GIRLFRIEND SLEUTHS

A SURGEON ALMOST GOT AWAY WITH MURDERING HIS WIFE, BUT HIS EXES HAD OTHER IDEAS

- Sara Tapia

Carole Fisher thought she had hit the dating jackpot when she met Bob Bierenbaum. A charming, wealthy plastic surgeon who could speak five languages, fly planes and treated children with cleft palates for free, Bierenbaum had all the attributes of the ultimate eligible bachelor. So much so that when a red flag popped up on their very first date, the divorced, single mum pushed it straight to the back of her mind.

“When I asked him if he had ever been married before, he was very, very hesitant to admit it. So I joked: ‘Hey, what did you do? Murder your wife?’” Carole previously told Metro.co.uk of their date in 1995. “He then proceeded to tell me a very elaborate story, designed to make me feel sorry for him, all about his wife who had a drug problem, who had affairs, who left the home for good one day and probably either committed suicide or was out living with another guy.”

But Gail Katz, Bierenbaum’s wife, hadn’t done any of those things. She was, in fact, dead, having been callously murdered by her husband some 10 years before. But during their relationship, Carole was none the wiser to his murderous escapades. “I wanted to believe [his stories] to be true, because I didn’t want him to be anyone other than who I wanted him to be,” Carole said.

It’s Bierenbaum’s shocking secret – one that he ended up keeping for over 30 years – that is at the forefront of The Girlfriends, a new podcast hosted by Carole and created to raise awareness about justice for domestic abuse survivors. You see, the charismatic surgeon had a controlling side, which ended up spelling the end of his relationship with Carole after six months and a series of incidents.