrest and Bond

U.S. Marshals arrested Moore in the Austin, Texas, area around 3:30 p.m. on May 2, 2025. He and his wife had traveled there to visit his father, who was in end-of-life care. Officers took Moore into custody at his father’s bedside, where he had been for roughly three hours. His father died days later.¹³

Moore posted a $2 million surety bond on July 3, 2025, with community members who believed in his innocence contributing to the amount. He was initially released with no electronic monitoring, only an order to stay away from the Sherman family.¹⁴ The Sherman family, through attorney Adam Fried, cited Moore’s “documented history of evading court obligations.”¹⁵ Prosecutors filed an emergency motion, and on July 9, 2025, Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Kira Krivosh imposed GPS monitoring, supervised release, a passport ban, and a restriction confining Moore to Ohio.¹⁶

The Defense

Moore has pleaded not guilty. His attorney, Jon Paul Rion, has fought on several fronts.

Motion to Dismiss

The defense moved to dismiss the case, arguing that the 12-year gap between the murder and the indictment violated Moore’s civil rights, caused prejudice, and hindered his ability to present exculpatory evidence or call crucial witnesses.¹⁷ No ruling has been reported.

Pointing to the Estranged Husband

The defense has pointed to Aliza Sherman’s estranged husband as a more likely suspect. Cleveland Police never interviewed Dr. Sanford Sherman; former Deputy Chief Ed Tomba later said he had retained an attorney who refused to make him available. Police said at the time that he was not a suspect.¹⁸

In 2022, an anonymous Crime Stoppers tip claimed Sanford Sherman had confessed to a nurse manager in Florida. BCI interviewed the nurse manager, who denied any such confession. Two other acquaintances also denied hearing one. BCI interviewed Sanford Sherman in May 2022; he denied involvement. BCI formally concluded the tip was not credible.¹⁹ Sanford Sherman died in Florida in early July 2024, making him unavailable to testify.¹⁸

Suppression Motion

In April 2026, the defense moved to suppress cell tower data, geofence data, personal items seized from Moore, and statements it claims were unlawfully obtained. Rion argued those “illegal searches corrupted nearly the entirety of their investigation into Moore” and that the tainted data supported later search warrants.¹² The defense is also watching a pending U.S. Supreme Court case on the constitutionality of geofence warrants, which could affect Judge Krivosh’s ruling. As of late April 2026, the prosecution was preparing its response and the judge had not yet decided whether to hold a hearing.²⁰

DNA and the Watch

A watch found near a pool of blood at the crime scene contained a DNA mixture of Sherman’s blood and blood from an unknown male. Moore was excluded as a contributor, according to the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office.²¹ The defense filed a motion in August 2025 for independent DNA testing of the watch. Prosecutors opposed the request, saying the watch had already been tested twice with little material remaining and that the assailant likely wore gloves.²²

The Stafford Law Firm’s Alleged Role

Moore worked at the Stafford Law Company, managed by Joseph Stafford. According to the indictment, the morning after Sherman’s murder, a Stafford Law employee contacted Verizon to cancel a mobile broadband hotspot that Moore had been using to contact Sherman. Another firm employee deleted a voicemail Sherman had left on the firm’s system without providing it to law enforcement. The indictment also states that firm members were aware by January 2013 that Moore was under investigation for the bomb threats and knew he had been using firm-issued phones to make those calls.²³

The Civil Lawsuit

On April 30, 2026, Jennifer Sherman, Aliza’s daughter and the executor of her estate, filed a 61-page civil lawsuit in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court against Moore, the Stafford Law Firm, and unnamed defendants. The complaint alleges Moore killed Aliza Sherman to obstruct her divorce trial and that the firm enabled the act by providing the telecommunications tools used in the conspiracy and by helping conceal evidence afterward. The suit seeks compensatory and punitive damages in excess of $25,000.²⁴

Where the Case Stands

As of mid-2026, Moore remains free on his $2 million bond with GPS monitoring, a ban on possessing firearms or a passport, and a prohibition on leaving Ohio. At a late May 2026 pretrial hearing, Rion told the court he possessed witness testimony that “directly contradicts” the indictment and intended to present it to a jury. The parties also discussed the prosecution’s agreement to submit grand jury transcripts from 2013, 2015, and 2016 for judicial review to determine what portions the defense may access.²⁵ A follow-up pretrial hearing was set for June 2026, and the trial before Judge Krivosh is scheduled to begin on September 14, 2026.¹

1
Fox 8 Cleveland. Former Divorce Attorney Charged With Aliza Sherman’s Murder Back in Court
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Fox 8 Cleveland. Unsolved for 12 Years: A Timeline of the Aliza Sherman Murder Case
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News 5 Cleveland. How Technology Led to an Indictment in the Aliza Sherman Cold Case
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Cleveland 19 News. Who Is Gregory Moore, Former Divorce Attorney Charged With Murder of Aliza Sherman
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Cleveland 19 News. Lawyer Accused in Bomb Threats Heads to Trial Next Year
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Court TV. Divorce Attorney Charged in Cold Case Murder of Aliza Sherman
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WKYC. Aliza Sherman’s Attorney Pleads Guilty
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Cleveland.com. Aliza Sherman’s Former Attorney Suspended
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Supreme Court of Ohio. In re Resignation of Moore, 2018-Ohio-411
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Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office. Gregory Moore Indicted in 2013 Downtown Cleveland Homicide of Aliza Sherman
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Cleveland 19 News. Prosecution to Introduce Cellphone Records in Case Against Cleveland Attorney
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Cleveland.com. U.S. Supreme Court Could Impact a Major Cleveland Murder Case
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Cleveland 19 News. Father of Cleveland Attorney Accused of Killing Client Died Days After Arrest
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Fox 8 Cleveland. Prosecutors Want Aliza Sherman’s Alleged Killer Placed on GPS
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Akron Jewish News. Former Attorney Gregory Moore Posts $2M Surety Bond in Aliza Sherman Murder Case
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Cleveland.com. Gregory Moore Agrees to GPS Monitoring While Aliza Sherman Trial Continues
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Court TV. Attorney Accused of Killing Client Pushes for Dismissal and Points to Another Suspect
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Cleveland 19 News. Estranged Husband of Aliza Sherman Dies in Florida
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Cleveland Jewish News. Prosecutor Dismisses Claim Husband Admitted to Killing Aliza Sherman
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13abc. New Motions Filed in Case of Cleveland Attorney Accused of Killing His Client
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Fox 8 Cleveland. Defense Attorney Says No DNA Links Gregory Moore to Aliza Sherman Crime Scene
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Cleveland.com. Prosecutors Oppose Additional DNA Testing in Aliza Sherman Murder Case
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Cleveland.com. Law Firm That Represented Aliza Sherman Has History of Sanctions Over Trial Delays
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Fox 8 Cleveland. Executor of Aliza Sherman’s Estate Files Lawsuit Against Suspected Killer
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Cleveland 19 News. Cleveland Attorney Accused of Killing His Client Aliza Sherman Back in Court