NYC psychiatrist pleads guilty to plotting sledgehammer murder attempt

Molly Crane-Newman, New York Daily News
·2 min read

A Manhattan psychiatrist pleaded guilty Wednesday to plotting to murder her child’s father with a sledgehammer.

Pamela Buchbinder, 52, admitted to burglary and assault charges for enlisting her teenage cousin, Jacob Nolan, to kill Michael Weiss at Weiss’s W. 57th St. home office on Nov. 11, 2012. The couple had recently settled a nasty custody battle over their 5-year-old son, according to court records.

“The intent was that Mr. Nolan would enter and cause serious physical injury to Mr. Weiss,” asked Judge Thomas Farber. “Is that true?”

“Yes,” Buchbinder meekly replied in court, wearing a faded pink t-shirt, beige prison slacks.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said the shrink’s plot carried lasting implications.

“Pamela Buchbinder meticulously planned and plotted to kill Dr. Michael Weiss, enlisting the aid of her 19-year-old cousin Jacob Nolan. This brutal attack left Dr. Weiss, the father of her child, injured with multiple stab wounds to his body and traumatized by the brutal attack carried out by Nolan,” Bragg said.

Buchbinder, who prosecutors charged in 2017, faces 11 years in prison when sentenced as part of her plea agreement and five years post-release supervision. Weiss, who could not be reached for comment, was satisfied with the deal, prosecutors said in court.

Nolan was sentenced to 9 and a 1/2 years in state prison for his role in the murder attempt in 2016. He and Buchbinder bought the sledgehammer with cash at Home Depot on W. 23rd St. the night before the crime.

The next day Nolan walked into Weiss’ building and asked to use the bathroom before taking the 10-pound hammer and a knife out of a duffle bag to kill his cousin’s ex, according to court records. The pair engaged in a bloody battle, with Weiss plying a knife away from Nolan and using it to defend himself.

Nolan shared disturbing details of the gruesome attack in a tell-all interview with CBS in 2016. He said Buchbinder brainwashed him into hating Weiss and provided him with her ex’s building floor plans.

“You know, I intended to kill him,” Nolan said.

“They hated each other, and in turn, she made me hate him. She had already told me that she wanted me to hit him over the head, playing like ‘Maxwell’s Silver Hammer’ by the Beatles repeatedly in the house.”