A former New York doctor has been arrested over an alleged plot to kill his estranged wife – just months after he was released from prison for trying to pay someone to murder her, with help from his then-lover.
Ira Bernstein, 49, was released from prison in 2021 after serving four years for attempting to get a a car salesman to run over his wife, Susan Bernstein, and make it look like an accident in exchange for $100,000.
Now, prosecutors say the podiatrist once again tried to have his wife murdered, this time with help from his lawyer sister Jaclyn Godlberg, 40, who allegedly tried to help him destroy evidence.
‘From July 29, 2022 through September 21, 2022, Ira Bernstein is alleged to have solicited the murder of his wife Susan Bernstein and subsequently conspired to destroy evidence of the solicitation with his sister, Jaclyn Goldberg,’ said the Rockland County District Attorney’s Office.
Bernstein is charged with criminal solicitation in the second degree, criminal solicitation in the fourth degree, tampering with physical evidence, and conspiracy in the fifth degree.
Ira Bernstein, 49,has been accused of trying to have his wife killed – just months after he was released from prison for asking someone to murder her in 2015
Bernstein and his wife Susan have three children and were in the process of getting divorced when the first murder-for-hire plot emerged
Bernstein’s sister Jaclyn Godlberg is charged with trying to help Bernstein conceal evidence
His sister is facing charges of tampering with physical evidence, hindering the prosecution in the third degree, and conspiracy in the fifth degree.
Police have not released further details of the indictment, which is under seal.
In 2017, Bernstein and his then-girlfriend Kelly Gribeluk, a former mortician, pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges for trying to kill his wife.
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Bernstein, who lost his podiatry license, was sentenced to five to 15 years in prison, and Gribeluk was given a sentence of four to 12 years. However, both were paroled in 2021, as reported by Law & Crime.
At the time, investigators said Gribeluk asked one of her contacts, a car salesman, to have someone else kill Bernstein’s wife. She and Berstein then met up with this contact several times and offered money.
Gribeluk and Berstein eventually asked their contact to beat up two insurance investigators as well, police said, because they were about to bring up potential fraud charges against Bernstein’s podiatry practice to the Rockland District Attorney’s office.
But instead, the man reached out to authorities, they say, prompting a sting operation that involved disguising the two insurance investigators to make it look as if the beatings had been carried out.
In 2017, Bernstein and his then-girlfriend Kelly Gribeluk, a former mortician, pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges for trying to kill his wife
Berstein and his then-lover met up with a contact several times and offered him money to kill Susan and make it look like an accident
‘I lost my way,’ Bernstein said during his sentencing. ‘I am humiliated. I have disappointed so many people.’
Bernstein and his wife Susan, who did not live together, have three children and were in the process of getting divorced when the first murder-for-hire plot emerged.
He faces a maximum sentence of three and half to seven years in prison for the new charges.
Both Bernstein and his sister were arraigned last week and pleaded not guilty.
They were released on bail and are scheduled to appear in court again on June 23, according to lohud.
‘The Ramapo Police Department is proud of the extensive efforts put forth by our Investigations Division and its detectives in securing an indictment against both defendants,’ said Ramapo Police Chief Martin Reilly.
