New trial denied in Wellesley doctor's murder case

By Globe Staff

A Norfolk Superior Court judge has denied a request for a new trial from Dirk Greineder, the once-prominent Wellesley doctor who was convicted of killing his wife eight years ago.

Judge Paul A. Chernoff denied the request today in a 68-page decision, the Norfolk district attorney's office said.

"We are pleased with the decision of the trial judge and hope that it provides some small measure of comfort to Mae Greineder's sister and niece on this, the eighth anniversary of her death," District Attorney William Keating said in a statement.

Greineder murdered his wife on Halloween, Oct. 31, 1999, in a park near their home. He was convicted of first-degree murder on June 29, 2001.

Jamie Sultan, Greineder's attorney, said Greineder had filed an appeal with the state Supreme Judicial Court that was put on hold during the new trial motion. Now, Sultan said, the appeal will go forward and the issues from the new trial motion would likely be added to it.

"We assumed all along the SJC would decide this case and I think that's still the case," he said.

At the high-profile trial in 2001, prosecutors argued that Greineder bludgeoned his wife and cut her throat to keep hidden a secret life involving prostitutes, calls to phone sex lines, and trysts sought on the Internet.

Taking the stand in his own defense, Greineder said his wife was killed by an unknown person after the two separated for 10 minutes while walking their German shepherd.

Greineder choked back tears as he called his wife "the most wonderful person I ever met."

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