Aliza Sherman Update (Sept. 2026): Gregory Moore's Murder Trial Stalls on Day One Over Defense Motions

Sept. 15, 2026 · Case Updates · Updated Oct. 31, 5:48 a.m. ET · By the True Crime On Air desk

Update, Friday, Oct. 16: The trial did not start. Lead defense attorney Jon Paul Rion withdrew on Sept. 17 after a sealed hearing, and the case was continued. On Sept. 23, Judge Kira Krivosh gave Gregory Moore until Oct. 7 to settle who will represent him and set a pretrial hearing for Wednesday, Oct. 14, WKYC and the Cleveland Jewish News reported. Moore has since hired new lawyers: Joseph and Megan Patituce are now on the case, court records show, per Fox 8 (Sept. 29) and the Cleveland Jewish News (Oct. 1). We found no report of a hearing on Oct. 14. The Cleveland Jewish News (Oct. 13) and WKYC (Oct. 12) instead list the next pretrial conference for Tuesday, Oct. 27, at 11:30 a.m. per the CJN. Prosecutors asked in an Oct. 9 filing for a January 2027 trial date; the CJN reported that, as of Oct. 14, the judge had not ruled, and no trial date had been set in those reports.

For more than 12 years, the killing of Aliza Sherman in broad daylight in downtown Cleveland had no name attached to it. On Monday, Sept. 14, the man now charged with her murder, her own divorce attorney, was in a courtroom where a jury was supposed to start taking shape.

It didn't happen that day. Prospective jurors were sent home while Judge Kira Krivosh heard a stack of defense motions, and the trial has not started since: the case was continued after Moore's lead attorney withdrew on Sept. 17.

Where does the Gregory Moore trial stand right now?

Jury selection was set for 9 a.m. on Sept. 14 at the Justice Center in downtown Cleveland. Instead, the day went to argument. Moore's lawyers asked for a continuance, saying they need more time to prepare.

Their main complaint is timing. Defense attorney Jon Paul Rion told reporters that expert reports and thousands of pages of discovery landed about a week to 10 days before trial. Nothing was continued that day, and prosecutors said they were ready to go. Three days later Rion withdrew from the case, and the trial was postponed.

Court: Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas, Judge Kira Krivosh
Charges: aggravated murder, murder, conspiracy and kidnapping
Plea: not guilty to all counts
Custody: free on a $2 million bond

What motions is the judge deciding?

The continuance request is the one that decides the calendar. Alongside it was a defense motion to remove the lead prosecutor, Assistant Prosecutor Kevin Filiatraut, which Judge Krivosh denied on Sept. 3, per Cleveland 19, the Cleveland Jewish News and WKYC.

That motion claimed he had an improper contact with a lawyer from a firm that once represented Moore. Prosecutors have fought the defense's efforts to push the trial back. The Cleveland Jewish News also lists pending requests to suppress evidence, a hearing on cellphone-tower analysis and fights over whether jurors can hear about Moore's past criminal cases.

Some of those may be settled before a single juror is questioned. Krivosh could also decide to handle a few as the trial goes on.

Who was Aliza Sherman?

She was a 53-year-old nurse at the Cleveland Clinic and a mother of four who lived in Beachwood. In March 2013 she was in the middle of a divorce, with a trial in that case only days away.

On March 24, 2013, she went downtown for an appointment near Erieview Plaza, where Moore's office was. She was attacked outside the building and died. Her family has pushed publicly for an arrest ever since, and Dateline reported on their fight for answers as the case went cold.

Timeline card of the Aliza Sherman case from 2013 to the September 2026 trial — Six dates from the 2013 killing to the stalled first day in court on Monday, Sept. 14.

Why did it take 12 years to charge anyone?

Suspicion around Moore started early, but charges didn't. In 2017 he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor falsification charge over what he told investigators about his whereabouts that day. That plea was not a murder charge, and it did not accuse him of the killing.

The turn came on May 2, 2025. A Cuyahoga County grand jury indicted him in secret, and he was arrested in Texas. By our count, the indictment came 4,422 days after Sherman's death, and the Monday, Sept. 14 hearing landed 500 days after that.

The defense has argued the state simply waited too long, pointing to witnesses who have since died. In August, Cleveland 19 reported, Krivosh refused to throw the case out on those grounds.

What do prosecutors claim happened?

According to the indictment, Moore wasn't ready for Sherman's divorce trial and planned for months to keep her from reaching it. Prosecutors say either Moore or someone working with him carried out the attack. The co-conspirator has never been publicly named.

Those are allegations, and they're the core of what a jury will be asked to weigh. Moore and his lawyers have repeatedly denied the charges.

👉 The unnamed second person is the biggest open question in the state's case. Watch opening statements for how prosecutors handle it.

The Justice Center complex in downtown Cleveland, where the trial is being heard. Photo: The original uploader was Aivazovsky at English Wikipedia. / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

What happens next in the case?

The continuance was granted after Rion's Sept. 17 withdrawal, so the trial needs a new date and none has been announced. More than 100 people had been summoned, and they started filling out questionnaires on Sept. 11.

Moore had until Oct. 7 to decide who will represent him, and he met it early: a new two-lawyer defense team was on the docket by Sept. 29. A pretrial conference was set for Tuesday, Oct. 27, per the Cleveland Jewish News and WKYC; the CJN puts it at 11:30 a.m. at the Justice Center, and earlier reports had a hearing on Oct. 14. Prosecutors have asked for a January 2027 trial date, and the judge had not ruled in the CJN's report. We have not found a published report of what happened on Oct. 27, so as of Oct. 31 no trial date is confirmed on this page. Krivosh denied the defense motion to remove Filiatraut on Sept. 3, and WKYC's Oct. 12 report still names him as lead prosecutor.

Ohio isn't the only state with a long-delayed murder trial on the calendar that week. In Troy, on the other side of the state, Caleb Flynn's trial began with jury selection on Sept. 17 and ended in a Sept. 29 guilty verdict. Colorado's Barry Morphew case shows how much can change between an indictment and a jury box.

FAQ

Has Gregory Moore been convicted of killing Aliza Sherman? No. He is charged with aggravated murder, murder, conspiracy and kidnapping, and he has pleaded not guilty.

Is Gregory Moore in jail? No. He posted a $2 million bond in 2025 and is out while the case is pending.

Did Dateline cover the Aliza Sherman case? Yes. NBC's Dateline has reported on the unsolved killing and the family's campaign for an arrest. Our Dateline page collects the episodes we've covered.

Sources

By the True Crime On Air desk · Updated Oct. 31, 5:48 a.m. ET

#Aliza Sherman#Gregory Moore#Cleveland#Cuyahoga County#Dateline NBC#case update#murder trial

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