The Case of Baby Matthew Eappen (The Louise Woodward Trial)

Happy Saturday!!! LESS THAN A WEEK UNTIL CHRISTMAS, WOOHOO!!!

Warning, this case involves discussions about crimes against children. For today’s case, I watched an episode of The Crimes That Changed Us on ID. I never heard about this case, but I know that there have been many cases of Shaken Baby Syndrome since this trial, whether or not the people who were responsible for taking care of children were responsible for killing them.

Background

Louise Woodward was born on February 8, 1978, and she was born in Elton, Cheshire. Louise lived in England with her family until 1996. She decided that she wanted to take a year off from college and go to the United States, at 18 years old.

Louise decided to register with an agency for an au pair job. Shortly after Louise got a job working for the Eappen family, who lived in Newton, Massachusetts. Louise was not prepared for the responsibilities and strict rules that the Eappen family had for her.

Louise’s “Party Girl” Persona

I wouldn’t say the Eappen’s were strict, I completely understand that since Louise was living with them and taking care of their children, that she should have some rules.

Louise would often go out into downtown Boston, party and not come home until after curfew. Louise would often stay out late, and not wake up when Sunil and Deborah Eappen had to leave for work. They also wouldn’t allow Louise to talk on the phone longer than 5-10 minutes, even to her parents. They were both doctors, and their relationship with Louise was starting to disintegrate.

Murder or Accident?

On February 4, 1997, Louise said that Matthew was very grumpy and not acting like himself when she woke him up for the day. She decided to give him a bath, and thought he could have just been under the weather.

After his bath, Louise put him down for a nap, and returned to wake him up around 3:15pm, and he was not breathing. Louise took him into their downstairs living room to perform CPR, at least this was her story. She tried calling the Eappen’s at work and they didn’t answer, so she called 911 at 3:45pm.

Louise told the operator that she thought Matthew had choked on his own vomit, and that he was barely breathing.

The police arrived soon after and found Matthew on the floor of the living room gasping for air. Little 8 month old Matthew was rushed to the Boston Children’s Hospital.

Matthew’s injuries were more severe then a baby who had choked on vomit. Matthew had a two and a half inch crack in his little skull, and his retinas were bleeding. Matthew also had haemorrhaging to his neck and spinal cord, and he was in a coma. By this point, Matthew was taken into surgery, and the doctors believed Matthew’s injuries were due to him being shaken.

The Investigation

The police went to interview Louise at the Eappen’s house. Louise was interviewed by Sargent Bill Byrne, and she told him that Matthew was cranky and that it had made her upset.

The police took a report of Louise’s statement and she said she “tossed Matthew onto the bed,” and had been “rough” when he took a bath, and “may have dropped him on the bathroom floor.”

Louise was arrested the next morning for assault.

On February 9, 1997, Matthew died. Louise’s charge was now murder, and she was denied bail now due to it being a murder charge.

Trial

Louise’s trial began on October 7, 1997, in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

There were many professionals that testified for the prosecution, including a neurosurgeon, an ophthalmologist, two pathologists and a few child abuse experts. They all testified that Matthew’s injuries happened due to violent shaking. This was all acted out too in the trial, and it disturbed me to watch it.

Louise’s defense said that Matthew’s injuries happened several weeks before. In fact, Matthew’s parents were thrown under the bus during the trial. They brought up the fact that the Eappen’s were doctors and might have been the ones to hurt Matthew. They also said the injuries were there even before Louise started living with them.

Louise’s agency also was blamed, and it was said that she never got anymore than three days of training.

Louise herself took the stand, although she was told not to. This might have sealed her fate, because she smirked and laughed while being on the stand. Everything she did on the stand was criticized. She was called an “aspiring little actress who told her employers half truths.”

Originally the jury were told they could choose from manslaughter, first degree or second degree murder, but it was soon changed to either choosing first or second degree murder.

Conviction

On October 30, 1997, Louise was found guilty of second degree murder. Louise almost collapsed and starting sobbing. She was sentenced to life in prison, with a minimum of 15 years to be served.

Appeal

A few days after the conviction, it was discovered that the jury had been split between convicting or not. There were even some that wanted to acquit, but were talked into convicting Louise.

On November 10, Louise’s conviction was changed to involuntary manslaughter. Louise was soon released on time served, she had spent 279 days in prison.

Other

Louise went back to the United Kingdom in 1998, she went to school and graduated from London South Bank University.

Sunil and Deborah Eappen filed a civil lawsuit to stop Louise from making money in case she wanted to sell the story. Many people still think that the parents might have been responsible, and not Louise.

FINAL THOUGHTS

This case made me sad. They showed pictures of baby Matthew when he was in his coma, and they acted out shaking this poor innocent child. I don’t know whether I believe Louise actually shook Matthew this violently. She has admitted to shaking him a little, which is terrible because babies are very sensitive.

I was also confused about how so many people could say that they shook Matthew, and so many different people said the injuries were several weeks old. It could have been both, which also questions whether or not the parents really are guilty.

Let me know what you think!

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_Woodward_case

https://www.distractify.com/p/what-happened-to-louise-woodward

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/special_report/louise_woodward_case/29232.stm

https://www.nytimes.com/topic/person/louise-woodward