Amy Grossberg and Brian Peterson
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Amy Grossberg (born 1978) delivered a baby at a Comfort Inn in November 1996, assisted only by her then-boyfriend Brian Peterson, who later threw the baby into a dumpster. In March 1998, Peterson pled guilty to manslaughter and served a two-year sentence; on April 22, 1998, Grossberg agreed to a plea bargain, and was sentenced to a two-and-a-half years in prison on July 9, 1998.
In the unfortunate series of infant murders that have occurred in recent times, Grossberg and Peterson were perhaps the most infamous, or perhaps second to Melissa "Prom Mom" Drexler.
Grossberg and Peterson dated while in high school, growing up in the affluent suburb of Wyckoff, New Jersey. They successfully hid the pregnancy from their parents, particularly Grossberg’s mother, who was the person Amy most wanted to shield it from. Grossberg wore baggy clothes and avoided her parents for the course of the nine months.
In November 1996, while on Thanksgiving break, the eighteen-year-old's water broke. She and Peterson checked into the Comfort Inn and delivered the unnamed child. Conflicting stories have made the subsequent events a mystery to anyone except the couple, but Peterson and Grossberg claim they believed the infant to be stillborn, wrapped him in a garbage bag, and disposed of him in a dumpster.
The bloody sheets were discovered by a cleaning woman, who immediately contacted police. K-9 Police dogs found the body in the dumpster. Upon returning to school, Grossberg began to have severe seizures as a result of not having expelled the placenta. It was clear to the medical officials that she had given birth. Not long after, police officials and the hospital put the two incidences together.
The couple’s initial claim that the child was stillborn was quickly shot down. An autopsy proved that the infant was delivered alive and that the cause of death was several head fractures and Shaken Baby Syndrome. The cause of the injuries was inconclusive. Peterson and Grossberg, who at first seemed to remain a loving couple, quickly turned on each other and began the finger pointing. On December 1996 they were indicted for the murder. Peterson stated emphatically that Grossberg told him to “get rid of it!”; Grossberg claimed that Peterson acted alone in putting the boy into the dumpster.
In March 1998, Peterson pled guilty to manslaughter in exchange for his testimony against Grossberg at her trial. Other than his initial claims, he also stated that he tried to get her to a hospital, but she refused. When Grossberg heard Peterson's statement in detail, she agreed to a plea bargain on April 22, 1998. She admitted to unintentionally causing the death of the infant and said that she and Peterson never planned to kill the baby. A concern of attorneys for both defendants regarding going to trial would be that the pictures of the baby's head (it was noted on Court TV that such pictures could not be shown on television) would be displayed in court and lead to more severe penalties.
While Peterson was sentenced to two years, Grossberg was held to be more irresponsible and was sentenced to two-and-a-half years.
[edit] Questions surrounding the case
1) Why Peterson had not called 9-1-1 after Grossberg refused to be taken to a hospital.
2) The validity of their testimony:
- Did the couple actually think the baby was dead and accidentally kill him in their panic or was the death intentional?
- Many infants are born still and listless, and need something shocking to get them crying and breathing--hence doctors sometimes smack the baby on the bottom, or bathe them in cold water. If the infant was not responsive--yet still alive--it is understandable that a confused young couple would automatically presume he was dead. The negligence in seeking no medical assistance was the key factor in making them guilty of his death. However, virtually all healthy babies will cry soon after birth, expelling fluid from the lungs and nostrils and allowing their lungs to take in air. Neither a slap on the buttocks nor cold water are medically necessary for the initiation of breathing. In fact, it is no longer standard obstetrical practice following a delivery; it is simply something that some older physicians do out of tradition/habit.
3) Perhaps the largest unknown detail is who dealt the fatal blow to the infant's head. Neither divulged that information in their plea.
- It is most likely that Peterson broke the skull, whether it was intentional or not.
- Many theorise that the infant's head was cracked after he was dropped into the dumpster. Also, it might be that the Shaken Baby Syndrome was a consequence of Peterson allegedly attempting to resuscitate his child.
- Others state that the couple knew the child was alive and banged him up so severely that he died soon after--thus intentionally killing their baby.
- Since both agreed to plea bargains, no jury weighed the evidence.
