Pennsylvania Doctor Charged With Attempted Murder In Cleveland Heights

A Pennsylvania doctor was indicted by a Cleveland grand jury Wednesday morning on charges he attempted to kill his son-in-law last week, according to the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office.

Dr. Georges J. Bensimhon, 66, an anesthesiologist who lives in South Whitehall, Penn., was indicted on one count of attempted aggravated murder; one count of attempted murder, two counts of kidnapping and two counts of felonious assault, the prosecutor's office said.

Bensimhon, who was released on $500,000 bond, is scheduled to have a preliminary hearing Thursday in Cleveland Heights Municipal Court. Bensimhon, who was born in Morocco, surrendered his U.S. and Israeli passports, the prosecutor's office said.

Bensimhon, dressed in black and wearing a black tactical mask and purple surgical gloves, allegedly hid in some bushes outside the home of his estranged son-in-law, Dr. Seth Alan Hoffer, a Cleveland neurosurgeon, according to the Cleveland Heights Police Department. 

When Hoffer, 39, walked outside his back door shortly before 6 a.m., Bensimhon allegedly jumped out of the bushes and attacked him with a 12-inch metal pry bar wrapped in athletic tape with a one-inch sharp point, police said.

After a bloody struggle, Hoffer managed to gain control of Bensimhon and was sitting on top of his back restraining him when officers arrived, police said.

Investigators found a blue backpack that belonged to Bensimhon hidden in the bushes that contained injectable sedatives and spinal syringes, police said.

Bensimhon’s daughter, Danielle, who is estranged from her husband and lives in West Palm Beach, is involved in a custody battle with Hoffer over their 2-year-old daughter, according to the Cleveland Jewish News. The morning of the attack, Hoffer was loading his car to pick up his daughter in Florida, police said.

The couple are scheduled to begin their contested divorce trial Sept. 30, according to a report in The Crime Beat.